Mass measurements of very neutron-deficient Mo and Tc isotopes and their impact on rp process nucleosynthesis

Experimental Approach to Explosive Hydrogen Burning in X-Ray Bursts and Core-Collapse Supernovae

Recent experimental challenges to study the explosive hydrogen burning at extremely high temperatures are discussed. Along the nucleosynthetic pathway, discussions were made especially for the medium mass region, where we have possible waiting points and bottle necks which influence not only the light curve but also the production of heavy elements including the anomalously abundant p-nuclei at A = 80-100. Two approaches were discussed for the problem; one is the precision mass measurements and the other one is the half-live measurement of very short lived isotopes. A scope of the field is also discussed.

Superheavy element studies with preseparated isotopes

In recent years, significant progress in the field of superheavy element research has been achieved thanks to a novel combination of techniques from different fields. This “physical preseparation” approach includes the coupling of an ancillary setup – typically a chemistry apparatus or a counting setup – to a physical recoil separator. This latter preseparator removes unwanted nuclear reaction products as well as the intense heavy-ion beam associated with superheavy element experiments and thus isolates the evaporation residues of the nuclear fusion reactions. These are guided to the separators's focal plane, where they are extracted and available for further transport to external setups, e.g., by a gas-jet. In this overview, the development of physical preseparation is described, and experimental results from nuclear chemistry and physics that were achieved with “preseparated” isotopes are summarized, with an emphasis on results relevant for superheavy element research. The covered topics range from chemical studies in the liquid as well as in the gas phase, the measurement of nuclear decay properties and of atomic masses. Preseparation was already shown to be a very powerful approach in these studies and promises to allow further progress in superheavy element research.