ELDAR (burning questions on the origins of Elements in the Lives and Deaths of stARs)

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Horizon Europe Guarantee
Horizon Europe Guarantee
Horizon Europe Guarantee
Horizon Europe Guarantee
Horizon Europe Guarantee

£6,460,880

Sept. 30, 2022

Sept. 30, 2027

How do stars synthesise new elements? How are elements disseminated in our Galaxy? Thermonuclear reactions involving charged particles play a central role in stellar evolution. Knowledge of their rates is needed to answer fundamental questions about the origin of the elements. I will develop new approaches for charged-particle detection at world-leading European laboratories, FAIR (Germany) and Gran Sasso (Italy), to address fundamental questions about the lives and deaths of stars. I will share techniques, scientific insights, and forge new links between leading European science communities using different methods to study stellar scenarios that are intimately linked in nature.

Measurement of nuclear reactions involving radioactive isotopes are critical to model and understand the wealth of new astronomical data from stellar explosions. At FAIR, I will use a novel and world-unique approach, studying reactions induced by radioactive beams at the CRYRING heavy ion storage ring. I led the design and construction phase of a major in-ring charged-particle detection array and I am spokesperson for experiments investigating key uncertainties in scenarios ranging from the Big Bang to supernovae. ELDAR will fund the development of ground-breaking experimental approaches at rings, improving our knowledge of both quiescent and explosive phases of stellar evolution.

At the low temperatures of quiescent stellar burning, nuclear reactions rates are too low to be detected above natural radioactive background on Earth. The LUNA accelerator, located underground at Gran Sasso, is the world-leading facility to study reactions that drive quiescent stellar evolution. ELDAR will allow me to construct a new array to study charged-particle reactions at LUNA, expanding the capabilities of this cutting-edge facility. I will investigate a long-standing puzzle on the cycle of life, death and rebirth of stars and the fate of matter ejected from supernovae in globular clusters.