This $245,600 Project Grant awarded by the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) Federal Grant Program supports research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to study how the nuclei of chemical elements are formed in astrophysical environments using high energy lasers. The project aims to advance the understanding of plasma effects on nuclear reactions that are relevant to nucleosynthesis processes in stars and the early universe. Key research areas include investigating six-nucleon systems, studying mid-Z ion reactions relevant to stellar carbon-nitrogen-oxygen cycles, measuring plasma screening effects on nuclear reactions, and developing platforms to study neutron capture on nuclei in excited states. This four-year effort, running from July 2024 to June 2027, involves an international collaboration with Imperial College London and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and will support graduate student and postdoctoral training. The project seeks to improve our knowledge of element formation in the universe by addressing key experimental gaps in understanding plasma effects on nuclear reactions.
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