Astrophysics and nuclei far from stabilitys

Abstract

We discuss unstable nuclei on the proton-rich and neutron rich side of stability and their properties of astrophysical relevance. The Coulomb barriers in charged-particle captures lead to a cycle pattern which is not existent in neutron-induced reaction processes. They also assure that capture and decay time scales are of similar size. Neutron capture and photodisintegration time scales, on the other hand, are much shorter than beta-decays for high temperatures and neutron densities. Thus, the mechanisms of explosive hydrogen burning or rapid proton capture (rp-process) and rapid neutron capture (r-process) axe not fully symmetric in nature. We highlight key features of nuclear reaction patterns, mass and decay properties, which can be used to describe the resulting energy generation and abundances with high precision.