This award supports Dr. Michael Wiescher, a research associate, and two graduate students from the University of Notre Dame in a collaboration with Franz Kaeppler of the Institute for Nuclear Physics at the Federal Research Center in Karlsruhe, Germany. The research funded by this award will focus on the experimental study of alpha-induced reactions important for the understanding of nucleosynthesis in the various phases of stellar helium burning. The proposed experiments will be done in collaboration with Dr. Kaeppler's Nuclear Astrophysics group, which is well known for its work in this area. Most of the experiments will be performed at Karlruhe using specialized detector equipment available there, which will make it possible to detect low-energy resonances necessary for a complete understanding of the nucleosynthesis. Complementary experiments will be performed at Notre Dame where alpha-scattering and alpha-proton reactions will be studied.
