Experimental determinations of reaction rates in the hot-CNO-cycle and the rp-process

In explosive nucleosynthetic events (e.g., the Hot-CNO-cycle and the rp-process), the temperatures and densities involved are sufficiently high so that proton and alpha-particle induced nuclear reactions can compete with beta decay. In order to study these reactions directly would require the use of short-lived radioactive targets or beams; however, it is possible to determine the relevant resonant reaction rates indirectly by making use of standard nuclear spectroscopy measurements together with stable nuclear targets and beams. Specific examples will be given in terms of recent measurements to determine the rates of the 13N(p, γ)14O and 15O(α, γ)19Ne reactions