Radioactive beams in studies of primordial nucleosynthesis and stellar burning

Much of the interesting nucleosynthesis in inhomogeneous big bang models occurs beyond the neutron-rich side of stability, and so involves reactions on short-lived nuclei. Thus radioactive beams are required to measure the relevant cross sections. Import reactions involving 8Li have thus been studied in recent experiments. Nuclei heavier than carbon may also provide important tests of primordial inhomogeneity, so reactions involving nuclei up to at least mass 28 amu may also be of interest. In addition, scenarios of high temperature stellar burning exist in which rapid proton-induced nuclear reactions occur, and so involve proton-rich short-lived nuclei. Specifically, explosive hydrogen burning requires reaction rates on such nuclides as 13N. The radioactive ion beams relevant to studies on unstable nuclei, and some of the techniques necessary to obtain the desired cross sections are discussed