Cross section measurements of capture reactions relevant to the p process: Status and perspectives

A systematic study aiming at establishing an extended cross-section database of mainly proton capture reactions of nuclei in the Se-Sb region is presented. Such a database is required to perform a validity test of the Hauser-Feshbach (HF) calculations in the medium-mass region that will enable to investigate the impact of nuclear physics uncertainties on p-nuclei abundance calculations. The results of this systematic work as well as a comparison of all existing cross-section data with the predictions of the HF theory are presented. Several aspects of all the experiments performed so far including a recent in-beam cross section measurement of the 92Mo(α, γ)96Ru reaction are outlined. The question of whether the experimental information obtained so far is sufficient to draw final conclusions is discussed