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Nuclear Physics of Stars, 2nd, Revised and Enlarged Edition

ISBN: 978-3-527-33648-7

June 2015

672 pages

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Description
Most elements are synthesized, or "cooked", by thermonuclear reactions in stars. The newly formed
elements are released into the interstellar medium during a star's lifetime, and are subsequently
incorporated into a new generation of stars, into the planets that form around the stars, and into the life
forms that originate on the planets. Moreover, the energy we depend on for life originates from nuclear
reactions that occur at the center of the Sun. Synthesis of the elements and nuclear energy production
in stars are the topics of nuclear astrophysics, which is the subject of this book. It presents nuclear
structure and reactions, thermonuclear reaction rates, experimental nuclear methods, and nucleosynthesis
in detail. These topics are discussed in a coherent way, enabling the reader to grasp their interconnections
intuitively. The book serves both as a textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, with
worked examples and end-of-chapter excercises, but also as a reference book for use by researchers
working in the field of nuclear astrophysics.
About the Author
Christian Iliadis is Professor of Physics & Astronomy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a nuclear astrophysicist at the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory. He received the prestigious University of North Carolina Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2014.