An indirect technique in nuclear astrophysics: alpha-cluster transfer reaction

Abstract

Helium(4He, or α)is the second most abundant element in the observable Universe. The α-particle induced reactions such as(α, γ), (α, n) and (α, p) play a crucial role in nuclear astrophysics, especially for understanding stellar heliumburning. Because of the strong Coulomb repulsion, it is greatly hindered to directly measure the cross sections for these α-capture reactions at stellar energies. Alpha-cluster transfer reaction is a powerful tool for investigation of astrophysical(α, γ), (α, n)and(α, p)reactions since it can preferentially populate the natural-parity states with an α-cluster structure which dominantly contribute to these astrophysical α-capture reactions during stellar heliumburning. In this paper, we reviewthe theoretical scheme, theexperimental technique, astrophysical applications and the future perspectives of such approach based on α-cluster transfer reactions.