AUTHOR=Spartà R. , La Cognata M. , Guardo G. L. , Palmerini S. , Sergi M. L. , D’Agata G. , Lamia L. , Lattuada D. , Oliva A. A. , Pizzone R. G. , Rapisarda G. G. , Romano S. , Tumino A. 

TITLE=Neutron-Driven Nucleosynthesis in Stellar Plasma

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physics

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physics/articles/10.3389/fphy.2022.896011

DOI=10.3389/fphy.2022.896011

ISSN=2296-424X

ABSTRACT=A large uncertainty for the slow neutron capture nucleosynthesis (s-process) models is caused by the amount of neutrons available to the process itself. This quantity is strongly affected by the $^{13}$C($\alpha$,n)$^{16}$O and $^{22}$Ne($\alpha$,n)$^{25}$Mg reaction cross sections, whose measurements at energies corresponding to the s-process thermal conditions ($\sim$10$^2$ keV) are mainly hampered by the Coulomb barrier. 
For this reason, indirect approaches could offer a complementary way of investigation and, among these, the Trojan Horse Method (THM) has been applied to determine these cross sections overcoming the Coulomb barrier. With this approach, a low-energy binary reaction cross section can be obtained selecting the quasi-free contribution from a suitable three-body reaction cross section, taking advantage of the cluster structure of proper nuclei.