David Mascali (LNS)
Experiments performed on Storage Rings have shown that lifetimes of beta-radionuclides can change dramatically as a function of the ionization state. An even more attractive experiment may consist in measuring, for the first time, nuclear β-decay rates in stellar-like conditions, especially for radionuclides involved in nuclear-astrophysics processes and cosmology (BBN, s-processing, CosmoChronometers, Early Solar System formation). Compact magnetic plasma traps, where plasmas reach density ne~1011-1014cm-3, and temperature Te~0.1-30 keV, are suitable for such studies. The decay rates can be measured as a function of the charge state distribution of the in-plasma ions. This idea is the subject of the PANDORA (Plasmas for Astrophysics, Nuclear Decay Observation and Radiation for Archaeometry) project, now supported by the 5th Nat. Comm. of INFN as a feasibility study. Possible physics cases include 85Kr (a crucial branching point of the s-process); 176Lu and the pairs 187Re-187Os and 87Sr-87Rb, which play a crucial role as cosmo-clock; the 7Be, that is responsible of the primordial abundance of 7Li and in primordial nucleosynthesis happens in a quite peculiar plasma environment. The talk will give an overview about methodologies and experimental scenarios for in-plasma nuclear astrophysics research.