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The beta-decay process of the $^6$He halo nucleus into the alpha+d continuum is studied in a three-body model. The $^6$He nucleus is described as an alpha+n+n system in hyperspherical coordinates on a Lagrange mesh. The convergence of the Gamow-Teller matrix element requires the knowledge of wave functions up to about 30 fm and of hypermomentum components up to K=24. The shape and absolute values of the transition probability per time and energy units of a recent experiment can be reproduced very well with an appropriate alpha+d potential. A total transition probability of 1.6E-6 s$^{-1}$ is obtained in agreement with that experiment. Halo effects are shown to be very important because of a strong cancellation between the internal and halo components of the matrix element, as observed in previous studies. The forbidden bound state in the alpha+d potential is found essential to reproduce the order of magnitude of the data. Comments are made on R-matrix fits., Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys.Rev.C

It has been suggested recently ({\it Phys. Rev. Lett.} 91, 232501 (2003)) that the widths of narrow proton resonances are related to neutron Asymptotic Normalization Coefficients (ANCs) of their bound mirror analogs because of charge symmetry of nucleon-nucleon interactions. This relation is approximated by a simple analytical formula which involves proton resonance energies, neutron separation energies, charges of residual nuclei and the range of their strong interaction with the last nucleon. In the present paper, we perform microscopic-cluster model calculations for the ratio of proton widths to neutron ANCs squared in mirror states for several light nuclei. We compare them to predictions of the analytical formula and to estimates made within a single-particle potential model. A knowledge of this ratio can be used to predict unknown proton widths for very narrow low-lying resonances in the neutron-deficient region of the $sd$- and $pf$-shells, which is important for understanding the nucleosynthesis in the $rp$-process., Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, submitted to PRC

The astrophysical S-factor of 14N(p,gamma)15O has been measured for effective center-of-mass energies between E_eff = 119 and 367 keV at the LUNA facility using TiN solid targets and Ge detectors. The data are in good agreement with previous and recent work at overlapping energies. R-matrix analysis reveals that due to the complex level structure of 15O the extrapolated S(0) value is model dependent and calls for additional experimental efforts to reduce the present uncertainty in S(0) to a level of a few percent as required by astrophysical calculations., Comment: Eur. Phys. J. A, accepted. 17 pages, 15 figures

The astrophysical reaction rates of the 16O(a,g)20Ne capture reaction and its inverse 20Ne(g,a)16O photodisintegration reaction are given by the sum of several narrow resonances and a small direct capture contribution at low temperatures. Although the thermal population of low lying excited states in 16O and 20Ne is extremely small, the first excited state in 20Ne plays a non-negligible role for the photodisintegration rate. Consequences for experiments with so-called quasi-thermal photon energy distributions are discussed., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, Proceedings Nuclear Physics in Astrophysics-II, Debrecen, Hungary, 2005

It has been suggested recently (Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 232501 (2003)) that charge symmetry of nucleon-nucleon interactions relates the Asymptotic Normalization Coefficients (ANCs) of proton and neutron virtual decays of mirror nuclei. This relation is given by a simple analytical formula which involves proton and neutron separation energies, charges of residual nuclei and the range of their strong interaction with the last nucleon. Relation between mirror ANCs, if understood properly, can be used to predict astrophysically relevant direct proton capture cross sections using neutron ANCs measured with stable beams. In this work, we calculate one-nucleon ANCs for several light mirror pairs, using microscopic two-, three- and four-cluster models, and compare the ratio of mirror ANCs to the predictions of the simple analytic formula. We also investigate mirror symmetry between other characteristics of mirror one-nucleon overlap integrals, namely, spectroscopic factors and single-particle ANCs., Comment: 12 pages, submitted to Phys. Rev. C

Three variational approaches, the hyperspherical-harmonics, Gaussian-basis and Lagrange-mesh methods involving different coordinate systems, are compared in studies of $0^+$ bound-state energies in 3$\alpha$ models. Calculations are performed with different versions of the shallow Ali-Bodmer potential (with and without Coulomb) and with the deep Buck-Friedrich-Wheatley potential. All three methods yield very accurate energies. Their advantages and drawbacks are evaluated. The implications of the disagreement between the obtained results and the experimental $^{12}$C energies in $3\alpha$ models with Coulomb interaction are discussed.

We use the R-matrix theory to fit low-energy data on nuclear reactions involved in Big Bang nucleosynthesis. A special attention is paid to the rate uncertainties which are evaluated on statistical grounds. We provide S factors and reaction rates in tabular and graphical formats., Comment: 40 pages, accepted for publication at ADNDT, web site at http://pntpm3.ulb.ac.be/bigbang

We review different models used for reactions involved in nuclear astrophysics. The reaction rate is defined for resonant as well as for non-resonant processes. For low-density nuclei, we describe the DWBA method, the potential model, the R-matrix method, and microscopic cluster models. The statistical model is developed for high-level densities. Details of calculations in the low- and high-density regimes are illustrated with new results concerning transfer reactions and level densities., Comment: 25 pages, 3 figures, invited article to appear in Nucl. Phys. A

From the observations of the anisotropies of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation, the WMAP satellite has provided a determination of the baryonic density of the Universe, \Omega_b.h^2, with an unprecedented precision. This imposes a careful reanalysis of the standard Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis (SBBN) calculations. We have updated our previous calculations using thermonuclear reaction rates provided by a new analysis of experimental nuclear data constrained by $R$-matrix theory. Combining these BBN results with the \Omega_b.h^2 value from WMAP, we deduce the light element (4He, D, 3He and 7Li) primordial abundances and compare them with spectroscopic observations. There is a very good agreement with deuterium observed in cosmological clouds, which strengthens the confidence on the estimated baryonic density of the Universe. However, there is an important discrepancy between the deduced 7Li abundance and the one observed in halo stars of our Galaxy, supposed, until now, to represent the primordial abundance of this isotope. The origin of this discrepancy, observational, nuclear or more fundamental remains to be clarified. The possible role of the up to now neglected 7Be(d,p)2\alpha and 7Be(d,\alpha)5Li reactions is considered., Comment: Invited contribution to the Origin of Matter and Evolution of the Galaxies (OMEG03) conference, RIKEN, Japan. Proceedings to appear in World Scientific

We improve Standard Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (SBBN) calculations taking into account new nuclear physics analyses (Descouvemont et al. 2003). Using a Monte-Carlo technique, we calculate the abundances of light nuclei versus the baryon to photon ratio.The results concerning omegab are compared to relevant astrophysical and cosmological observations. Consistency between WMAP, SBBN results and D/H data strengthens the deduced baryon density and has interesting consequences on cosmic chemical evolution. A significant discrepancy between the calculated Li-7 deduced from WMAP and the Spite plateau is clearly revealed. To explain this discrepancy three possibilities are invoked : uncertainties on the Li abundance, surface alteration of Li in the course of stellar evolution or poor knowledge of the reaction rates related to Be-7 destruction. In particular, the possible role of the up to now neglected Be-7(d,p)2He-4 and Be-7(d,alpha)Li5 reactions is considered. The impressive advances in CMB observations provide a strong motivation for more efforts in experimental nuclear physics and high quality spectroscopy to keep BBN in pace., Comment: accepted in ApJ, 22 pages, 5 figures