Microscopic theory for direct reactions in exotic heavy nuclei.

All elements are forged in a series of processes that constitute the nucleosynthesis.

Most heavy elements are generated through rapid capture of neutrons by nuclei, forming exotic neutron rich nuclei outside of our experimental reach.

However, the calculation of the neutron capture on these exotic nuclei is one of the largest sources of error in the modelling of this nucleosynthesis process. In this project, we aim at substantially reducing this error by combining nuclear structure and reaction theory.

In particular, the wavefunctions of heavy deformed nuclei will be calculated with a microscopic nuclear structure method. That will be combined with a generalized Green´s function treatment to construct the optical potential.

As a result, the neutron-nucleus effective interaction of the reaction that can be now then calculated based on state of the art microscopic nuclear structure theory.This framework will investigate neutron direct reactions in heavy nuclei and open up new ways to study the nucleosynthesis of heavy elements.