Recent results on (p,γ) and (α,γ) fusion reactions at LUNA

Abstract

At temperatures typical of astrophysical environments, nuclear cross sections are extremely small and experimental measurements in a laboratory at the Earth’s surface are hampered by the cosmic background. The LUNA collaboration has exploited the unique features of background reduction offered by the rock overburden above the LNGS underground laboratory in order to study very important hydrogen-burning reactions at their relevant astrophysical energies. After a general introduction on the LUNA experiment, this paper reports on the most important results for the (p,γ) and (α,γ) fusion reactions measured so far and their astrophysical consequences. A quick look on the future possibilities is also given.