Primordial or Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) is one of the three strong evidences for the Big-Bang model together with the expansion of the Universe and the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation. In this study, we improve the standard BBN calculations taking into account new nuclear physics analyses and we enlarge the nuclear network until Sodium. This is, in particular, important to evaluate the primitive value of CNO mass fraction that could affect Population III stellar evolution. For the first time we list the complete network of more than 400 reactions with references to the origin of the rates, including ≈270 reaction rates calculated using the TALYS code. Together with the cosmological light elements, we calculate the primordial Beryllium, Boron, Carbon, Nitrogen and Oxygen nuclei. We performed a sensitivity study to identify the important reactions for CNO, 9 Be and Boron nucleosynthesis. We reevaluated those important reaction rates using experimental data and/or theoretical evaluations. The results are compared with precedent calculations: a primordial Beryllium abundance increase by a factor of 4 compared to its previous evaluation, but we note a stability for B/H and for the CNO/H abundance ratio that remains close to its previous value of 0.7 × 10 −15 . On the other hand, the extension of the nuclear network has not changed the 7 Li value, so its abundance is still 3-4 times greater than its observed spectroscopic value.

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X-ray observations of transiently accreting neutron stars during quiescence provide information about the structure of neutron star crusts and the properties of dense matter. Interpretation of the observational data requires an understanding of the nuclear reactions that heat and cool the crust during accretion, and define its nonequilibrium composition. We identify here in detail the typical nuclear reaction sequences down to a depth in the inner crust where the mass density is ρ = 2 × 10 12 g cm −3 using a full nuclear reaction network for a range of initial compositions. The reaction sequences differ substantially from previous work. We find a robust reduction of crust impurity at the transition to the inner crust regardless of initial composition, though shell effects can delay the formation of a pure crust somewhat to densities beyond ρ = 2 × 10 12 g cm −3 . This naturally explains the small inner crust impurity inferred from observations of a broad range of systems. The exception are initial compositions with A ≥ 102 nuclei, where the inner crust remains impure with an impurity parameter of Q imp ≈ 20 due to the N = 82 shell closure. In agreement with previous work we find that nuclear heating is relatively robust and independent of initial composition, while cooling via nuclear Urca cycles in the outer crust depends strongly on initial composition. This work forms a basis for future studies of the sensitivity of crust models to nuclear physics and provides profiles of composition for realistic crust models.

An update of a previous description of the BRUSLIB + NACRE package of nuclear data for astrophysics and of the web-based nuclear network generator NETGEN is presented. The new version of BRUSLIB contains the latest predictions of a wide variety of nuclear data based on the most recent version of the Brussels-Montreal Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov model. The nuclear masses, radii, spin/parities, deformations, single-particle schemes, matter densities, nuclear level densities, E1 strength functions, fission properties, and partition functions are provided for all nuclei lying between the proton and neutron drip lines over the 8 ≤ Z ≤ 110 range, whose evaluation is based on a unique microscopic model that ensures a good compromise between accuracy, reliability, and feasibility. In addition, these various ingredients are used to calculate about 100 000 Hauser-Feshbach neutron-, proton-, α-, and γ-induced reaction rates based on the reaction code TALYS. NACRE is superseded by the NACRE II compilation for 15 charged-particle transfer reactions and 19 charged-particle radiative captures on stable targets with mass numbers A < 16. NACRE II features the inclusion of experimental data made available after the publication of NACRE in 1999 and up to 2011. In addition, the extrapolation of the available data to the very low energies of astrophysical relevance is improved through the systematic use of phenomenological potential models. Uncertainties in the rates are also evaluated on this basis. Finally, the latest release v10.0 of the web-based tool NETGEN is presented. In addition to the data already used in the previous NETGEN package, it contains in a fully documented form the new BRUSLIB and NACRE II data, as well as new experiment-based radiative neutron capture cross sections. The full new versions of BRUSLIB, NACRE II, and NETGEN are available electronically from the nuclear database at http://www. astro.ulb.ac.be/NuclearData. The nuclear material is presented in an extended tabular form complemented with a variety of graphical interfaces.

The direct neutron capture reaction is investigated within the potential model. All allowed electric dipole (E1), electric quadrupole (E2), and magnetic dipole (M1) transitions are taken into account. The nuclear structure ingredients involved in the calculation are determined from experimental data whenever available, and if not, from global microscopic nuclear models. A special emphasis is put on the excitation spectrum deduced from a mean field plus combinatorial model of nuclear level densities. It is shown that considering either a total intrinsic nuclear level density or one-particle, one-hole neutron excitations give rise to similar predictions provided the corresponding average spectroscopic factor is renormalized. The potential model is shown to provide a fair agreement between the predicted radiative neutron capture cross section and experimental data for light targets as well as with previous calculations. A systematic study for about 6400 nuclei with 8 Z 102 lying between the proton and neutron drip lines shows that the direct capture cross sections (and consequently reaction rates of astrophysical interest) are proportional to the number of levels available below the neutron threshold and decreases with decreasing neutron separation energies. It is found that the E2 and M1 components are usually negligible with respect to the E1 contribution, but that they can dominate the direct capture rate for about several hundred nuclei.