Nucleosynthesis in multinucleon transfer reactions

How does one populate still vacant areas on the chart of nuclides? Mainly on the neutron-rich side several thousand further isotopes are expected to exist, including most of the nuclei along the astrophysical r-process path. The standard nucleosynthesis reactions, which are fragmentation, fission and fusion, are reaching their limits. Therefore, other pathways to exotic nuclei are needed. Years ago, the idea arose to revive multinucleon transfer reactions to progress toward the neutron-rich side of heavy and superheavy nuclei. Meanwhile, this option is investigated in nuclear physics labs worldwide. Beside new studies of transfer product kinematics and cross-sections, the development of suitable separation and detection techniques for heavy transfer products is ongoing. But how promising are these new advances? So far achieved results allow us to get an impression on the potential which multinucleon transfer reactions provide for nucleosynthesis.

Automated summary

The use of multinucleon transfer reactions shows great potential in populating still vacant areas on the chart of nuclides, especially for neutron-rich isotopes. However, further research and development of suitable separation and detection techniques are needed.