SPACE seminar: Gianluca Imbriani — "From LUNA to LUNANOVA: A Brief History of Underground Nuclear Astrophysics in Italy"

Tuesday 14 Jul 2026, 11:30 → 12:30 Europe/Rome

Aula 3 (Mezzocannone)

Speaker:  Gianluca Imbriani (UNINA)

Abstract: Nuclear astrophysics studies the reactions that power stars and govern the synthesis of the elements in the Universe. Many of these processes occur at extremely low energies and with very small probabilities, making experimental measurements particularly difficult on the Earth’s surface because of the background produced by cosmic rays. In this context, the Gran Sasso National Laboratories have provided a unique environment for the development of underground nuclear astrophysics.The seminar retraces the main milestones of this Italian story, starting from the LUNA experiment, which demonstrated the potential of nuclear measurements in an underground environment and delivered fundamental results for solar physics, stellar nucleosynthesis, and nuclear cosmology. The evolution toward LUNA MV and LUNANOVA will then be presented, opening new perspectives for the study of key reactions in more complex astrophysical scenarios. Through this journey, the seminar aims to show how Italy has played a pioneering role and continues to make a decisive contribution to our understanding of the origin of stellar energy and of the chemical elements.

References:

1. A. Chieffi, S. Courtin, R.J. deBoer, R. Depalo, A. Diaz-Torres, A. Di Leva, T. Dumont, F. Ferraro, R.M. Gesuè, M. Heine, G. Imbriani et al.
   "The status of $^{12}$C+$^{12}$C fusion process", Eur. Phys. J. A 61, 280 (2025) doi:10.1140/epja/s10050-025-01759-3
2. R.M. Gesuè et al. [LUNA Collaboration], "First Direct Measurement of the 64.5 keV Resonance Strength in the $^{17}$O(p,$\gamma$)$^{18}$F Reaction", Phys. Rev. Lett. 133, 052701 (2024) doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.052701
3. G.F. Ciani et al. [LUNA Collaboration], "Direct Measurement of the $^{13}$C ($\alpha$, n) $^{16}$O Cross Section into the s-Process Gamow Peak", Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 152701 (2021) doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.152701
4. V. Mossa et al., "The baryon density of the Universe from an improved rate of deuterium burning", Nature 587, 210-213 (2020) doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2878-4

 

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