THE EVOLUTION OF ELEMENTS AND ISOTOPES

The basic building blocks of all minerals are the approximately 290 stable or long-lived isotopes of 84 elements. Yet, when the universe began and nuclear reactions ceased after about 3 minutes, the only elements present were hydrogen, helium, and traces of lithium. It is now understood that all the other elements are made in stars in an ongoing cycle of nucleosynthesis. Stars form, create new elements via nuclear reactions, and finally disperse the new elements into space via winds and explosions, forming the seeds for new stars.

This chemical evolution is a critical link in the chain of evolutionary processes, including geological and biological evolution, that shaped the world we live in. The underlying blueprint of this chemical evolution is the nuclear physics. I will review the ongoing efforts to decipher this blueprint using nuclear physics accelerator facilities, and together with astronomical data from the largest telescopes, piece together the steps of the chemical evolution of our Galaxy.