The rp-process in x-ray bursts

The rp-process was first suggested by Wallace and Woosley (1981) as the dominant nucleosynthesis process in explosive hydrogen burning at high temperature and density conditions. The process is characterized by a sequence of fast proton capture reactions and subsequent beta-decays. The reaction path of the rp-process runs along the drip line up to Z approximate to 50. Within a sufficiently long time scale for the thermonuclear runaway mainly N=Z even-even nuclei are produced in the associated nucleosynthesis. Extended model calculations indicate a large production of mass A=80 isotopes. The resulting abundances are extremely sensitiveto the structure, lifetimes and decay pattern of the relevant isotopes. Experimental results are presented here for Zr-80 along with a discussion of the associated nucleosynthesis.