Project description
A closer look at how stars shine
The processes powering stars including our Sun hold the key to understanding energy production and element formation in the universe. While Big Bang nucleosynthesis has achieved exceptional precision, the study of hydrogen burning in stars requires greater accuracy to refine solar and stellar models. The ERC-funded LUNANOVA project plans to install and operate a new underground ion accelerator at the INFN Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Italy, dedicated to solar fusion research. The research will integrate experiments, theory and simulations in a cycle where laboratory data refine stellar models and models guide further experiments. By enhancing accuracy from a 10 % margin of error to just 1 %, LUNANOVA will transform our understanding of the inner workings of the Sun and similar stars.
Objective
Nuclear astrophysics studies the processes that generate energy and control the chemical makeup of the universe. One area of nuclear astrophysics has recently entered the 1% precision domain: Big Bang nucleosynthesis. However, another area of nuclear astrophysics with even greater importance is still lagging behind: Our Sun. Here, the precision breakthrough is still missing, and hampering not only the solar but all stellar models.
LUNANOVA ideally combines a great effort from nuclear experiment, theory, and astrophysics: The results of astrophysical simulations guide the nuclear physics work and the nuclear physics data feed new simulations. LUNANOVA will transform the understanding of hydrogen burning, in our Sun but also in other stars, from the 10% to the 1% precision level. We will install and operate a new, dedicated underground ion accelerator for solar fusion, LUNANOVA, at the INFN Gran Sasso lab. LUNANOVA is complementary to the Bellotti Ion Beam Facility for helium and carbon burning that was inaugurated in 2023. Coupled with additional experiments in Germany and Italy, the LUNANOVA data will be used to develop novel models of the Sun and solar-like stars.
In a close and continuous symbiosis of experiments and models, we will target our efforts at the decisive node: nuclear processes located at a place in the nuclear lifecycle of the star that breaks the degeneracy between energy production and nucleosynthesis. These processes shall be studied in the laboratory. The lab data shall feed into the solar and stellar models, which, in turn, will give predictions on helioseismology and solar neutrino fluxes that can be matched with observation. LUNANOVA will include the entire knowledge and discovery cycle.
The sustained, long-term synergy between LUNANOVA experiments, ancillary experimental and theoretical studies elsewhere, and detailed astrophysical modeling will deliver the needed breakthrough for our Sun and for nuclear astrophysics.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC-SYG - HORIZON ERC Synergy Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-SyG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
01328 Dresden
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.