Indirect nuclear physics techniques for studying nova nucleosynthesis

Classical novae are a site of explosive nucleosynthesis where hydrogen rich material from a companion giant star accretes onto the surface of a white warf. Critical to our understanding of nova explosions are proton-capture reaction rates involved in the nucleosynthesis. While, ideally, all of the relevant (p,g) reactions would be measured directly, in practice, such measurements are very challenging and are only possible in a few cases. This provides considerable scope for indirect measurements including transfer reactions, mass measurements, beta-decay and gamma-ray spectroscopy. The latter technique, until recently largely neglected as an input in nuclear astrophysics analyses, has clear advantages in locating resonances with high energy precision and assisting in determining the spin and parity of resonances. Such information is very valuable in a complementary approach to indirect determinations of key reaction rates.