Reaction Theory for Pedestrians

Bob Tribble got stranded in Texas and Bertulani is giving a talk about his own work instead. It was an honest account of the problems underpinning nuclear astrophysics from a reactions point of view. I kind of started to understand what the spectroscopic factor means, and how the extrapolations used to determine this value can be dangerous. I also learned from Bertulani where we will go when we die: " to the continuum", and according to him, "The continuum sucks". I have to think about that when I put my head on the pillow later tonight. Anyways, the presentation was nice and accessible for non-experts in the field.