Completing the nuclear reaction puzzle of the nucleosynthesis of 92Mo

One of the greatest questions for modern physics to address is how elements heavier than iron are created in extreme, astrophysical environments. A particularly challenging part of that question is the description of the so-called p-nuclei, which are believed to be mainly produced in some types of supernovae.
In this work, we present for the first time measurements on the nuclear level density and average strength function of 92 Mo. State-of-the-art p-process calculations systematically underestimate the observed solar abundance. Our data provide stringent constraints on the 91 Nb(p,gamma92 Mo reaction rate, which is the last unmeasured reaction in the nucleosynthesis puzzle of 92 Mo. Based on our results, we conclude that the 92 Mo abundance anomaly is not due to the nuclear physics input.