Abstract: Recent multi-messenger observations of explosive astronomical events are generating exciting new challenges for physics and force a rethinking of old paradigms. In particular, advanced, space-based telescopes have provided unprecedented insight into the production of chemical elements across the Galaxy, while the detection of massive neutron stars rule out a variety of hypotheses regarding the nature of nuclear matter. Regrettably, despite this wealth of observational data, many broad and open questions relating to stellar nucleosynthesis remain, owing to large uncertainties in the underlying nuclear physics processes that drive explosive stellar scenarios. In this regard, exceptional advances in experimental nuclear physics offer a powerful means to address these issues. Specifically, the latest generation of radioactive beam facilities are now able to act as terrestrial laboratories for the direct reproduction of astrophysical reactions, while state-of-the-art detection systems offer the possibility to study key unstable nuclei, governing the pathway of nucleosynthesis in explosive astronomical events.

In this talk, direct and indirect methods for studying astrophysical reactions will be discussed, with a specific emphasis on innovative techniques and advanced detection systems.