Nuclear Structure Studies of Neutron-Rich Nuclei : Astrophysical Implications

It is proposed here to investigate three major properties of the nuclear force that influence the amplitude of shell gaps, the nuclear binding energies as well as the nuclear $\beta$-decay properties far from stability, that are all key ingredients for modeling the r-process nucleosynthesis. These properties are derived from experiments performed in different facilities worldwide, using several various state-of-the-art experimental techniques including transfer and knockout reactions. Expected consequences on the r process nucleosynthesis as well as on the stability of super heavy elements are discussed.