Instrumentation for and First Results on Nuclear Responses for Supernova Explosions

Our collaboration has set up a focal plane detection system and a focal plane polarimeter at the large acceptance Big-Bite Spectrometer at AGOR. The detector systems are equipped with a high performance readout and online data processing system, which allows polarization transfer and charge transfer measurements at extreme forward angles with high precision. Preliminary results on GT+ strength distributions obtained in (d,2He) measurements revealing the fine structure of the distributions are presented. Their relation to recent calculations of stellar weak interaction rates is discussed.