Evidence from stable isotopes and Be-10 for solar system formation triggered by a low-mass supernova
Abstract
About 4.6 billion years ago, some event disturbed a cloud of gas and dust, triggering the gravitational collapse that led to the formation of the solar system. A core-collapse supernova, whose shock wave is capable of compressing such a cloud, is an obvious candidate for the initiating event. This hypothesis can be tested because supernovae also produce telltale patterns of short-lived radionuclides, which would be preserved today as isotopic anomalies. Previous studies of the forensic evidence have been inconclusive, finding a pattern of isotopes differing from that produced in conventional supernova models. Here we argue that these difficulties either do not arise or are mitigated if the initiating supernova was a special type, low in mass and explosion energy. Key to our conclusion is the demonstration that short-lived Be-10 can be readily synthesized in such supernovae by neutrino interactions, while anomalies in stable isotopes are suppressed.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1611.07162,
title = {Evidence from stable isotopes and Be-10 for solar system formation triggered by a low-mass supernova},
author = {Projjwal Banerjee and Yong-Zhong Qian and Alexander Heger and W. C. Haxton},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1611.07162},
year = {2016}
}
Comments
32 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Nature Communications