English

Nucleosynthesis in Outflows from the Inner Regions of Collapsars

Astrophysics 2009-11-10 v2

Abstract

We consider nucleosynthesis in outflows originating from the inner regions of viscous accretion disks formed after the collapse of a rotating massive star. We show that wind-like outflows driven by viscous and neutrino heating can efficiently synthesize Fe-group elements moving at near-relativistic velocities. The mass of 56Ni synthesized and the asymptotic velocities attained in our calculations are in accord with those inferred from observations of SN1998bw and SN2003dh. These steady wind-like outflows are generally proton rich, characterized by only modest entropies, and consequently synthesize essentially nothing heavier than the Fe-group elements. We also discuss bubble-like outflows resulting from rapid energy deposition in localized regions near or in the accretion disk. These intermittent ejecta emerge with low electron fraction and are a promising site for the synthesis of the A=130 r-process peak elements.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0309278,
  title  = {Nucleosynthesis in Outflows from the Inner Regions of Collapsars},
  author = {Jason Pruet and Todd Thompson and R. D. Hoffman},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0309278},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

35 pages, 6 figures, added discussion of the influence of nuclear recombination on wind dynamics, to appear in ApJ