Recent Progress in Understanding Nucleosynthesis via Rapid Neutron Capture
Abstract
I discuss the recent progress in our understanding of nucleosynthesis via rapid neutron capture, the r-process, based on meteoritic data for the early solar system and observations of stars at low metallicities. At present, all data require that there be two distinct kinds of r-process events and suggest that supernovae are associated with these events. The diversity of supernova sources for the r-process may depend on whether a neutron star or black hole is formed in an individual supernova. This dependence, if substantiated by future observations discussed here, has important implications for properties of nuclear matter.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0008007,
title = {Recent Progress in Understanding Nucleosynthesis via Rapid Neutron Capture},
author = {Yong-Zhong Qian},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0008007},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
7 pages including 2 figures, to appear in the Proceedings of the 7th Conference on the Intersections of Particle and Nuclear Physics