The Rare Earth Peak : An Overlooked r-Process Diagnostic
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
2012-02-09 v1 Nuclear Theory
Abstract
The astrophysical site or sites responsible for the r-process of nucleosynthesis still remains an enigma. Since the rare earth region is formed in the latter stages of the r-process it provides a unique probe of the astrophysical conditions during which the r-process takes place. We use features of a successful rare earth region in the context of a high entropy r-process (S>100k_B) and discuss the types of astrophysical conditions that produce abundance patterns that best match meteoritic and observational data. Despite uncertainties in nuclear physics input, this method effectively constrains astrophysical conditions.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1202.1758,
title = {The Rare Earth Peak : An Overlooked r-Process Diagnostic},
author = {M. Mumpower and G. McLaughlin and R. Surman},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1202.1758},
year = {2012}
}
Comments
12 pages, 6 figures, submitted to ApJ