Related papers: Have Superheavy Elements been Produced in Nature?
The rapid neutron-capture process or r-process is thought to produce the majority of the heavy elements (Z > 30) in extremely metal-poor stars. The same process is also responsible for a significant fraction of the heavy elements in the…
We have performed hydrodynamical simulations of the long-time evolution of proto-neutron stars to study the nucleosynthesis using the resulting wind trajectories. Although the conditions found in the present wind models are not favourable…
The synthesis of superheavy elements stimulates the effort to study the peculiarities of the complete fusion with massive nuclei and to improve theoretical models in order to extract knowledge about reaction mechanism in heavy ion…
We investigate nuclear reactions and feedback in hyperaccreting neutron star environments, considering accretion rates in the range 0.3 - $3\times10^4$ $M_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$, typical of short-period compact object binaries in common…
A small number of naturally occurring, proton-rich nuclides (the p-nuclei) cannot be made in the s- and r-process. Their origin is not well understood. Massive stars can produce p-nuclei through photodisintegration of pre-existing…
The synthesis of heavy elements in the Universe presents several challenges. From one side the astrophysical site is still undetermined and on other hand the input from nuclear physics requires the knowledge of properties of exotic nuclei,…
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…
The nucleosynthesis of heavy elements in the scenario for the evolution of a close binary of neutron stars differing greatly in mass is considered. In contrast to the scenario for the merger of two neutron stars of comparable masses…
The astrophysical origin of the rapid neutron-capture process (r-process), which produces about half of the elements heavier than iron, remains uncertain. The oldest, most metal-poor stars preserve the chemical signatures of early…
The origin of nucleosynthesis products of rapid neutron capture reactions (the r-process) is a longstanding astrophysical problem. Recent analyses of elemental abundances for extremely metal-poor stars shed light on the elemental abundances…
Observations of metal-poor stars indicate that at least two different nucleosynthesis sites contribute to the production of r-process elements. One site is responsible for the production of light r-process elements Z<~50 while the other…
When binary systems of neutron stars merge, a very small fraction of their rest mass is ejected, either dynamically or secularly. This material is neutron-rich and its nucleosynthesis could provide the astrophysical site for the production…
During the last several decades, there have been a number of advances in understanding the rapid neutron-capture process (i.e., the r-process). These advances include large quantities of high-resolution spectroscopic abundance data of…
A model for hot-fusion reactions leading to the synthesis of super-heavy nuclei is discussed. The values of the hot-fusion cross-sections obtained in the model agree with the available experimental data. The hot-fusion cross-sections are…
Nucleosynthesis of heavy elements requires the use of different experimental and theoretical methods to determine astrophysical reaction rates than light element nucleosynthesis. Additionally, there are also larger uncertainties involved in…
The r-process involves neutron-rich nuclei far off stability for which no experimental cross sections are known. Therefore, one has to rely on theory. The difficulties in the predictions are briefly addressed. To investigate the impact of…
The work of Matsuura et al. [Phys. Rev. D 72, 123505 (2005); astro-ph/0507439] claims that heavy nuclei could have been produced in a combined p- and r-process in very high baryon density regions of an inhomogeneous big bang. However, they…
Theoretically predicted yields of elements created by the rapid neutron capture (r-) process carry potentially large uncertainties associated with incomplete knowledge of nuclear properties and approximative hydrodynamical modelling of the…
While it is now known that double neutron star binary systems (DNSs) are copious producers of heavy elements, there remains much speculation about whether they are the sole or even principal site of rapid neutron-capture (r-process)…
The focus of the present review is the production of the heaviest elements in nature via the r-process. A correct understanding and modeling requires the knowledge of nuclear properties far from stability and a detailed prescription of the…