Related papers: A Note on the Prehistory of Superheavy Elements
As building blocks of dust, rocky planets, and even complex life, the chemical elements heavier than hydrogen (H) and helium (He) - called "metals" in astronomy - play an essential role in our Universe and its evolution. Up to Fe and Ni,…
The oldest stars in the universe retain to a great extent detailed information on the chemical composition of the interstellar medium at the time of their birth. Hence the earliest phases of Galactic chemical evolution and nucleosynthesis…
Just as the chemical elements from hydrogen (Z = 1) to oganesson (Z = 118) once were discovered, so were the numerous isotopes. The histories of how the isotopes were discovered are less well known, but in a few cases they are as…
During the past few decades, several new classes of superconductors have been discovered. Most of these do not appear to be related to traditional superconductors. As a consequence, it is felt by many that for these materials,…
Boron is a unique element, being the only element, all known polymorphs of which are superhard, and all of its crystal structures are distinct from any other element. The electron-deficient bonding in boron explains its remarkable…
The dark matter problem is almost a century old. Since the 1930s evidence has been growing that our cosmos is dominated by a new form of non-baryonic matter, that holds galaxies and clusters together and influences cosmic structures up to…
The horizon for studies of element abundances has expanded dramatically in the last ten years. Once the domain of astronomers concerned chiefly with stars and nearby galaxies, this field has now become a key component of observational…
With the advent of time-domain astronomy and the game-changing next generation of telescopes, we have unprecedented opportunities to explore the most energetic events in our Universe through electromagnetic radiation, gravitational waves,…
Towards precise predictions of residue cross sections of the superheavy elements, recent theoretical developments of reaction mechanisms are presented, together with the remaining problems which give rise to ambiguities in absolute values…
The first mass-estimate of an exoplanet around a Sun-like star, 51 Peg b and the first radius measurement of an exoplanet, HD209458b pointed to the challenges of understanding the atmosphere, interior, and evolution of exoplanets including…
At high pressure, the typical behavior of elements dictated by the periodic table - including oxidation numbers, stoichiometries in compounds, and reactivity, to name but a few - is altered dramatically. As pressure is applied, the…
We determine abundances or upper limits for all of the 55 stable elements from copper to uranium for the A1 Vm star Sirius. The purpose of the study is to assemble the most complete picture of elemental abundances with the hope of revealing…
We critically review the common belief that ultrahigh energy cosmic rays are protons or atomic nuclei with masses not exceeding that of iron. We find that heavier nuclei are indeed possible, and discuss possible sources and acceleration…
Electron neutrino has been the first neutral lepton to be foreseen and discovered last century. The un-ordered muon and its neutrino arose later by cosmic rays. The tau discover, the heaviest, the most unstable charged lepton, was found…
The existence of astrophysical neutrinos with energies of tens of TeV and higher has been reliably established by the IceCube experiment; the first confirmations of this discovery are being obtained with the ANTARES and Baikal-GVD…
The rapid neutron-capture process needed to build up many of the elements heavier than iron seems to take place primarily in neutron-star mergers, not supernova explosions.
Neutron stars have long been regarded as extra-terrestrial laboratories from which we can learn about extreme energy density matter at low temperatures. In this article, I highlight some of the recent advances made in astrophysical…
Elements heavier than the iron group are found in nearly all halo stars. A substantial number of these elements, key to understanding neutron-capture nucleosynthesis mechanisms, can only be detected in the near-ultraviolet. We report the…
Boron is an element of fascinating chemical complexity. Controversies have shrouded this element since its discovery was announced in 1808: the new 'element' turned out to be a compound containing less than 60-70 percent of boron, and it…
Experimental evidence and theoretical argument in favor the claim of neutrino being likely a superluminal particle, a tachyon, are discussed from six aspects with details.