Related papers: r-Process Lanthanide Production and Heating Rates …
The cosmic origin of the elements heavier than iron has long been uncertain. Theoretical modelling shows that the matter that is expelled in the violent merger of two neutron stars can assemble into heavy elements such as gold and platinum…
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…
The rapid-neutron-capture ("r") process is responsible for synthesizing many of the heavy elements observed in both the solar system and Galactic metal-poor halo stars. Simulations of r-process nucleosynthesis can reproduce abundances…
The mergers of double neutron star (NS-NS) and black hole (BH)-NS binaries are promising gravitational wave (GW) sources for Advanced LIGO and future GW detectors. The neutron-rich ejecta from such merger events undergoes rapid neutron…
Binary neutron star merger (BNSM) ejecta are considered a primary repository of $r$-process nucleosynthesis and a source of the observed heavy-element abundances. We implement composition mixing into ray-by-ray radiation-hydrodynamic…
The calculations of the light curves of thermonuclear supernovae are carried out by a method of multi-group radiation hydrodynamics. The effects of spectral lines and expansion opacity are taken into account. The predictions for UBVI fluxes…
We demonstrate that nucleosynthesis in rapid, high-entropy expansions of proton-rich matter from high temperature and density can result in a wider variety of abundance patterns than heretofore appreciated. In particular, such expansions…
The origin of heavy r-process elements in the universe is still a matter of great debate, with a confirmed scenario being neutron star (NS) mergers. Additional relevant sites could be specific classes of events, such as gamma-ray burst…
A light sterile neutrino species has been introduced to explain simultaneously the solar and atmospheric neutrino puzzles and the results of the LSND experiment, while providing for a hot component of dark matter. Employing this scheme of…
Binary neutron star mergers have been recently confirmed to be the progenitors of the optical transients kilonovae (KNe). KNe are powered by the radioactive decay of neutron-rich elements (r-process elements) which are believed to be the…
The finite time, $\tau_{\rm dep}$, over which positrons from $\beta^{+}$ decays of $^{56}$Co deposit energy in type Ia supernovae ejecta lead, in case the positrons are trapped, to a slower decay of the bolometric luminosity compared to an…
Stars with a wide range of masses provide a variety of production sites for intermediate-to-heavy mass elements. Very massive stars with mass $\geq 8 M_{\odot}$ culminate their evolution by supernova explosions which are presumed to be the…
We review current understanding of kilonova/macronova emission from compact binary mergers (mergers of two neutron stars or a neutron star and a black hole). Kilonova/macronova is optical and near-infrared emission powered by radioactive…
Stripped-envelope supernovae (SESNe) are a subclass of core-collapse supernovae that are deficient in hydrogen (SN~IIb, SN~Ib) and possibly helium (SN~Ic) in their spectra. Their progenitors are likely stripped of this material through a…
The astrophysical origin of the r-process nuclei is still unknown. Even the most promising scenario, the neutrino-driven winds from a nascent neutron star, encounters severe difficulties in obtaining requisite entropy and short dynamic…
About half of the elements beyond iron are synthesized in stars by rapid-neutron capture process (r-process). The stellar environment provides very high neutron flux in a short time ($\sim$ seconds) which is conducive for the creation of…
We demonstrate that rapid expansion of the shocked surface layers of an O-Ne-Mg core following its collapse can result in r-process nucleosynthesis. As the supernova shock accelerates through these layers, it makes them expand so rapidly…
This is an exciting time for the study of r-process nucleosynthesis. Recently, a neutron star merger GW170817 was observed in extraordinary detail with gravitational waves and electromagnetic radiation from radio to gamma rays. The very red…
We develop a method to compute synthetic kilonova light curves that combines numerical relativity simulations of neutron star mergers and the $\texttt{SNEC}$ radiation-hydrodynamics code. We describe our implementation of initial and…
We examine dust formation in macronovae (as known as kilonovae), which are the bright ejecta of neutron star binary mergers and one of the leading sites of r-process nucleosynthesis. We find that dust grains of r-process elements are…