Related papers: FRIB and the GW170817 Kilonova
The recent observation of neutron stars merger by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) collaboration and the measurements of the event's electromagnetic spectrum as a function of time for different wavelengths have…
Compact binary mergers detectable in gravitational waves can be accompanied by a kilonova, an electromagnetic transient powered by radioactive decay of newly synthesised r-process elements. A few kilonova candidates have been observed…
After a successful core-collapse supernova, a neutrino-driven wind develops where it is possible to synthesize lighter heavy elements ($30<Z<45$). In the early galaxy, the origin of these elements is associated to the r-process and to an…
Kilonovae, one source of electromagnetic emission associated with neutron star mergers, are powered by the decay of radioactive isotopes in the neutron-rich merger ejecta. Models for kilonova emission consistent with the electromagnetic…
Recently, a kilonova-associated gamma-ray burst (GRB 211211A), whose light curve consists of a precursor ($\sim$0.2 s), a hard spiky emission ($\sim$10 s), and a soft long extended emission ($\sim$40 s), has attracted great attention.…
Neutrinos from dense environments are connected to the longstanding open questions of how massive stars explode and what are the sites where $r$-process elements are made. Flavor evolution and neutrino properties can influence…
GRB 160821B is a short duration gamma-ray burst (GRB) detected and localized by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory in the outskirts of a spiral galaxy at z=0.1613, at a projected physical offset of 16 kpc from the galaxy's center. We…
Observations of gamma-ray burst afterglows have begun to readily reveal contamination from a kilonova or a supernova. This contamination presents significant challenges towards traditional methods of inferring the properties of these…
GW190425 is the newly discovered gravitational wave (GW) source consistent with a neutron star-neutron star merger with chirp mass of $1.44\pm0.02M_\odot.$ This value falls in the $ambiguous$ interval as from the GW signal alone we can not…
On August 18, 2025, the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaboration reported gravitational waves from a sub-threshold binary neutron star merger. If astrophysical, this event would have a surprisingly low chirp mass, suggesting that at least one neutron…
If the r-process occurs deep within a Type II supernova, probably the most popular of the proposed sites, abundances of r-process elements may be altered by the intense neutrino flux. We point out that the effects would be especially…
Kilonovae are the scientifically rich, but observationally elusive, optical transient phenomena associated with compact binary mergers. Only a handful of events have been discovered to date, all through multi-wavelength (gamma ray) and…
We study the impact of fission on the production and destruction of translead nuclei during the r-process nucleosynthesis occurring in neutron-star mergers. Abundance patterns and rates of nuclear energy production are obtained for…
Nucleosynthesis beyond Fe poses additional challenges not encountered when studying astrophysical processes involving light nuclei. Astrophysical sites and conditions are not well known for some of the processes involved. On the nuclear…
GRB 211211A is a rare burst with a genuinely long duration, yet its prominent kilonova association provides compelling evidence that this peculiar burst was the result of a compact binary merger. However, the exact nature of the merging…
The unprecedented optical and near-infrared lightcurves of the first electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational wave source, GW170817, a binary neutron star merger, exhibited a strong evolution from blue to near-infrared (a so-called…
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…
The first detected gravitational wave GW170817 from a binary neutron star merger is associated with an important optical transient AT 2017gfo, which is a direct observation of kilonova. Recent observations suggest that the remnant compact…
An electromagnetic transient powered by the radioactive decay of r-process elements, a so-called kilonova/macronova, is one of the possible observable consequences of compact binary mergers including at east one neutron star. Recent…
We analyse the tidal disruption probability of potential neutron star--black hole (NSBH) merger gravitational wave (GW) events, including GW190426_152155, GW190814, GW200105_162426 and GW200115_042309, detected during the third observing…