Related papers: Collapsars as a major source of r-process elements
Heavy elements produced exclusively through rapid neutron capture (the '$r$-process') originate from violent cosmic explosions. While neutron star mergers are the primary candidates, another plausible production site are…
It is unclear if neutron star mergers can explain the observed r-process abundances of metal-poor stars. Collapsars, defined here as rotating massive stars whose collapse results in a rapidly accreting disk around a black hole that can…
The heaviest elements in the Universe are synthesized through rapid neutron capture ($r$-process) in extremely neutron rich outflows. Neutron star mergers were established as an important $r$-process source through the multi-messenger…
One of the open questions following the discovery of GW170817 is whether neutron star mergers are the only astrophysical sites capable of producing $r$-process elements. Simulations have shown that 0.01-0.1M$_\odot$ of $r$-process material…
We study the evolution of rapid neutron-capture process (r-process) isotopes in the Galaxy. We analyze relative contributions from core collapse supernovae (CCSNe), neutron star mergers (NSMs) and collapsars under a range of astrophysical…
We use observations of heavy elements in very metal-poor stars ([Fe/H] < -2.5) in order to place constraints on the viability of collapsar models as a significant source of the r-process. We combine bipolar explosion nucleosynthesis…
The first neutron star (NS) merger observed by advanced LIGO and Virgo, GW170817, and its fireworks of electromagnetic counterparts across the entire electromagnetic spectrum marked the beginning of multi-messenger astronomy and…
Despite recent progress, the astrophysical channels responsible for rapid neutron capture (r-process) nucleosynthesis remain an unsettled question. Observations of kilonovae following gravitational wave-detected neutron star mergers…
We investigate nucleosynthesis in the sub-relativistic outflows from black hole (BH) accretion disks formed in failed supernovae from rapidly-rotating Wolf-Rayet stars. These disks reach the neutrino-cooled regime during a portion of their…
Rapid neutron capture process (r-process) elements have been detected in a large fraction of metal-poor halo stars, with abundances relative to iron (Fe) that vary by over two orders of magnitude. This scatter is reduced to less than a…
Collapsar disks have been proposed to be rich factories of heavy elements, but the major question of whether their outflows are neutron-rich, and could therefore represent significant sites of the rapid neutron-capture (r-) process, or…
The merger of two neutron stars or of a neutron star and a black hole often result in the ejection of a few percents of a solar mass of matter expanding at high speed in space. Being matter coming from the violent disruption of a neutron…
Since the discovery of the binary neutron star merger GW170817 and its associated kilonova, neutron star mergers have been established as a key production channel for r-process elements in the Universe. However, various lines of evidence,…
The discovery of the radioactively powered kilonova AT2017gfo, associated with the short-duration gamma-ray burst GRB 170817A and the gravitational wave source GW170817, has provided the first direct evidence supporting binary neutron star…
Neutron-star mergers were recently confirmed as sites of rapid-neutron-capture (r-process) nucleosynthesis. However, in Galactic chemical evolution models, neutron-star mergers alone cannot reproduce the observed element abundance patterns…
We develop a high-performance analytical model of Galactic Chemical Evolution, which accounts for delay time distributions and lock-up of stellar yields in a thermal-phased ISM. The model is capable of searching, for the first time, through…
Elements heavier than zinc are synthesized through the (r)apid and (s)low neutron-capture processes. The main site of production of the r-process elements (such as europium) has been debated for nearly 60 years. Initial studies of chemical…
A variety of stellar explosions powered by black hole accretion are discussed. All involve the failure of neutrino energy deposition to launch a strong supernova explosion. A key quantity which determines the type of high energy transient…
The rapid neutron capture process (r process) is believed to be responsible for about half of the production of the elements heavier than iron and contributes to abundances of some lighter nuclides as well. A universal pattern of r-process…
The origin of r-process elements remains unidentified and still puzzles us. The recent discovery of evidence for the ejection of r-process elements from a short-duration gamma-ray burst singled out neutron star mergers (NSMs) as their…