Related papers: Sensitivity of Neutron-Rich Nuclear Isomer Behavio…
We study the impact of astrophysically relevant nuclear isomers (astromers) in the context of the rapid neutron capture process (r-process) nucleosynthesis. We compute thermally mediated transition rates between long-lived isomers and the…
We develop a method to compute thermally-mediated transition rates between the ground state and long-lived isomers in nuclei. We also establish criteria delimiting a thermalization temperature above which a nucleus may be considered a…
The extreme temperatures and densities of many astrophysical environments tends to destabilize nuclear isomers by inducing transitions to higher energy states. Those states may then cascade to ground. However, not all environments…
In rapid neutron capture, or r-process, nucleosynthesis, heavy elements are built up via a sequence of neutron captures and beta decays that involves thousands of nuclei far from stability. Though we understand the basics of how the…
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 which might be prone to considerable uncertainties far off stability. To investigate the…
The astrophysical rapid neutron capture process or `$r$ process' of nucleosynthesis is believed to be responsible for the production of approximately half the heavy element abundances found in nature. This multifaceted problem remains one…
Differing reaction rates of long-lived nuclear states can force the level occupations out of thermal equilibrium, causing calculations of overall rates which rely on thermal equilibrium to be inaccurate. Therefore, nucleosynthesis…
The determination of astrophysical reaction rates requires different approaches depending on the conditions in hydrostatic and explosive burning. The focus here is on astrophysical reaction rates for radiative neutron capture reactions.…
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…
Nuclear reactions heat and cool the crust of accreting neutron stars and need to be understood to interpret observations of X-ray bursts and of long-term cooling in transiently accreting systems. It was recently suggested that previously…
About half of the heavy elements in the Solar System were created by rapid neutron capture, or r-process, nucleosynthesis. In the r-process, heavy elements are built up via a sequence of neutron captures and beta decays in which an intense…
In high neutron flux environments where isomers can be strongly populated by nucleonic reactions, isotope abundances from reaction network chains can be affected by the population of nuclear isomers. At high temperatures and densities there…
I suggest a novel type of nuclear reactions in accreting neutron stars - neutron transfer, which is quantum tunneling of weakly bounded neutron from one nucleus to another. I estimate the rate of this process for fixed nuclei separation and…
We study thermal states of transiently accreting neutron stars (with mean accretion rates $\dot{M} \sim 10^{-14}-10^{-9}$ M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$) determined by the deep crustal heating of accreted matter sinking into stellar interiors. We…
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 decay properties of long-lived excited states (isomers) can have a significant impact on the destruction channels of isotopes under stellar conditions. In sufficiently hot environments, the population of isomers can be altered via…
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 study here the formation of heavy r-process nuclei in the high-entropy environment of rapidly expanding neutrino-driven winds from compact objects. In particular, we explore the sensitivity of the element creation in the A>130 region to…
Observation of cooling neutron stars can potentially provide information about the states of matter at supernuclear densities. We review physical properties important for cooling such as neutrino emission processes and superfluidity in the…
The rapid-neutron capture process ($r$ process) is identified as the producer of about 50\% of elements heavier than iron. This process requires an astrophysical environment with an extremely high neutron flux over a short amount of time…