Related papers: Neutrinos and Heavy Element Nucleosynthesis
Stars of ~8-100 solar masses end their lives as core-collapse supernovae (SNe). In the process they emit a powerful burst of neutrinos, produce a variety of elements, and leave behind either a neutron star or a black hole. The wide mass…
We study the role of light neutron-rich nuclei during r-process nucleosynthesis in supernovae. Most previous studies of the r-process have concentrated on the reaction flow of heavy unstable nuclei. Although the nuclear reaction network…
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…
An update on astrophysical models for nucleosynthesis via rapid neutron capture, the r process, is given. A neutrino-induced r process in supernova helium shells may have operated up to metallicities of ~10^-3 times the solar value. Another…
Neutrino-driven winds following core collapse supernovae have been proposed as a suitable site where the so-called light heavy elements (between Sr to Ag) can be synthetized. For moderately neutron-rich winds, ($\alpha,n$) reactions play a…
Various nucleosynthesis studies have pointed out that the r-process elements in very metal-poor (VMP) halo stars might have different origins. By means of familiar concepts from statistics (correlations, cluster analysis, rank tests of…
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…
The role of the sterile neutrinos to the r-process nucleosynthesis in supernova explosions is studied. Previously it has been argued that a large part of neutrino mixing can be excluded if the supernovae are the origin of the heavy…
The rapid neutron capture process (r-process) is thought to be responsible for the creation of more than half of all elements beyond iron. The scientific challenges to understanding the origin of the heavy elements beyond iron lie in both…
Nucleosynthesis of heavy elements requires the use of different experimental and theoretical methods to determine astrophysical reaction rates than light element nucleosynthesis. Additionally, there are also larger uncertainties involved in…
The r-process constitutes one of the major challenges in nuclear astrophysics. Its astrophysical site has not yet been identified but there is observational evidence suggesting that at least two possible sites should contribute to the solar…
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…
I discuss the recent progress in our understanding of nucleosynthesis via rapid neutron capture, the r-process, based on meteoritic data for the early solar system and observations of stars at low metallicities. At present, all data require…
Heavy elements (beyond iron) are formed in neutron capture nucleosynthesis processes. We have proposed a simple unified model to investigate the neutron capture nucleosynthesis in arbitrary neutron density environment. We have also…
The pattern of nucleosynthesis during the explosion of a low-mass neutron star formed in a close binary system in the stripping scenario is considered. In the scenario considered the shock arising during the explosion is shown to strongly…
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 heavy elements formed by neutron capture processes have an interesting history from which we can extract useful clues to and constraints upon both the characteristics of the processes themselves and the star formation and…
Nuclear physics has a long and productive history of application to astrophysics which continues today. Advances in the accuracy and breadth of astrophysical data and theory drive the need for better experimental and theoretical…
A promising astrophysical site to produce the lighter heavy elements of the first $r$-process peak ($Z = 38-47$) is the moderately neutron rich ($0.4 < Y_e < 0.5$) neutrino-driven ejecta of explosive environments, such as core-collapse…
We study the efficiency and sensitivity of r-process nucleosynthesis to 18 light-element nuclear reaction rates. We adopt empirical power-law relations to parameterize the reaction sensitivities. We utilize two different hydrodynamic models…