Related papers: Thorium in Kilonova Spectra: Exploring the Heavies…
The characteristic rapid rise and decline at optical wavelengths of a kilonova is the product of the low ejecta mass ($\lesssim 0.05 M_\odot$) and high ejecta velocity ($\gtrsim 0.1$c). We show that, even at very early times ($\lesssim 2$…
We study long-term evolution of the matter ejected in a black-hole neutron-star (BH-NS) merger employing the results of a long-term numerical-relativity simulation and nucleosynthesis calculation, in which both dynamical and post-merger…
The mergers of binary compact objects such as neutron stars and black holes are of central interest to several areas of astrophysics, including as the progenitors of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), sources of high-frequency gravitational waves and…
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…
We present a comprehensive nucleosynthesis study of the neutrino-driven wind in the aftermath of a binary neutron star merger. Our focus is the initial remnant phase when a massive central neutron star is present. Using tracers from a…
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…
We investigate the effect of the presence of lanthanides (Z = 57- 71) on the kilonova at t~hours after the neutron star merger for the first time. For this purpose, we calculate the atomic structures and the opacities for selected…
Gravitational waves were discovered with the detection of binary black hole mergers and they should also be detectable from lower mass neutron star mergers. These are predicted to eject material rich in heavy radioactive isotopes that can…
Employing high resolution spectra obtained with the near-UV sensitive detector on the Keck I HIRES, supplemented by data obtained with the McDonald Observatory 2-d coude, we have performed a comprehensive chemical composition analysis of…
The first binary neutron star merger, GW170817, was accompanied by a radioactivity-powered optical/infrared transient called a kilonova. To date, no compelling kilonova has been found during optical surveys of the sky, independent of…
Compact binary mergers involving neutron stars can eject a fraction of their mass to space. Being extremely neutron rich, this material undergoes rapid neutron capture nucleosynthesis, and the resulting radioactivity powers fast,…
New elemental abundances for the neutron-capture elements Sr, Nb, Mo, Ru, La, Sm, and Eu are presented for a large sample of 180 barium (Ba) giant stars, a class of chemically peculiar objects that exhibit in their spectra enhancements of…
The absence of helium features in optical spectra is one of the classification criteria for Type Ic supernovae (SNe Ic). However, it is highly debated whether helium is truly absent in ejecta or spectroscopically undetectable in the optical…
Along with binary neutron star mergers, the in-spiral and merger of a black hole and a neutron star is a predicted site of $r$-process nucleosynthesis and associated kilonovae. For the right mass ratio, very large amounts of neutron rich…
The spectral features observed in kilonovae (KNe) reveal the elemental composition and the velocity structures of matter ejected from neutron star mergers. In the spectra of the kilonova AT2017gfo, a P Cygni line at about 1$\mu$m has been…
Radioactive energies from unstable nuclei made in the ejecta of neutron star mergers play principal roles in powering kilonovae. In previous studies power-law-type heating rates (e.g., ~ t^-1.3) have frequently been used, which may be…
We investigate the nucleosynthesis and kilonova properties of binary neutron-star (NS) merger models which lead to intermediate remnant lifetimes of ~0.1-1seconds until black-hole (BH) formation and describe all components of material…
Current and future optical and near-infrared wide-field surveys have the potential of finding kilonovae, the optical and infrared counterparts to neutron star mergers, independently of gravitational-wave or high-energy gamma-ray burst…
We present a nearly complete rapid neutron-capture process (r-process) chemical inventory of the metal-poor ([Fe/H] = -1.46 +/- 0.10) r-process-enhanced ([Eu/Fe] = +1.32 +/- 0.08) halo star HD 222925. This abundance set is the most complete…
A large number of R-matrix calculations of electron impact excitation for heavy elements (Z > 70) have been performed in recent years for applications in fusion and astrophysics research. With the expanding interest in heavy ions due to…