Related papers: Implications of a Weakening N = 126 Shell Closure …
Our understanding of the origin of heavy elements beyond iron relies on the rapid neutron capture process (r-process), which accounts for roughly half of their cosmic abundance. However, the extreme neutron-rich conditions required for the…
Heavy elements are synthesized by the r-process in neutron star mergers and potentially in rare supernovae linked to strong magnetic fields. Expensive hydrodynamic simulations of these extreme environments are usually post-processed to…
We explore the effects of nuclear masses on the temperature and neutron density conditions required for r-process nucleosynthesis using four nuclear mass models augmented by the latest atomic mass evaluation. For each model we derive the…
We use network calculations of r-process nucleosynthesis to explore the origin of the peak in the solar r-process abundance distribution near nuclear mass number A = 160. The peak is due to a subtle interplay of nuclear deformation and beta…
Current models for the $r$ process are summarized with an emphasis on the key constraints from both nuclear physics measurements and astronomical observations. In particular, we analyze the importance of nuclear physics input such as…
We have investigated the nuclear shell effects at N=126 in the region of the third peak of the r-process nucleosynthesis within the framework of the relativistic mean-field theory using the Lagrangian model NL-SV1 with the vector…
It is proposed here to investigate three major properties of the nuclear force that influence the amplitude of shell gaps, the nuclear binding energies as well as the nuclear $\beta$-decay properties far from stability, that are all key…
In the abundance spectrum of r-process nuclei the most prominent features are the peaks that form when the r-process flow passes through the closed neutron shells. However, there are also other features in the abundance spectrum that can…
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…
The focus of the present review is the production of the heaviest elements in nature via the r-process. A correct understanding and modeling requires the knowledge of nuclear properties far from stability and a detailed prescription of the…
Several circumstantial arguments point to the formation of the third r-process peak at A about 190, near platinum, in stars of mass of about 8-10 solar masses: 1) The delayed production of europium with respect to iron imposes a time scale…
We have investigated nuclear shell effects across the magic number N=126 in the region of the r-process path. Microscopic calculations have been performed using the relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov approach within the framework of the RMF…
We examine the Pb and Th abundances in 27 metal-poor stars (-3.1 < [Fe/H] < -1.4) whose very heavy metal (Z > 56) enrichment was produced only by the rapid (r-) nucleosynthesis process. New abundances are derived from HST/STIS, Keck/HIRES,…
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…
There has been a persistent conundrum in attempts to model the nucleosynthesis of heavy elements by rapid neutron capture (the $r$-process). Although the location of the abundance peaks near nuclear mass numbers 130 and 195 identify an…
A brief overview of the r-process is given with an emphasis on the observational implications for this process. The conditions required for the major production of the heavy r-process elements (r-elements) with mass numbers A >130 are…
The rapid neutron nucleosynthesis process involves an enormous amount of very exotic neutron-rich nuclei, which represent a theoretical and experimental challenge. Two of the main decay properties that affect the final abundance…
We show that long-range correlations for nuclear masses have a significant effect on the synthesis of heavy elements by the r-process. As calculated by Delaroche et al. [1], these correlations suppress magic number effects associated with…
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…
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…