Related papers: The s Process and Beyond
Slow neutron captures are responsible for the production of about $50\%$ of elements heavier than iron, mainly, occurring during the asymptotic giant branch phase of low-mass stars ($1$ $\lesssim M$/M$_{\odot}$ $\lesssim$ $3$), where the…
We investigated the impact of uncertainties in neutron-capture and weak reactions (on heavy elements) on the s-process nucleosynthesis in low-mass stars and massive stars using a Monte-Carlo based approach. We performed extensive nuclear…
We present the first detailed and homogeneous analysis of the s-element content in Galactic carbon stars of N-type. Abundances of Sr,Y, Zr (low-mass s-elements, or ls) and of Ba, La, Nd, Sm and Ce (high-mass s-elements, hs) are derived…
Nuclear masses play a fundamental role in understanding how the heaviest elements in the Universe are created in the $r$-process. We predict $r$-process nucleosynthesis yields using neutron capture and photodissociation rates that are based…
The chemical abundances of elements such as barium and the lanthanides are essential to understand the nucleosynthesis of heavy elements in the early Universe as well as the contribution of different neutron capture processes (for example…
We present the abundance analyses for the neutron-capture elements, and discuss the observed abundance distributions in very metal-poor stars with excesses of r-process elements. As has been found by previous abundance studies, the…
Neutron stars are some of the densest manifestations of massive objects in the universe. They are ideal astrophysical laboratories for testing theories of dense matter physics and provide connections among nuclear physics, particle physics…
The rapid neutron-capture process (r-process) is responsible for the creation of roughly half of the elements heavier than iron, including precious metals like silver, gold, and platinum, as well as radioactive elements such as thorium and…
In a brief review of abundances neutron-capture elements (Z > ~30) in metal-poor halo stars, attention is called to their star-to-star scatter, the dominance of r-process synthesis at lowest metallicities, the puzzle of the lighter members…
We examine electron-capture supernovae (ECSNe) as sources of elements heavier than iron in the solar system and in Galactic halo stars. Nucleosynthesis calculations are performed on the basis of thermodynamic histories of mass elements from…
Deciphering the conditions under which neutron captures occur in the Universe to synthesize heavy elements is an endeavour pursued since the 1950s, but that has proven elusive up to now due to the experimental difficulty of generating the…
Neutron capture data on intermediate mass nuclei are of key importance to nucleosynthesis in the weak component of the slow neutron capture processes, which occurs in massive stars. The ($n,\gamma$) cross section on $^{70}$Ge, which is…
Abundance observations indicate the presence of rapid-neutron capture (i.e., r-process) elements in old Galactic halo and globular cluster stars. These observations demonstrate that the earliest generations of stars in the Galaxy,…
The nucleosynthesis of elements beyond iron is dominated by neutron captures in the s and r processes. However, 32 stable, proton-rich isotopes cannot be formed during those processes, because they are shielded from the s-process flow and…
There has been significant progress in the understanding of the r-process over the last ten years. The conditions required for this process have been examined in terms of the parameters for adiabatic expansion from high temperature and…
We investigated the impact of uncertainties in neutron-capture and weak reactions (on heavy elements) on the s-process nucleosynthesis in low-mass stars using a Monte-Carlo based approach. We performed extensive nuclear reaction network…
Beyond iron, a small fraction of the total abundances in the Solar System is made of proton-rich isotopes, the p nuclei. The clear understanding of their production is a fundamental challenge for nuclear astrophysics. The p nuclei constrain…
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…
This paper provides a detailed analysis of the main component of the slow neutron capture process (the s-process), which accounts for the solar abundances of half of the nuclei with 90 <~ A <~ 208. We examine the impact of the uncertainties…
Abundance observations indicate the presence of often surprisingly large amounts of neutron capture (i.e., s- and r-process) elements in old Galactic halo and globular cluster stars. These observations provide insight into the nature of the…