Sensitivity studies for the weak r process: neutron capture rates
- Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556 (United States)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996 (United States)
- Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695 (United States)
Rapid neutron capture nucleosynthesis involves thousands of nuclear species far from stability, whose nuclear properties need to be understood in order to accurately predict nucleosynthetic outcomes. Recently sensitivity studies have provided a deeper understanding of how the r process proceeds and have identified pieces of nuclear data of interest for further experimental or theoretical study. A key result of these studies has been to point out the importance of individual neutron capture rates in setting the final r-process abundance pattern for a ‘main’ (A ∼ 130 peak and above) r process. Here we examine neutron capture in the context of a ‘weak’ r process that forms primarily the A ∼ 80 r-process abundance peak. We identify the astrophysical conditions required to produce this peak region through weak r-processing and point out the neutron capture rates that most strongly influence the final abundance pattern.
- OSTI ID:
- 22253500
- Journal Information:
- AIP Advances, Vol. 4, Issue 4; Other Information: (c) 2014 Author(s); Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2158-3226
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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