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Title: Isochronic Evolution and the Radioactive Decay of r-process Nuclei

Abstract

We report on the creation and application of a novel decay network that uses the latest data from experiment and evaluation. We use the network to simulate the late-time phase of the rapid neutron capture (r) process. In this epoch, the bulk of nuclear reactions, such as radiative capture, have ceased, and nuclear decays are the dominant transmutation channels. We find that the decay from short-lived to long-lived species naturally leads to an isochronic evolution in which nuclei with similar half-lives are populated at the same time. We consider random perturbations along each isobaric chain to initial solar-like r-process compositions to demonstrate the isochronic nature of the late-time phase of the r-process. Our analysis shows that detailed knowledge of the final isotopic composition allows for the prediction of late-time evolution with a high degree of confidence despite uncertainties that exist in astrophysical conditions and the nuclear physics properties of the most neutron-rich nuclei. We provide the time-dependent nuclear composition in the Appendix as supplemental material.

Authors:
ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
OSTI Identifier:
1862057
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1871475; OSTI ID: 1997170
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-21-20819; LA-UR-21-20818
Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X
Grant/Contract Number:  
89233218CNA000001; 20190021DR
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
The Astrophysical Journal
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: The Astrophysical Journal Journal Volume: 929 Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X
Publisher:
American Astronomical Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; R-process; nucleosynthesis; nuclear astrophysics

Citation Formats

Sprouse, T. M., Misch, G. Wendell, and Mumpower, M. R. Isochronic Evolution and the Radioactive Decay of r-process Nuclei. United States: N. p., 2022. Web. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ac470f.
Sprouse, T. M., Misch, G. Wendell, & Mumpower, M. R. Isochronic Evolution and the Radioactive Decay of r-process Nuclei. United States. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac470f
Sprouse, T. M., Misch, G. Wendell, and Mumpower, M. R. Fri . "Isochronic Evolution and the Radioactive Decay of r-process Nuclei". United States. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac470f.
@article{osti_1862057,
title = {Isochronic Evolution and the Radioactive Decay of r-process Nuclei},
author = {Sprouse, T. M. and Misch, G. Wendell and Mumpower, M. R.},
abstractNote = {We report on the creation and application of a novel decay network that uses the latest data from experiment and evaluation. We use the network to simulate the late-time phase of the rapid neutron capture (r) process. In this epoch, the bulk of nuclear reactions, such as radiative capture, have ceased, and nuclear decays are the dominant transmutation channels. We find that the decay from short-lived to long-lived species naturally leads to an isochronic evolution in which nuclei with similar half-lives are populated at the same time. We consider random perturbations along each isobaric chain to initial solar-like r-process compositions to demonstrate the isochronic nature of the late-time phase of the r-process. Our analysis shows that detailed knowledge of the final isotopic composition allows for the prediction of late-time evolution with a high degree of confidence despite uncertainties that exist in astrophysical conditions and the nuclear physics properties of the most neutron-rich nuclei. We provide the time-dependent nuclear composition in the Appendix as supplemental material.},
doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/ac470f},
journal = {The Astrophysical Journal},
number = 1,
volume = 929,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Apr 08 00:00:00 EDT 2022},
month = {Fri Apr 08 00:00:00 EDT 2022}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
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https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac470f

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