Actinide opacities for modelling the spectra and light curves of kilonovae
Abstract
ABSTRACT We extend previous ab initio calculations of lanthanide opacities to include a complete set of actinide opacities for use in the modelling of kilonova (KN) light curves and spectra. Detailed, fine-structure line features are generated using the configuration-interaction approach. These actinide opacities display similar trends to those observed for lanthanide opacities, such as the lighter actinides producing higher opacity than the heavier ones for relevant conditions in the dynamical ejecta. A line-binned treatment is employed to pre-compute opacity tables for 14 actinide elements (89 ≤ Z ≤ 102) over a grid of relevant temperatures and densities. These tabular opacities will be made publicly available for general usage in KN modelling. We demonstrate the usefulness of these opacities in KN simulations by exploring the sensitivity of light curves and spectra to different actinide abundance distributions that are predicted by different nuclear theories, as well as to different choices of ejecta mass and velocity. We find very little sensitivity to the two considered distributions, indicating that opacities for actinides with Z ≥ 99 do not contribute strongly. On the other hand, a single actinide element, protactinium, is found to produce faint spectral features in the far-infrared at late times (5–7 d postmore »
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1908302
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 2310324
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-21-31109
Journal ID: ISSN 0035-8711
- Grant/Contract Number:
- 89233218CNA000001; 20190021DR
- Resource Type:
- Published Article
- Journal Name:
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Journal Volume: 519 Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 0035-8711
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- Country of Publication:
- United Kingdom
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; gravitational waves; opacity; radiative transfer; stars: neutron
Citation Formats
Fontes, C. J., Fryer, C. L., Wollaeger, R. T., Mumpower, M. R., and Sprouse, T. M. Actinide opacities for modelling the spectra and light curves of kilonovae. United Kingdom: N. p., 2022.
Web. doi:10.1093/mnras/stac2792.
Fontes, C. J., Fryer, C. L., Wollaeger, R. T., Mumpower, M. R., & Sprouse, T. M. Actinide opacities for modelling the spectra and light curves of kilonovae. United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac2792
Fontes, C. J., Fryer, C. L., Wollaeger, R. T., Mumpower, M. R., and Sprouse, T. M. Fri .
"Actinide opacities for modelling the spectra and light curves of kilonovae". United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac2792.
@article{osti_1908302,
title = {Actinide opacities for modelling the spectra and light curves of kilonovae},
author = {Fontes, C. J. and Fryer, C. L. and Wollaeger, R. T. and Mumpower, M. R. and Sprouse, T. M.},
abstractNote = {ABSTRACT We extend previous ab initio calculations of lanthanide opacities to include a complete set of actinide opacities for use in the modelling of kilonova (KN) light curves and spectra. Detailed, fine-structure line features are generated using the configuration-interaction approach. These actinide opacities display similar trends to those observed for lanthanide opacities, such as the lighter actinides producing higher opacity than the heavier ones for relevant conditions in the dynamical ejecta. A line-binned treatment is employed to pre-compute opacity tables for 14 actinide elements (89 ≤ Z ≤ 102) over a grid of relevant temperatures and densities. These tabular opacities will be made publicly available for general usage in KN modelling. We demonstrate the usefulness of these opacities in KN simulations by exploring the sensitivity of light curves and spectra to different actinide abundance distributions that are predicted by different nuclear theories, as well as to different choices of ejecta mass and velocity. We find very little sensitivity to the two considered distributions, indicating that opacities for actinides with Z ≥ 99 do not contribute strongly. On the other hand, a single actinide element, protactinium, is found to produce faint spectral features in the far-infrared at late times (5–7 d post merger). More generally, we find that the choice of ejecta mass and velocity have the most significant effect on KN emission for this study.},
doi = {10.1093/mnras/stac2792},
journal = {Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society},
number = 2,
volume = 519,
place = {United Kingdom},
year = {Fri Sep 30 00:00:00 EDT 2022},
month = {Fri Sep 30 00:00:00 EDT 2022}
}
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