The Rare Earth Peak and the Astrophysical Location of the <i>r</i> Process

Mumpower, Matthew; McLaughlin, G. C.; Surman, Rebecca; Steiner, Andrew W.

doi:10.7566/jpscp.14.020614

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

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“…We explored the impact of this factor of two rate deviation on our reverse-engineering studies in Ref. [75]. We reran a selected set of the studies from Sec.…”

Section: Systematic Uncertaintiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Modern predictions of rare earth β-decay rates are in fairly good agreement, showing roughly a factor of 2 deviation between model calculations at high Q b [52,65,67]. We explored the impact of this factor of two rate deviation on our reverse-engineering studies in [83]. We reran a selected set of the studies from section 3.1 with rare earth β-decay rates everywhere either increased or decreased by a factor of two.…”

Section: Systematic Uncertaintiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reverse engineering nuclear properties from rare earth abundances in therprocess

Mumpower

McLaughlin

Surman

et al. 2017

J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phys.

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Abstract. The bulk of the rare earth elements are believed to be synthesized in the rapid neutron capture process or r process of nucleosynthesis. The solar r-process residuals show a small peak in the rare earths around A ∼ 160, which is proposed to be formed dynamically during the end phase of the r process by a pileup of material. This abundance feature is of particular importance as it is sensitive to both the nuclear physics inputs and the astrophysical conditions of the main r process. We explore the formation of the rare earth peak from the perspective of an inverse problem, using Monte Carlo studies of nuclear masses to investigate the unknown nuclear properties required to best match rare earth abundance sector of the solar isotopic residuals. When nuclear masses are changed, we recalculate the relevant β-decay properties and neutron capture rates in the rare earth region. The feedback provided by this observational constraint allows for the reverse engineering of nuclear properties far from stability where no experimental information exists. We investigate a range of astrophysical conditions with this method and show how these lead to different predictions in the nuclear properties influential to the formation of the rare earth peak. We conclude that targeted experimental campaigns in this region will help to resolve the type of conditions responsible for the production of the rare earth nuclei, and will provide new insights into the longstanding problem of the astrophysical site(s) of the r process. arXiv:1609.09858v1 [nucl-th] 30 Sep 2016Reverse engineering nuclear properties from rare earth abundances in the r process 2

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“…We explored the impact of this factor of two rate deviation on our reverse-engineering studies in Ref. [75]. We reran a selected set of the studies from Sec.…”

Section: Systematic Uncertaintiesmentioning

confidence: 99%