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Register a new userThe s Process: Nuclear Physics, Stellar Models, Observations
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Nucleosynthesis in the s process takes place in the He burning layers of low mass AGB stars and during the He and C burning phases of massive stars. The s process contributes about half of the element abundances between Cu and Bi in solar system material. Depending on stellar mass and metallicity the resulting s-abundance patterns exhibit characteristic features, which provide comprehensive information for our understanding of the stellar life cycle and for the chemical evolution of galaxies. The rapidly growing body of detailed abundance observations, in particular for AGB and post-AGB stars, for objects in binary systems, and for the very faint metal-poor population represents exciting challenges and constraints for stellar model calculations. Based on updated and improved nuclear physics data for the s-process reaction network, current models are aiming at ab initio solution for the stellar physics related to convection and mixing processes. Progress in the intimately related areas of observations, nuclear and atomic physics, and stellar modeling is reviewed and the corresponding interplay is illustrated by the general abundance patterns of the elements beyond iron and by the effect of sensitive branching points along the s-process path. The strong variations of the s-process efficiency with metallicity bear also interesting consequences for Galactic chemical evolution.
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The s-process, a production mechanism based on slow-neutron capture during stellar evolution, is the origin of about half the elements heavier than iron. Abundance predictions for s-process nucleosynthesis depend strongly on the relevant neutron-capture and $beta$-decay rates, as well as on the details of the stellar model being considered. Here, we have used a Monte-Carlo approach to evaluate the nuclear uncertainty in s-process nucleosynthesis. We considered the helium burning of massive stars for the weak s-process and low-mass asymptotic-giant-branch stars for the main s-process. Our calculations include a realistic and general prescription for the temperature dependent uncertainty for the reaction cross sections. We find that the adopted uncertainty for (${rm n},gamma$) rates, tens of per cent on average, effects the production of s-process nuclei along the line of $beta$-stability, and that the uncertainties in $beta$-decay from excited state contributions, has the strongest impact on branching points.
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 calculations that include newly evaluated temperature-dependent upper and lower limits for the individual reaction rates. Our sophisticated approach is able to evaluate the reactions that impact more significantly the final abundances. We found that beta-decay rate uncertainties affect typically nuclides near s-process branchings, whereas most of the uncertainty in the final abundances is caused by uncertainties in neutron capture rates, either directly producing or destroying the nuclide of interest. Combined total nuclear uncertainties due to reactions on heavy elements are approximately 50%.
High-resolution spectroscopic observations of a hundred metal-poor Carbon and s-rich stars (CEMP-s) collected from the literature are compared with the theoretical nucleosynthesis models of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) presented in Paper I (M = 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 2 Msun, -3.6 < [Fe/H] < -1.5). The s-process enhancement detected in these objects is associated to binary systems: the more massive companion evolved faster through the thermally pulsing AGB phase (TP-AGB), synthesising in the inner He-intershell the s-elements, which are partly dredged-up to the surface during the third dredge-up (TDU) episode. The secondary observed low mass companion became CEMP-s by mass transfer of C and s-rich material from the primary AGB. We analyse the light elements as C, N, O, Na and Mg, as well as the two s-process indicators, [hs/ls] (where ls = <Y, Zr> is the the light-s peak at N = 50 and hs = <La, Nd, Sm> the heavy-s peak at N = 82), and [Pb/hs]. We distinguish between CEMP-s with high s-process enhancement, [hs/Fe] > 1.5 (CEMP-sII), and mild s-process enhanced stars, [hs/Fe] < 1.5 (CEMP-sI). To interpret the observations, .... . Detailed analyses for individual stars will be provided in Paper III.
The r-process, or the rapid neutron-capture process, of stellar nucleosynthesis is called for to explain the production of the stable (and some long-lived radioactive) neutron-rich nuclides heavier than iron that are observed in stars of various metallicities, as well as in the solar system. A very large amount of nuclear information is necessary in order to model the r-process. This concerns the static characteristics of a large variety of light to heavy nuclei between the valley of stability and the vicinity of the neutron-drip line, as well as their beta-decay branches or their reactivity. The enormously challenging experimental and theoretical task imposed by all these requirements is reviewed, and the state-of-the-art development in the field is presented. Nuclear-physics-based and astrophysics-free r-process models of different levels of sophistication have been constructed over the years. We review their merits and their shortcomings. For long, the core collapse supernova of massive stars has been envisioned as the privileged r-process location. We present a brief summary of the one- or multidimensional spherical or non-spherical explosion simulations available to-date. Their predictions are confronted with the requirements imposed to obtain an r-process. The possibility of r-nuclide synthesis during the decompression of the matter of neutron stars following their merging is also discussed.
Merging neutron stars produce kilonovae---electromagnetic transients powered by the decay of unstable nuclei synthesized via rapid neutron capture (the r-process) in material that is gravitationally unbound during inspiral and coalescence. Kilonova emission, if accurately interpreted, can be used to characterize the masses and compositions of merger-driven outflows, helping to resolve a long-standing debate about the origins of r-process material in the Universe. We explore how the uncertain properties of nuclei involved in the r-process complicate the inference of outflow properties from kilonova observations. Using r-process simulations, we show how nuclear physics uncertainties impact predictions of radioactive heating and element synthesis. For a set of models that span a large range in both predicted heating and final abundances, we carry out detailed numerical calculations of decay product thermalization and radiation transport in a kilonova ejecta with a fixed mass and density profile. The light curves associated with our models exhibit great diversity in their luminosities, with peak brightness varying by more than an order of magnitude. We also find variability in the shape of the kilonova light curves and their color, which in some cases runs counter to the expectation that increasing levels of lanthanide and/or actinide enrichment will be correlated with longer, dimmer, redder emission.
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