Using failed supernovae to constrain the Galactic r-process element production

• Published in: arXiv.org 2019-08
• Main Authors: Wehmeyer, B, Frohlich, C, Côté, B, Pignatari, M, F -K Thielemann
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abundance; Binary stars; Black holes; Chemical evolution; Computer simulation; Ejecta; Galaxies; Iron; Metallicity; Neutron stars; Neutrons; Nuclear capture; Organic chemistry; Scattering; Star mergers; Stars & galaxies; Stellar age; Supernovae
• ISSN: 2331-8422
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1908.05617

Rapid neutron capture process (r-process) elements have been detected in a large fraction of metal-poor halo stars, with abundances relative to iron (Fe) that vary by over two orders of magnitude. This scatter is reduced to less than a factor of 3 in younger Galactic disc stars. The large scatter of r-process elements in the early Galaxy suggests that the r-process is made by rare events, like compact binary mergers and rare sub-classes of supernovae. Although being rare, neutron star mergers alone have difficulties to explain the observed enhancement of r-process elements in the lowest metallicity stars compared to Fe. The supernovae producing the two neutron stars already provide a substantial Fe abundance where the r-process ejecta from the merger would be injected. In this work we investigate another complementary scenario, where the r-process occurs in neutron star-black hole mergers in addition to neutron star mergers. Neutron star-black hole mergers would eject similar amounts of r-process matter as neutron star mergers, but only the neutron star progenitor would have produced Fe. Furthermore, a reduced efficiency of Fe production from single stars significantly alters the age-metallicity relation, which shifts the onset of r-process production to lower metallicities. We use the high-resolution [(20 pc)3/cell] inhomogeneous chemical evolution tool `ICE' to study the outcomes of these effects. In our simulations, an adequate combination of neutron star mergers and neutron star-black hole mergers qualitatively reproduces the observed r-process abundances in the Galaxy.