Isochronic Evolution and the Radioactive Decay of r-process Nuclei

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 ce...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astrophysical journal 2022-04, Vol.929 (1), p.22
Main Authors: Sprouse, T. M., Misch, G. Wendell, Mumpower, M. R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astrophysics
Composition
Evolution
Isotope composition
Nuclear astrophysics
Nuclear capture
Nuclear physics
Nuclear reactions
Nuclei
Nucleosynthesis
Perturbation
R-process
Radioactive decay
Time dependence
Transmutation
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.3847/1538-4357/ac470f