Spallation of r-Process Nuclei Ejected from a Neutron Star Merger. (October 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wang, Xilu; Fields, Brian D.; Mumpower, Matthew; Sprouse, Trevor; Surman, Rebecca; Vassh, Nicole
• Is Part Of: Journal of physics. Volume 1668(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-10
• Subjects: r-process -- nucleosynthesis -- nuclear reaction cross sections -- nuclear abundances -- compact binary stars; Physics -- Congresses; 530.5
• DOI: 10.1088/1742-6596/1668/1/012049
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1742-6588

Abstract

Abstract: Neutron star mergers (NSMs) are rapid neutron capture ( r -process) nucleosynthesis sites, which eject materials at high velocities, from 0.1 c to as high as 0.6c. Thus the r-process nuclei ejected from a NSM event are sufficiently energetic to initiate spallation reactions with the interstellar medium (ISM) particles. With a thick-target model for the propagation of high-speed heavy nuclei in the ISM, we find that spallation reactions may shift the r-process abundance patterns towards solar data, particularly around the low-mass edges of the r -process peaks where neighboring nuclei have very different abundances. The spallation effects depend both on the astrophysical conditions of the r-process nuclei and nuclear physics inputs for the nucleosynthesis calculations and the propagation process. This work extends that of [Wang et al.(2019)] by focusing on the influence of nuclear physics variations on spallation effects.