Speaker
Gabriel Martinez-Pinedo
(GSI Darmstadt and TU Darmstadt)
Description
Half of the elements heavier than iron are produced by the r process under extreme conditions. To identify its site remains one of the major challenges in nuclear astrophysics. Advances in the description of neutrino-matter interactions and its implementation in core-collapse supernova modelling have lead to the conclusion that supernova explosions only contribute to the production of elements with Z < 50. Compact binary mergers are currently considered the best candidate for the main r-process site. These events are expected to produce gravitational waves, likely to be observed by the LIGO collaboration, and eject large amounts of neutron-rich material where the r process operates. In this talk, I will discuss the important role of nuclear physics to determine the r-process yields from compact binary mergers. In addition to neutron captures and beta decay, fission rates and yields of superheavy neutron-rich nuclei are fundamental to understand the r-process dynamics and
nucleosynthesis. Mergers constitute also ideal candidates to directly observe the r-process via an electromagnetic transient due to the radioactive decay of r-process material. This type of event, known as kilonova, may have already been observed associated with the gamma-ray burst GRB 130603B.
Primary author
Gabriel Martinez-Pinedo
(GSI Darmstadt and TU Darmstadt)