6533b826fe1ef96bd1285043

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Nuclear Physics Constraints to Bring the Astrophysical R-Process to the “Waiting Point”

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description

Rapid neutron-capture (r-process) nucleosynthesis of heavy elements generally involves the participation of large numbers of stable to highly unstable nuclear species. Most of these properties are experimentally unknown and have to be predicted from nuclear models. So far, the uncertainties of such predictions have not allowed putting substantial constraints on astrophysical scenarios. For the classical r-process it is shown that the s-decay properties of only a few key-nuclei, i.e. the recently measured “waiting-point” nuclei 130Cd82 and 80Zn50 together with new shell-model predictions for their N ≈ 82 and 50 neighbours, may be sufficient to explain the observed r-abundances in the A ≈ 130 and 80 abundance peaks. Based on this result, new constraints are given on the stellar conditions under which a steady-flow r-process has operated.