Spallation of r-Process Nuclei Ejected from a Neutron Star Merger. (arXiv:2003.06370v1 [astro-ph.HE])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Wang_X/0/1/0/all/0/1">Xilu Wang</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Fields_B/0/1/0/all/0/1">Brian D. Fields</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Mumpower_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Matthew Mumpower</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Sprouse_T/0/1/0/all/0/1">Trevor Sprouse</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Surman_R/0/1/0/all/0/1">Rebecca Surman</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Vassh_N/0/1/0/all/0/1">Nicole Vassh</a>
Neutron star mergers (NSMs) are rapid neutron capture (r-process)
nucleosynthesis sites, which eject materials at high velocities, from 0.1c 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.
Neutron star mergers (NSMs) are rapid neutron capture (r-process)
nucleosynthesis sites, which eject materials at high velocities, from 0.1c 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.
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