2025/09/29 by Qiang Hu, Hu, Qi-Ye, Long-Jun Wang +3
Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Nuclear Theory (nucl-th) #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #Radioactive Decay and Measurement Techniques
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2509.24536
openalex publication_date 2025/09/29 · openalex created_date 2025/10/19 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Reliable nuclear weak rates are key inputs for understanding the origin of heavy elements and constraining the environments of the corresponding stellar nucleosynthesis. We present the effective stellar β--decay rates of the N=50, 82, 126 r-process waiting-point nuclei in realistic stellar environments with high temperature, high density and strong magnetic field. Both allowed and first-forbidden transitions are considered, and transitions from the low-lying states of parent nuclei due to the thermal population are taken into account properly. The stellar β--decay rates of the N=50, 82 waiting points are not sensitive to stellar temperature, while those of the N=126 waiting points increase rapidly with stellar temperature. With the increase of stellar density, the electron chemical potential increases accordingly, which leads to reduction of the stellar β-decay rates. Besides, the stellar β-decay rates are found to increase rapidly with the magnetic field B when B \gtrsim 1014 G. Depending on the stellar temperature, density and magnetic field, the rates may vary by several orders of magnitude, which indicates that dynamic β-decay rates for corresponding stellar conditions may be indispensable inputs for understanding the r-process nucleosynthesis.