R-Process Freezeout, Nuclear Deformation, and the Rare-Earth Element Peak

1997/01/03 by Rebecca Surman, R. Surman, J. Engel +7
Energy · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Global Energy and Sustainability Research #Graphite, nuclear technology, radiation studies #Nuclear Theory (nucl-th) #astro-ph #nucl-th

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/9701007

7 pages + 4 postscript figures, in RevTeX

arxiv created 1997/01/03 · openalex publication_date 1997/01/03 · arxiv updated 2016/08/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

We use network calculations of r-process nucleosynthesis to explore the origin of the peak in the solar r-process abundance distribution near nuclear mass number A = 160. The peak is due to a subtle interplay of nuclear deformation and beta decay, and forms not in the steady phase of the r-process, but only just prior to freezeout, as the free neutrons rapidly disappear. Its existence should therefore help constrain the conditions under which the r-process occurs and freezes out.

Related

• Complete survey of r-process conditions: the (un-)robustness of the r-process(-es)
• The Rare Earth Peak : An Overlooked r-Process Diagnostic
• r-process nucleosynthesis with ab initio nuclear masses around the N=82 shell closure
• The need for a local nuclear physics feature in the neutron-rich rare-earths to explain solar r-process abundances
• The r-Process without Excess Neutrons