2008/03/31 by R. Surman, G. C. McLaughlin, M. Ruffert +3 · 3 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Accretion (finance) #Accretion disc #Black hole (networking) #Context (archaeology) #Earth Systems and Cosmic Evolution #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Neutrino #Neutron star #Nucleosynthesis #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Stellar black hole #astro-ph #nucl-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/589507
published as Astrophys.J.679:L117-L120,2008 · 10 pages, 4 figures, one table and additional references added
openalex publication_date 2008/05/08 · arxiv created 2008/06/25 · arxiv updated 2010/11/11 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We consider hot accretion disk outflows from black hole-neutron star mergers in the context of the nucleosynthesis they produce. We begin with a three-dimensional numerical model of a black hole-neutron star merger and calculate the neutrino and antineutrino fluxes emitted from the resulting accretion disk. We then follow the element synthesis in material outflowing the disk along parameterized trajectories. We find that at least a weak r -process is produced, and in some cases a main r -process as well. The neutron-rich conditions required for this production of r -process nuclei stem directly from the interactions of the neutrinos emitted by the disk with the free neutrons and protons in the outflow.