Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
May 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008apj...678.1517f&link_type=abstract
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 678, Issue 2, pp. 1517-1529.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
1
Dense Matter, Equation Of State, Nuclear Reactions, Nucleosynthesis, Abundances, Stars: Evolution
Scientific paper
Electron capture rate, e-neutrino absorption rate, and e-neutrino absorption mean free path in hot and dense astronuclear matter are calculated in the framework of relativistic mean field (RMF) theory. Their dependence on the density, temperature, and the neutrino abundance of the matter is investigated. We find that the electron capture rate and the neutrino absorption rate are proportional to the cube of the value of the temperature as e-neutrinos are trapped in the stellar matter, and the e-neutrino absorption mean free path is proportional to the inverse of the square of the temperature. The reaction rates increase with the density and the neutrino abundance of the matter. Exact calculation of the reaction rates and the neutrino absorption mean free path is compared with that utilizing the degeneracy approximation. It shows that the latter is inappropriate under the following circumstances: when the stellar matter has a low neutrino abundance, when the density is about or less than the nuclear saturation density, and when the temperature of the matter has a relatively high value, being of the order of 10 MeV or even higher. Kinematically suppressed electron capture or neutrino absorption can be reopened by increasing the temperature of the matter, and its threshold value is about several MeVs when the density of the stellar matter is around the nuclear saturation density. We also discuss the case which is out of beta equilibrium, and the relaxation timescale is estimated. In addition, we show that the strong interactions manifested by the RMF theory decrease the electron capture rate and enlarge the neutrino mean free path if the neutrinos are trapped.
Fu Wei-jie
Liu Yu-Xin
Wang Guo-Hua
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