Sensitivity of r-Process Nucleosynthesis to Light-Element Nuclear Reactions

Details Sensitivity of r-Process Nucleosynthesis to Light-Element Nuclear Reactions Sensitivity of r-Process Nucleosynthesis to Light-Element Nuclear Reactions

2005-04-24

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0504526v4

Astrophys.J.634:1173-1189,2005

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

ApJ (2005) in press, 47pages, 13figures

Scientific paper

10.1086/497061

We study the efficiency and sensitivity of r-process nucleosynthesis to 18 light-element nuclear reaction rates. We adopt empirical power-law relations to parameterize the reaction sensitivities. We utilize two different hydrodynamic models for the neutrino-driven winds in order to study the dependence of our result on supernova wind models. We also utilize an exponential model to approximate a wide variety of other plausible conditions for the r-process. We identify several specific nuclear reactions among light neutron-rich nuclei that play a critical role in determining the final r-process nucleosynthesis yields. As an illustration, we examine ``semi-waiting'' points among the carbon isotopes. We show that not only neutron capture and $\beta$-decay, but also $(\alpha, \mathrm{n})$ reactions are important in determining waiting points along the r-process path. Our numerical results from this sensitivity analysis serve foremost to clarify which light nuclear reactions are most influential in determining the final r-process abundances. We also quantify the effects of present nuclear uncertainties on the final r-process abundances. This study thus emphasizes and motivates which future determinations of nuclear reaction rates will most strongly impact our understanding of r-process nucleosynthesis.

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