FRIB and the GW170817 Kilonova

Aprahamian, A.; Surman, R.; Frebel, A.; McLaughlin, G. C.; Arcones, A.; Balantekin, A. B.; Barnes, J.; Beers, Timothy C.; Holmbeck, Erika M.; Yoon, Jinmi; Brodeur, Maxime; Sprouse, T. M.; Vassh, Nicole; Cizewski, Jolie A.; Clark, Jason A.; Cote, Benoit; Couch, Sean M.; Eichler, M.; Engel, Jonathan; Ezzeddine, Rana; Fuller, George M.; Giuliani, Samuel A.; Grzywacz, Robert; Han, Sophia; Horowitz, C. J.; Kankainen, Anu; Korobkin, Oleg; Kwiatkowski, A. A.; Lawler, J. E.; Lippuner, Jonas; Litvinova, Elena; Mathews, G. J.; Mumpower, M. R.; Naimi, S.; Nazarewicz, W.; O'Connor, Evan; O'Shea, Brian W.; Perego, Albino; Perdikakis, G.; Radice, David; Richers, Sherwood; Roberts, Luke F.; Robin, Caroline; Roederer, Ian U.; Siegel, Daniel M.; Schunck, Nicolas; Spyrou, A.; Zhu, Yong-Lin

doi:10.48550/arxiv.1809.00703

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 268 publications

(402 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Nuclear physics experiments will also be crucial. Measurements of the properties of exotic nuclei, like those ongoing at RIKEN in Japan (e.g., Wu et al 2020) and the CARIBU facility at Argonne National Lab (e.g., Orford et al 2018), and planned for the TRIUMF Advanced Rare Isotope Laboratory (ARIEL), the FAIR accelerator facility at GSI, and the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB; Aprahamian et al 2018), will reduce nuclear physics uncertainties and confine plausible mass models to a more narrow region of parameter space. One of the goals of this investigation was to motivate experimental measurements of the nuclei with the greatest potential to promote this narrowing; see §5 of Z20 for a detailed inventory of key nuclei and reactions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kilonovae across the nuclear physics landscape: The impact of nuclear physics uncertainties on r-process-powered emission

Barnes,

Zhu,

Lund

et al. 2020

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Merging neutron stars produce "kilonovae"-electromagnetic transients powered by the decay of unstable nuclei synthesized via rapid neutron capture (the r -process) in material that is gravitationally unbound during inspiral and coalescence. Kilonova emission, if accurately interpreted, can be used to characterize the masses and compositions of merger-driven outflows, helping to resolve a long-standing debate about the origins of r -process material in the Universe. We explore how the uncertain properties of nuclei involved in the r -process complicate the inference of outflow properties from kilonova observations. Using r -process simulations, we show how nuclear physics uncertainties impact predictions of radioactive heating and element synthesis. For a set of models that span a large range in both predicted heating and final abundances, we carry out detailed numerical calculations of decay product thermalization and radiation transport in a kilonova ejecta with a fixed mass and density profile. The light curves associated with our models exhibit great diversity in their luminosities, with peak brightness varying by more than an order of magnitude. We also find variability in the shape of the kilonova light curves and their color, which in some cases runs counter to the expectation that increasing levels of lanthanide and/or actinide enrichment will be correlated with longer, dimmer, redder emission.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kilonovae across the nuclear physics landscape: The impact of nuclear physics uncertainties on r-process-powered emission

Barnes,

Zhu,

Lund

et al. 2020

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Overall, larger numbers of known r -II stars would increase e.g., identifications of kinematic groups in the Galactic halo or enable additional Th and U measurements. Hence, a main objective of the R-Process Alliance (RPA; Hansen et al 2018;Sakari et al 2018;Aprahamian et al 2018) is to increase the number of known r -II stars from ∼30 to ∼100. Applying information from additional statistically significant kinematic groupings to the ADM model could then be used to investigate whether NSMs are main sources of r -process material, or if the ADM suggests that other r -process sources are predominantly needed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This work was initiated by discussions at the FRIB Theory Alliance workshop, "FRIB and the GW170817 kilonova" (Aprahamian et al 2018)…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Actinide-rich and Actinide-poor r-process-enhanced Metal-poor Stars Do Not Require Separate r-process Progenitors

Holmbeck

Frebel

McLaughlin

et al. 2019

ApJ

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The astrophysical production site of the heaviest elements in the universe remains a mystery. Incorporating heavy element signatures of metal-poor, r -process enhanced stars into theoretical studies of r -process production can offer crucial constraints on the origin of heavy elements. In this study, we introduce and apply the "Actinide-Dilution with Matching" model to a variety of stellar groups ranging from actinide-deficient to actinide-enhanced to empirically characterize r -process ejecta mass as a function of electron fraction. We find that actinide-boost stars do not indicate the need for a unique and separate r -process progenitor. Rather, small variations of neutron richness within the same type of r -process event can account for all observed levels of actinide enhancements. The very low-Y e , fission-cycling ejecta of an r -process event need only constitute 10-30% of the total ejecta mass to accommodate most actinide abundances of metal-poor stars. We find that our empirical Y e distributions of ejecta are similar to those inferred from studies of GW170817 mass ejecta ratios, which is consistent with neutron-star mergers being a source of the heavy elements in metal-poor, r -process enhanced stars.

show abstract

“…We look forward to additional experimental efforts to measure beta-decay properties (Gade & Sherrill 2016;Aprahamian et al 2018;Tain et al 2018;Horowitz et al 2019;Allmond et al 2020;Savard et al 2020;Wu et al 2020;Schatz et al 2022), which will greatly help to reduce this source of uncertainty in the predictions of KN light curves and of abundance predictions. We also look forward to new theoretical predictions of the thermodynamic conditions in merging neutron stars, of fission yields and daughter products, and of neutron capture and alpha-decay rates, all of which have an important role to play.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of β-decay Rates on r-process Observables

Lund

Engel

McLaughlin

et al. 2023

ApJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The rapid neutron capture process (r-process) is one of the main mechanisms whereby elements heavier than iron are synthesized, and is entirely responsible for the natural production of the actinides. Kilonova emissions are modeled as being largely powered by the radioactive decay of species synthesized via the r-process. Given that the r-process occurs far from nuclear stability, unmeasured beta-decay rates play an essential role in setting the timescale for the r-process. In an effort to better understand the sensitivity of kilonova modeling to different theoretical global beta-decay descriptions, we incorporate these into nucleosynthesis calculations. We compare the results of these calculations and highlight differences in kilonova nuclear energy generation and light-curve predictions, as well as final abundances and their implications for nuclear cosmochronometry. We investigate scenarios where differences in beta-decay rates are responsible for increased nuclear heating on timescales of days that propagates into a significantly increased average bolometric luminosity between 1 and 10 days post-merger. We identify key nuclei, both measured and unmeasured, whose decay rates directly impact nuclear heating generation on timescales responsible for light-curve evolution. We also find that uncertainties in beta-decay rates significantly impact age estimates from cosmochronometry.

show abstract

FRIB and the GW170817 Kilonova

Cited by 4 publications

References 268 publications

Kilonovae across the nuclear physics landscape: The impact of nuclear physics uncertainties on r-process-powered emission

Kilonovae across the nuclear physics landscape: The impact of nuclear physics uncertainties on r-process-powered emission

Actinide-rich and Actinide-poor r-process-enhanced Metal-poor Stars Do Not Require Separate r-process Progenitors

The Influence of β-decay Rates on r-process Observables

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About