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arXiv 2109.09162astro-ph.HEgr-qcnucl-th
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从紧二元并合得到$r$过程核合成

$r$-process nucleosynthesis from compact binary mergers

Albino Perego, Friedrich-Karl Thielemann, Gabriele Cescutti

摘要:

两颗中子星或一颗中子星与一个黑洞的合并,往往会导致在太空中高速膨胀的太阳质量物质的几分之一被喷射出来。由于物质来自于中子星的剧烈分裂,这些喷出物最初非常致密、炽热,而且中子含量极高。少数可用的质子形成重核(“种子”),吸收更多的自由中子,增加它们的大小。中子密度如此之高,以至于在产生的不稳定核可以衰变到更稳定的构型之前发生了大量的中子捕获,将中子转化为质子。主要取决于初始中子丰度,这种机制导致形成高达一半的重元素,我们在自然界中观察到,它被称为快速中子捕获过程(“$r$ -过程”)。要预测喷出物的精确成分,需要对实验室中从未产生过的非常奇特的核的性质有详细的了解。尽管长期以来一直是一种推测性的情况,但现在有几个观测证据表明,紧凑的双星合并是宇宙中形成重元素的主要场所之一。其中最引人注目的是在一颗中子星双星合并后探测到了千诺瓦:这一天文瞬变现象发出的光确实是由新合成的富中子核的放射性衰变提供动力的,这证明了紧凑双星合并作为宇宙锻造的实际性质。

英文摘要:

The merger of two neutron stars or of a neutron star and a black hole often result in the ejection of a few percents of a solar mass of matter expanding at high speed in space. Being matter coming from the violent disruption of a neutron star, these ejecta are initially very dense, hot and extremely rich in neutrons. The few available protons form heavy nuclei ("seeds") that absorb the more abundant free neutrons, increasing their size. The neutron density is so high that a substantial number of neutron captures occur before the resulting unstable nuclei can decay toward more stable configurations, converting neutrons into protons. Depending mostly on the initial neutron richness, this mechanism leads to the formation of up to half of the heavy elements that we observe in nature and it is called rapid neutron capture process ("$r$-process"). The prediction of the precise composition of the ejecta requires a detailed knowledge of the properties of very exotic nuclei, that have never been produced in a laboratory. Despite having long been a speculative scenario, nowadays several observational evidences point to compact binary mergers as one of the major sites where heavy elements are formed in the Universe. The most striking one was the detection of a kilonova following the merger of a neutron star binary: the light emitted by this astronomical transient is indeed powered by the radioactive decay of freshly synthesized neutron-rich nuclei and testifies the actual nature of compact binary mergers as cosmic forges.

机构、总结、中文摘要均由AI分析而来,可能存在错误,请以论文正文为准。

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