R-process | Wikipedia audio article | Wikipedia audio article
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Date: 2018-11-18

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SUMMARY
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The rapid neutron-capture process, or so-called r-process, is a set of nuclear reactions that in nuclear astrophysics is responsible for the creation (nucleosynthesis) of approximately half the abundances of the atomic nuclei heavier than iron, usually synthesizing the entire abundance of the two most neutron-rich stable isotopes of each heavy element. Chemical elements heavier than iron typically are enabled by the force between nucleons to be capable of six to ten stable isotopic forms having the same nuclear charge Z but differing in neutron number N, each of whose natural abundances contribute to the natural abundance of the chemical element. Each isotope is characterized by the number of neutrons that it contains. The r-process typically synthesizes new nuclei of the heaviest four isotopes of any heavy element, being totally responsible for the abundances of its two heaviest isotopes, which are referred to as r-only nuclei. The most abundant of these contribute to the r-process abundance peaks near atomic weights A = 82 (elements Se, Br and Kr), A = 130 (elements Te, I, and Xe) and A = 196 (elements Os, Ir and Pt).The r-process entails a succession of rapid neutron captures (hence the name) by one or more heavy seed nuclei, typically beginning with nuclei in the abundance peak centered on 56Fe. The captures must be rapid in the sense that the nuclei must not have time to undergo radioactive decay before another neutron arrives to be captured, a sequence that is halted only when the increasingly neutron-rich nuclei cannot physically retain another neutron. The r-process therefore must occur in locations where there exists a high density of free neutrons. Early studies reasoned that 1024 free neutrons per cm3 would be required if the temperature were about one billion degrees in order that the waiting points, at which no more neutrons can be captured, be at the atomic numbers of the abundance peaks for r-process nuclei. This amounts to almost a gram of free neutrons in every cubic centimeter, an astonishing number requiring extreme locations. Traditionally this suggested the material ejected from the reexpanded core of a core-collapse supernova (as part of supernova nucleosynthesis) or decompression of neutron-star matter thrown off by a binary neutron star merger. The relative contributions of these sources to the astrophysical abundance of r-process elements is a matter of ongoing research.A limited r-process-like series of neutron captures occurs to a minor extent in thermonuclear weapon explosions. These led to the discovery of the elements einsteinium (element 99) and fermium (element 100) in nuclear weapon fallout.
The r-process contrasts with the s-process, the other predominant mechanism for the production of heavy elements, which is nucleosynthesis by means of slow captures of neutrons. The s-process primarily occurs within ordinary stars, particularly AGB stars, where the neutron flux is sufficient to cause neutron captures to recur every 10–100 years, much too slow for the r-process, which requires 100 captures per second. The s-process is secondary, meaning that it requires pre-existing heavy isotopes as seed nuclei to be converted into other heavy nuclei by a slow sequence of captures of free neutrons. The r-process scenarios create their own seed nuclei, so they might proceed in massive stars that contain no heavy seed nuclei. Taken together, the r- and s-processes account for almost the entire abundance of chemical elements heavier than iron. The historical challenge has been to locate physical settings appropriate for their time scales.