The sensitivity of r-process nucleosynthesis to the properties of neutron-rich nuclei

Understand

About half of the heavy elements in the Solar System were created by rapid neutron capture, or r-process, nucleosynthesis.

• In the r-process, heavy elements are built up via a sequence of neutron captures and beta decays in which an intense neutron flux pushes material out towards the neutron drip line.
• The nuclear network simulations used to test potential astrophysical scenarios for the r-process therefore require nuclear physics data (masses, beta decay lifetimes, neutron capture rates, fission probabilities) for thousands of nuclei far from stability.
• Only a small fraction of this data has been experimentally measured.