Actinide-rich and Actinide-poor $r$-Process Enhanced Metal-Poor Stars do not Require Separate $r$-Process Progenitors

Understand

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.