Calculating β Decay for the r Process
J. Engel with
M. Mustonen, T. Shafer C. Fröhlich, G. McLaughlin, M. Mumpower, R. Surman D. Gambacurta, M. Grasso
January 18, 2017 R-Process Abundances β decay is particularly important. Responsible for increasing Z throughout r process, and its competition with neutron capture during freeze-out can have large effect on abundances.
Nuclear Landscape
126 Limits of nuclear existence To convincingly locate the 82 site(s) of the r process, we r-process
need to know reaction 50
rates and properties in protons 82 28 rp-process very neutron-rich nuclei. 20 50 8 28 neutrons Density Functional Theory 2 20 Selfconsistent Mean Field 2 8 A=10 A~60 A=12
0Ñω Shell Towards a unified Ab initio Model description of the nucleus few-body calculations No-Core Shell Model G-matrix
Nuclear Landscape
126 Limits of nuclear existence To convincingly locate the 82 site(s) of the r process, we r-process
need to know reaction 50
rates and properties in protons 82 28 rp-process very neutron-rich nuclei. 20 50 8 28 neutrons Density Functional Theory 2 20 Selfconsistent Mean Field 2 8 A=10 A~60 A=12 β decay is particularly important. Responsible0Ñω Shell for increasingTowards aZ unified Ab initio Model description of the nucleus throughout r process, and its competitionfew-body with neutron capture calculations No-Core Shell Model during freeze-out can have large effectG-matrix on abundances.
So nuclear structure model must do good job with masses, spectra, and wave functions, in many isotopes.
Calculating β Decay is Hard Though, As We’ll See, It Gets a Bit Easier in Neutron-Rich Nuclei
To calculate β decay between two states, you need: an accurate value for the decay energy ∆E (since contribution to rate ∆E5 for “allowed” decay). ∝ matrix elements of the decay operator στ− and “forbidden" operators rτ−, rστ− between the two states.
The operator τ− turns a neutron into a proton; the allowed decay operator does that while flipping spin. Most of the time the decay operator leaves you above threshold, by the way. Calculating β Decay is Hard Though, As We’ll See, It Gets a Bit Easier in Neutron-Rich Nuclei
To calculate β decay between two states, you need: an accurate value for the decay energy ∆E (since contribution to rate ∆E5 for “allowed” decay). ∝ matrix elements of the decay operator στ− and “forbidden" operators rτ−, rστ− between the two states.
The operator τ− turns a neutron into a proton; the allowed decay operator does that while flipping spin. Most of the time the decay operator leaves you above threshold, by the way.
So nuclear structure model must do good job with masses, spectra, and wave functions, in many isotopes.
What’s Usually Been Used for β-Decay in Simulations