A high-entropy-wind r-process study based on nuclear-structure quantities from the new finite-range droplet model FRDM(2012)

Abstract

Attempts to explain the source of r-process elements in our solar system (S.S.) by particular astrophysical sites still face entwined uncertainties, stemming from the extrapolation of nuclear properties far from stability, inconsistent sources of different properties (e.g., nuclear masses and β-decay properties), and the poor understanding of astrophysical conditions, which are hard to disentangle. In this paper we present results from the investigation of r-process in the high-entropy wind (HEW) of core-collapse supernovae (here chosen as one of the possible scenarios for this nucleosynthesis process), using new nuclear-data input calculated in a consistent approach, for masses and β-decay properties from the new finite-range droplet model FRDM(2012). The accuracy of the new mass model is 0.56 MeV with respect to AME2003, to which it was adjusted. We compare the new HEW r-process abundance pattern to the latest S.S. r-process residuals and to our earlier calculations with the nuclear-structure quantities based on FRDM(1992). Substantial overall and specific local improvements in the calculated pattern of the r-process between A ≃ 110 and 209Bi, as well as remaining deficiencies, are discussed in terms of the underlying spherical and deformed shell structure far from stability. © 2014. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.