Sites of rapid neutron-capture nucleosynthesis
About half of the atoms of elements heavier than iron, and nearly all of the gold and uranium, form when nuclei absorb neutrons faster than they can decay, the r-process. Neutron-star mergers are one confirmed site, but whether they make most of it is debated.
Why it matters
It decides where the heaviest elements come from and connects nuclear physics to stellar explosions.
Review
J. J. Cowan, C. Sneden, J. E. Lawler, A. Aprahamian, M. Wiescher, K. Langanke, G. Martinez-Pinedo, F.-K. Thielemann, Origin of the heaviest elements: The rapid neutron-capture process, Reviews of Modern Physics, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.93.015002 reference checked
Timestamp record
- Signed record
- 629fb53d8771…
- Public log
- Entry 49, in checkpoint 2,123
- In the log by
- Block 969,698, 2026-10-03
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