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article · Physical Review Letters

First Study of the <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mrow><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mrow><mml:mi>Ba</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mprescripts/><mml:none/><mml:mrow><mml:mn>139</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mo stretchy="false">(</mml:mo><mml:mi>n</mml:mi><mml:mo>,</mml:mo><mml:mi>γ</mml:mi><mml:mo stretchy="false">)</mml:mo><mml:mmultiscripts><mml:mrow><mml:mi>Ba</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mprescripts/><mml:none/><mml:mrow><mml:mn>140</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:mmultiscripts></mml:mrow></mml:math> Reaction to Constrain the Conditions for the Astrophysical <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mi>i</mml:mi></mml:math> Process

202411 citationsOpen accessUniversity of the Witwatersrand

Abstract

New astronomical observations point to a nucleosynthesis picture that goes beyond what was accepted until recently. The intermediate “i” process was proposed as a plausible scenario to explain some of the unusual abundance patterns observed in metal-poor stars. The most important nuclear physics properties entering i-process calculations are the neutron-capture cross sections and they are almost exclusively not known experimentally. In this report we provide the first experimental constraints on the &lt;sup&gt;139&lt;/sup&gt;Ba(n,γ)&lt;sup&gt;140&lt;/sup&gt;Ba reaction rate, which is the dominant source of uncertainty for the production of lanthanum, a key indicator of i-process conditions. This is an important step towards identifying the exact astrophysical site of stars carrying the i-process signature.

Research topics

  • Nuclear physics research studies
  • Astronomical and nuclear sciences
  • Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions

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DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.132.202701

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