Speaker
Description
.Exotic nuclei play an important role in many astrophysical
environments, in particular the collase of massive stars and
r-proccess nucleosynthesis. During the collapse, the composition of
the core is dominated by intermediate mass neutron-rich nuclei. Due to
the high temperatures and densities, electrons can be captured on
nuclei removing the major source of pressure support and accelerating
the collapse. Particularly important are electron capture rates around
the N=40 and N=50 and regions where there is experimental evidence
of large correlations across the shell closures. A proper account of
these correlations together with finite temperature effects is
fundamental to determine the relevant electron capture rates.
Compact binary mergers are currently considered the best candidate for
the main r-process site. These events are expected to produce
gravitational waves, likely to be observed by the LIGO collaboration,
and eject large amounts of neutron-rich material where the r process
operates. I will discuss the important role of nuclear
physics to determine the r-process yields from compact binary mergers.
In addition to neutron captures and beta decay, fission rates and
yields of superheavy neutron-rich nuclei are fundamental to understand
the r-process dynamics and nucleosynthesis. Mergers constitute also
ideal candidates to directly observe the r-process via an
electromagnetic transient due to the radioactive decay of r-process
material. This type of event, known as kilonova, may have already been
observed associated with the gamma-ray burst GRB 130603B.
