Astrophysically important reactions and nucleosynthesis processes

Abstract

Neutrino reactions play an important role at various stages of core-collapse supernova. During infall, neutrinos are produced by electron capture mainly on nuclei and contribute significantly to the cooling of the collapsing core. After core bounce the nascent neutron star cools by neutrino emission. It is a major goal to observe such neutrinos from a future supernova by earthbound detectors and to establish their spectra. Recently it has been shown that the spectrum of electron neutrinos from the early neutrino burst is significantly altered if inelastic neutrino-nucleus scattering is considered in supernova simulations. The neutrino wind from the nascent neutron star is the site of explosive nucleosynthesis, including the recently discovered vp process and likely the r-process. Finally spallation reactions induced by neutrinos when passing through the outer burning shells can produce certain nuclides in what is called neutrino nucleosynthesis.