Decay Characteristics of Neutron Excess Zinc Nuclei

Joseph Bevelacqua

doi:10.32388/jzi1lg

Abstract

In neutron star mergers, neutron excess nuclei and the r-process are important factors governing the production of heavy nuclear systems. An evaluation of zinc nuclei suggests that the heaviest Z = 30 nucleus will have mass 88 with filling of the 3s1/2 neutron shell. A = 84 – 88 zinc isotopes have limited experimental half-life data, but the model predicts beta decay half-lives in the range of 60 – 100 ms. Based on comparisons to Z = 20 and Z = 26 systems, these results likely overestimate the experimental half-lives of these A = 84 – 88 neutron excess zinc nuclei.

Highlights

The nucleosynthesis of heavy elements occurs by three basic processes that add protons or neutrons to a nuclear system[1,2]
Capture of protons by nuclear systems produces predominantly proton-rich nuclei that tend to decay by positron emission and electron capture[1,2]
Neutron capture creates neutron-rich nuclei, and the resulting nuclear system depends upon the rate of neutron addition and the beta decay rates of the residual nuclei

Summary

Introduction

The nucleosynthesis of heavy elements occurs by three basic processes that add protons or neutrons to a nuclear system[1,2]. These facilities enable a new class of experiments to determine the physical properties needed by theoretical models to determine the structure of unstable neutron excess nuclei. This paper attempts to partially fill this void by calculating the decay properties of neutron excess systems that are important in nucleosynthesis. These theoretical studies should assist in planning future experiments associated with neutron excess systems that are far removed from the line of stability. An additional study of neutron excess fluorine systems[11] was performed using a similar methodology

Calculational Methodology

Results and Discussion

Conclusions