Nuclear astrophysics with neutrons

Abstract

Neutrons play a crucial role in astrophysics during the heavy element nucleosynthesis. The largest fraction of isotopes heavier than iron is produced by neutron capture processes on short (r process) and long timescales (s process). During the ``slow neutron capture process'' (s process) heavier elements are produced by successive captures of in-situ produced neutrons from the reactions 13C(α,n)16O and 22Ne(α,n)25Mg (with densities of 106−1010 cm−3) in the interior of stars and following β-decays. With this scenario the reaction path runs along the valley of stability up to 209Bi and produces about 50% of the solar abundances of the heavy elements. Important nuclear physics parameters for s-process nucleosynthesis are neutron capture cross sections (for En = 0.3–300 keV, corresponding to stellar temperatures between kT= 8 and 90 keV) and β-decay half-lives. Neutron capture measurements can be performed via activation in a quasi-stellar neutron spectrum utilizing several (p,n) reactions, or by the time-of-flight technique. The ``rapid neutron capture process'' (r process) is responsible for the remaining 50% of the solar abundances. Here neutrons with densities of 1020−1030 cm−3 are captured on a very fast timescale (ms) during a Core Collapse Supernova in a region close to the forming neutron star. The r-process nuclei are thus very short-lived, neutron-rich isotopes up to the actinides, which can only be produced and investigated at large-scale radioactive-beam facilities. Here the most important nuclear physics parameters are masses, half-lives, and at later stages also β-delayed neutrons. This paper will summarize the role of neutrons in nuclear astrophysics and give a short overview about the related astrophysics programs at the GSI Helmholtz research center and the FRANZ facility in Germany.