Nuclear field vs. nucleosynthetic effects as cause of isotopic anomalies in the early Solar System

Abstract

Even in the absence of nucleosynthesis, mass-independent isotope effect due to nuclear field can lead to a number of isotope anomalies found in refractory inclusions of chondrites. Isotope anomalies observed for Ba, Ca, Sr, Ti, and Cr in FUN inclusions may simply be explained by the nuclear field effects of these elements. A whole class of isotopic heterogeneities may therefore reflect evaporation/condensation processes in the solar nebula rather than nucleosynthetic effects. We speculate that the current estimates of the r-process component of the normal solar material may be affected by non-mass dependent fractionation effects.