Half-lives Of Neutron-rich Nuclei Research Articles

An empirical formula of nuclear <i>β</i>-decay half-lives

Nuclear <i>β</i>-decay half-lives play an important role not only in nuclear physics, but also in astrophysics. The <i>β</i>-decay half-lives of many nuclei involved in the astrophysical rapid neutron-capture (r -process) still cannot be measured experimentally, so the theoretical predictions of nuclear <i>β</i>-decay half-lives are inevitable for r-process studies. Theoretical models for studying the nuclear <i>β</i>-decay half-lives include the empirical formula, the gross theory, the quasiparticle random phase approximation (QRPA), and the shell model. Compared with other theoretical models of <i>β</i>-decay half-lives, the empirical formula has high computational efficiency, and its prediction accuracy can be improved by introducing more and more physical information. In this work, an empirical formula without free parameters is proposed to calculate the nuclear <i>β</i>-decay half-lives based on the Fermi theory of <i>β</i> decay. By including the pairing effect, the shell effect, and the isospin dependence, the newly proposed empirical formula significantly improves the accuracy of predicting the nuclear <i>β</i>-decay half-life. For the nuclei with half-lives less than 1 second, the root-mean-square deviation of the common logarithms of the nuclear <i>β</i>-decay half-life predicted by the new empirical formula from the experimental data decreases to 0.220, which is improved by about 54% compared with that by the empirical formula without free parameters, even better than those by other existing empirical formulas and microscopic QRPA approaches. In the unknown region, the nuclear <i>β</i>-decay half-lives predicted by the new empirical formula are generally shorter than those predicted by the microscopic models in the light nuclear region, while those predicted by the new empirical formula in the heavy nuclear region are generally in agreement with those predicted by the microscopic models. The half-lives of neutron-rich nuclei on the nuclear chart are then predicted by the new empirical formula, providing nuclear <i>β</i>-decay half-life inputs for the r-process simulations.

Shell Model Applications in Nuclear Astrophysics

In recent years, shell model studies have significantly contributed in improving the nuclear input, required in simulations of the dynamics of astrophysical objects and their associated nucleosynthesis. This review highlights a few examples such as electron capture rates and neutrino-nucleus cross sections, important for the evolution and nucleosynthesis of supernovae. For simulations of rapid neutron-capture (r-process) nucleosynthesis, shell model studies have contributed to an improved understanding of half lives of neutron-rich nuclei with magic neutron numbers and of the nuclear level densities and γ-strength functions that are both relevant for neutron capture rates.

Strongly screening corrections to antineutrino energy loss by β − $\beta ^{-}$ -decay of nuclides 53Fe, 54Fe, 55Fe, and 56Fe in supernova

Based on the p-f shell-model, we discuss and calculate $\beta^{-}$ -decay half-lives of neutron-rich nuclei, with a consideration of shell and pair effects, the decay energy, and the nucleon numbers. According to the linear response theory model, we study the effect of electron screening on the electron energy, beta-decay threshold energy, and the antineutrino energy loss rate by $\beta^{-}$ -decay of some iron isotopes. We find that the electron screening antineutrino energy loss rates increase by about two orders of magnitude due to the shell effects and the pairing effect. Beta-decay rates with Q-value corrections due to strong electron screening are higher than those without the Q-value corrections by more than two orders of magnitude. Our conclusions may be helpful for the research on numerical simulations of the cooling of stars.

Systematic Studies on the β-decay Half-lives of r-process Nuclei

Based on the accurate macroscopic-microscopic mass formula and the experimental data of β-decay half-lives of the nuclei with atomic number ranging from 20 to 190, a systematic formula has been proposed to calculate β-decay half-lives of neutron-rich nuclei. The formula is proved to reproduce the experimental β-decay half-lives of neutron-rich nuclei very well, and then is used to study the r-process nucleosynthesis in models of high-entropy mass outflows. The calculated abundances show a good agreement with the solar r-abundances around the third peak and the rare earth mass region.

Large-scale evaluation ofβ-decay rates ofr-process nuclei with the inclusion of first-forbidden transitions

R-process nucleosynthesis models rely, by necessity, on nuclear structure models for input. Particularly important are beta-decay half-lives of neutron rich nuclei. At present only a single systematic calculation exists that provides values for all relevant nuclei making it difficult to test the sensitivity of nucleosynthesis models to this input. Additionally, even though there are indications that their contribution may be significant, the impact of first-forbidden transitions on decay rates has not been systematically studied within a consistent model. We use a fully self-consistent covariant density functional theory (CDFT) framework to provide a table of $\beta$-decay half-lives and $\beta$-delayed neutron emission probabilities, including first-forbidden transitions. We observe a significant contribution of the first-forbidden transitions to the total decay rate in nuclei far from the valley of stability. The experimental half-lives are in general well reproduced, both for even-even, odd-A and odd-odd nuclei, in particular for short-lived nuclei.

Shell model studies for nuclear astrophysics

Shell model studies have contributed in recent years significantly to improve nuclear input required in simulations of the dynamics of astrophysical objects and their associated nucleosynthesis. This manuscript highlights a few examples like electron capture rates of importance for the evolution of core-collapse supernovae and the nucleosynthesis in thermonuclear supernovae, neutrino-nucleus cross sections with relevance to the supernova neutrino spectra and finally half lives of neutron-rich nuclei with magic neutron numbers which serve as waiting points in the mass flow of the astrophysical r-process.