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Neutron Capture Nucleosynthesis
Neutron capture nucleosynthesis describes two nucleosynthesis pathways: the r-process and the s-process, for ''rapid'' and ''slow'' neutron captures, respectively. R-process describes neutron capture in a region of high neutron flux, such as during supernova nucleosynthesis after core-collapse, and yields neutron-rich nuclides. S-process describes neutron capture that is slow relative to the rate of beta decay, as for stellar nucleosynthesis in some stars, and yields nuclei with stable nuclear shells. Each process is responsible for roughly half of the observed abundances of elements heavier than iron. The importance of neutron capture to the observed abundance of the chemical elements The abundance of the chemical elements is a measure of the Type–token distinction#Occurrences, occurrences of the chemical elements relative to all other elements in a given environment. Abundance is measured in one of three ways: by mass fractio ... was first described in 1957 in the B2FH paper. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nucleosynthesis
Nucleosynthesis is the process that creates new atomic nuclei from pre-existing nucleons (protons and neutrons) and nuclei. According to current theories, the first nuclei were formed a few minutes after the Big Bang, through nuclear reactions in a process called Big Bang nucleosynthesis. After about 20 minutes, the universe had expanded and cooled to a point at which these high-energy collisions among nucleons ended, so only the fastest and simplest reactions occurred, leaving our universe containing hydrogen and helium. The rest is traces of other elements such as lithium and the hydrogen isotope deuterium. Nucleosynthesis in stars and their explosions later produced the variety of elements and isotopes that we have today, in a process called cosmic chemical evolution. The amounts of total mass in elements heavier than hydrogen and helium (called 'metals' by astrophysicists) remains small (few percent), so that the universe still has approximately the same composition. Stars ste ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
R-process
In nuclear astrophysics, the rapid neutron-capture process, also known as the ''r''-process, is a set of nuclear reactions that is responsible for nucleosynthesis, the creation of approximately half of the Atomic nucleus, atomic nuclei Heavy metals, heavier than iron, the "heavy elements", with the other half produced by the p-process and s-process, ''s''-process. The ''r''-process usually synthesizes the most neutron-rich stable isotopes of each heavy element. The ''r''-process can typically synthesize the heaviest four isotopes of every heavy element; of these, the heavier two are called ''r-only nuclei'' because they are created exclusively via the ''r''-process. Abundance peaks for the ''r''-process occur near mass numbers (elements Se, Br, and Kr), (elements Te, I, and Xe) and (elements Os, Ir, and Pt). The ''r''-process entails a succession of ''rapid'' neutron captures (hence the name) by one or more heavy Seed nucleus, seed nuclei, typically beginning with nuclei in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
S-process
The slow neutron-capture process, or ''s''-process, is a series of nuclear reactions, reactions in nuclear astrophysics that occur in stars, particularly asymptotic giant branch stars. The ''s''-process is responsible for the creation (nucleosynthesis) of approximately half the Atomic nucleus, atomic nuclei Heavy metal (chemical element), heavier than iron. In the ''s''-process, a seed nucleus undergoes neutron capture to form an isotope with one higher atomic mass. If the new isotope is stable nuclide, stable, a series of increases in mass can occur, but if it is unstable nucleus, unstable, then beta decay will occur, producing an element of the next higher atomic number. The process is ''slow'' (hence the name) in the sense that there is sufficient time for this radioactive decay to occur before another neutron is captured. A series of these reactions produces stable isotopes by moving along the valley of stability, valley of beta-decay stable isobars in the table of nuclides. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neutron Capture
Neutron capture is a nuclear reaction in which an atomic nucleus and one or more neutrons collide and merge to form a heavier nucleus. Since neutrons have no electric charge, they can enter a nucleus more easily than positively charged protons, which are repelled Electrostatics, electrostatically. Neutron capture plays a significant role in the cosmic nucleosynthesis of heavy elements. In stars it can proceed in two ways: as a rapid process (r-process) or a slow process (s-process). Nuclei of Mass number, masses greater than 56 Iron peak, cannot be formed by exothermic thermonuclear reactions (i.e., by nuclear fusion) but can be formed by neutron capture. Neutron capture on protons yields a line at 2.223 MeV predicted and commonly observed in solar flares. Neutron capture at small neutron flux At small neutron flux, as in a nuclear reactor, a single neutron is captured by a nucleus. For example, when natural gold (197Au) is irradiated by neutrons (n), the isotope gold-198, 198A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neutron Flux
The neutron flux is a scalar quantity used in nuclear physics and nuclear reactor physics. It is the total distance travelled by all free neutrons per unit time and volume. Equivalently, it can be defined as the number of neutrons travelling through a small sphere of radius R in a time interval, divided by a maximal cross section of the sphere (the great disk area, \pi R^2) and by the duration of the time interval. The dimension of neutron flux is \mathsf^\mathsf^ and the usual unit is cm−2s−1 (reciprocal square centimetre times reciprocal second). The neutron fluence is defined as the neutron flux integrated over a certain time period. So its dimension is \mathsf^ and its usual unit is cm−2 (reciprocal square centimetre). An older term used instead of cm−2 was "n.v.t." (neutrons, velocity, time). Natural neutron flux Neutron flux in asymptotic giant branch stars and in supernovae is responsible for most of the natural nucleosynthesis producing elements heavier th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Supernova Nucleosynthesis
Supernova nucleosynthesis is the nucleosynthesis of chemical elements in supernova explosions. In sufficiently massive stars, the nucleosynthesis by fusion of lighter elements into heavier ones occurs during sequential hydrostatic burning processes called helium burning, carbon burning, oxygen burning, and silicon burning, in which the byproducts of one nuclear fuel become, after compressional heating, the fuel for the subsequent burning stage. In this context, the word "burning" refers to nuclear fusion and not a chemical reaction. During hydrostatic burning these fuels synthesize overwhelmingly the alpha nuclides (), nuclei composed of integer numbers of helium-4 nuclei. Initially, two helium-4 nuclei fuse into a single beryllium-8 nucleus. The addition of another helium 4 nucleus to the beryllium yields carbon-12, followed by oxygen-16, neon-20 and so on, each time adding 2 protons and 2 neutrons to the growing nucleus. A rapid final explosive burning is caused by the sud ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuclides
Nuclides (or nucleides, from nucleus, also known as nuclear species) are a class of atoms characterized by their number of protons, ''Z'', their number of neutrons, ''N'', and their nuclear energy state. The word ''nuclide'' was coined by the American nuclear physicist Truman P. Kohman in 1947. Kohman defined ''nuclide'' as a "species of atom characterized by the constitution of its nucleus" containing a certain number of neutrons and protons. The term thus originally focused on the nucleus. Nuclide vs. isotope A nuclide is an atom with a specific number of protons and neutrons in its nucleus, for example carbon-13 with 6 protons and 7 neutrons. The term was coined deliberately is distinction from isotope in order to consider the nuclear properties independently of the chemical properties, though ''isotope' is still used for that purpose especially where ''nuclide'' might be unfamiliar as in nuclear technology and nuclear medicine. For nuclear propeties, the number of neutrons c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beta Decay
In nuclear physics, beta decay (β-decay) is a type of radioactive decay in which an atomic nucleus emits a beta particle (fast energetic electron or positron), transforming into an isobar of that nuclide. For example, beta decay of a neutron transforms it into a proton by the emission of an electron accompanied by an antineutrino; or, conversely a proton is converted into a neutron by the emission of a positron with a neutrino in what is called ''positron emission''. Neither the beta particle nor its associated (anti-)neutrino exist within the nucleus prior to beta decay, but are created in the decay process. By this process, unstable atoms obtain a more stable ratio of protons to neutrons. The probability of a nuclide decaying due to beta and other forms of decay is determined by its nuclear binding energy. The binding energies of all existing nuclides form what is called the nuclear band or valley of stability. For either electron or positron emission to be energeticall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stellar Nucleosynthesis
In astrophysics, stellar nucleosynthesis is the creation of chemical elements by nuclear fusion reactions within stars. Stellar nucleosynthesis has occurred since the original creation of hydrogen, helium and lithium during the Big Bang. As a predictive theory, it yields accurate estimates of the observed abundances of the elements. It explains why the observed abundances of elements change over time and why some elements and their isotopes are much more abundant than others. The theory was initially proposed by Fred Hoyle in 1946, who later refined it in 1954. Further advances were made, especially to nucleosynthesis by neutron capture of the elements heavier than iron, by Margaret and Geoffrey Burbidge, William Alfred Fowler and Fred Hoyle in their famous 1957 B2FH paper, which became one of the most heavily cited papers in astrophysics history. Stars evolve because of changes in their composition (the abundance of their constituent elements) over their lifespans, f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuclear Shell Model
In nuclear physics, atomic physics, and nuclear chemistry, the nuclear shell model utilizes the Pauli exclusion principle to model the structure of atomic nuclei in terms of energy levels. The first shell model was proposed by Dmitri Ivanenko (together with E. Gapon) in 1932. The model was developed in 1949 following independent work by several physicists, most notably Maria Goeppert Mayer and J. Hans D. Jensen, who received the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physics for their contributions to this model, and Eugene Wigner, who received the Nobel Prize alongside them for his earlier groundlaying work on the atomic nuclei. The nuclear shell model is partly analogous to the atomic shell model, which describes the arrangement of electrons in an atom, in that a filled shell results in better stability. When adding nucleons (protons and neutrons) to a nucleus, there are certain points where the binding energy of the next nucleon is significantly less than the last one. This observation th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iron
Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most abundant element in the Earth's crust, being mainly deposited by meteorites in its metallic state. Extracting usable metal from iron ores requires kilns or furnaces capable of reaching , about 500 °C (900 °F) higher than that required to smelt copper. Humans started to master that process in Eurasia during the 2nd millennium BC and the use of iron tools and weapons began to displace copper alloys – in some regions, only around 1200 BC. That event is considered the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. In the modern world, iron alloys, such as steel, stainless steel, cast iron and special steels, are by far the most common industrial metals, due to their mechan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abundance Of The Chemical Elements
The abundance of the chemical elements is a measure of the Type–token distinction#Occurrences, occurrences of the chemical elements relative to all other elements in a given environment. Abundance is measured in one of three ways: by mass fraction (chemistry), ''mass fraction'' (in commercial contexts often called ''weight fraction''), by ''mole fraction'' (fraction of atoms by numerical count, or sometimes fraction of molecules in gases), or by ''volume fraction''. Volume fraction is a common abundance measure in mixed gases such as planetary atmospheres, and is similar in value to molecular mole fraction for gas mixtures at relatively low densities and pressures, and ideal gas mixtures. Most abundance values in this article are given as mass fractions. The abundance of chemical elements in the universe is dominated by the large amounts of hydrogen and helium which were produced during Big Bang nucleosynthesis. Remaining elements, making up only about 2% of the universe, were lar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
