Nuclei in the Cosmos (NIC XVII)

Superheavy Elements in Kilonovae

19 Sept 2023, 17:00

5m

Poster Core-collapse supernovae, mergers and the r-process Poster session (Core-collapse supernovae, mergers and the r-process)

Speaker

Erika HOLMBECK (Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science)

Description

With LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA in its fourth observing run, a new opportunity to search for electromagnetic counterparts of compact object mergers is also upon us. The light curves and spectra from the first "kilonova" associated with a binary neutron star binary (NSM) suggests that these sites are hosts of the rapid neutron capture ("r") process. However, it is unknown just how robust elemental production can be in mergers. Identifying signposts of the production of particular nuclei is critical for fully understanding merger-driven heavy-element synthesis. This talk will explore the properties of very neutron rich nuclei for which superheavy elements ($Z\ge 104$) can be produced in NSMs and whether they can similarly imprint a unique signature on kilonova light-curve evolution. A superheavy-element signature in kilonovae represents a route to establishing a lower limit on heavy-element production in NSMs as well as possibly being the first evidence of superheavy element synthesis in nature.