Production cross sections of heavy neutron-rich nuclei approaching the nucleosynthesis r-process path around A =195

In the present work we were able to synthesize and measure with high accuracy the production cross sections of more than 190 heavy neutron-rich nuclei by the in-flight fragmentation of relativistic ²⁰⁸Pb projectiles, 26 of which were produced for the first time. This work has shown that the N =126 region far below the doubly magic ²⁰⁸Pb has become accessible experimentally and represents a step further towards the study of heavy neutron-rich nuclei approaching the r-process waiting point at A =195.