β-decay half-lives of neutron-rich nuclei and matter flow in the r-process
Abstract
The β-decay half-lives of neutron-rich nuclei with 20 ≤ Z ≤ 50 are systematically investigated using the newly developed fully self-consistent proton-neutron quasiparticle random phase approximation (QRPA), based on the spherical relativistic Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (RHFB) framework. Available data are reproduced by including an isospin-dependent proton-neutron pairing interaction in the isoscalar channel of the RHFB + QRPA model. With the calculated β-decay half-lives of neutron-rich nuclei a remarkable speeding up of r-matter flow is predicted. This leads to enhanced r-process abundances of elements with A ≳ 140, an important result for the understanding of the origin of heavy elements in the universe.
- Publication:
-
Physics Letters B
- Pub Date:
- June 2013
- DOI:
- 10.1016/j.physletb.2013.04.048
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1210.0680
- Bibcode:
- 2013PhLB..723..172N
- Keywords:
-
- Nuclear Theory;
- Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics;
- Nuclear Experiment
- E-Print:
- 14 pages, 4 figures