Speaker
Description
Heavy element synthesis within stellar bodies typically manifests in explosive
environments such as neutron star mergers. However, at the low temperature
and high density conditions of a neutron star crust, degenerate neutrons pro-
vide alternate synthesis pathways compared to conventional systems. In this
work, we study the effect of this degeneracy on neutron capture rates by several
rp-process ashes and neutron-rich nuclei within accreting neutron stars. We in-
vestigate variations in the nuclear physics input which constructs the absorption
cross section, and their effects on the reaction rate in the context of degenerate
neutron capture. This includes variations in the level density model and the
γ-strength function. Our results show that degeneracy can change the capture
of neutrons by orders of magnitude compared to captures under explosive condi-
tions. This may lead to changes in the abundance evolution of rp-process ashes,
and the crust’s cooling following X-ray bursts.
