Nucleosynthesis in Magnetically Driven Jets from Collapsars

TL;DR

This study models nucleosynthesis in magnetically driven jets from collapsars, revealing conditions under which r-process elements like U and Th are produced, and linking jet energy to element yields and potential gamma-ray burst phenomena.

Contribution

It provides detailed nucleosynthesis calculations in collapsar jets, showing r-process element production depends on jet energy and magnetic field strength, a novel insight into element synthesis in such environments.

Findings

R-process occurs only in energetic jets (> 1e51 ergs).

U and Th are abundantly synthesized in energetic jets.

Higher energy jets produce more Ni56 and r-elements.

Abstract

We have made detailed calculations of the composition of magnetically driven jets ejected from collapsars, or rapidly rotating massive stars, based on long-term magnetohydrodynamic simulations of their core collapse with various distributions of magnetic field and angular momentum before collapse. We follow the evolution of the abundances of about 4000 nuclides from the collapse phase to the ejection phase and through the jet generation phase using a large nuclear reaction network. We find that the r-process successfully operates only in energetic jets (> 1e51 ergs), such that U and Th are synthesized abundantly, even when the collapsar has a relatively weak magnetic field (1e10 G) and a moderately rotating core before the collapse. The abundance patterns inside the jets are similar to those of the r-elements in the solar system. About 0.01-0.06 Msun neutron-rich, heavy nuclei are ejected from a collapsar with energetic jets. The higher energy jets have larger amounts of Ni56, varying from 0.00037 to 0.06Msun. Less energetic jets, which eject small amounts of Ni56, could induce a gamma-ray burst (GRB) a supernova, such as GRB 060505 or GRB 060614. Considerable amounts of r-elements are likely to be ejected from GRBs with hypernovae, if both the GRB and hypernova are induced by jets that are driven near the black hole.