Challenge on the Astrophysical R-process Calculation with Nuclear Mass Models

TL;DR

This paper investigates how different nuclear mass models impact r-process nucleosynthesis calculations, revealing significant deviations in predicted abundances due to model differences, which affects our understanding of astrophysical element formation.

Contribution

It assesses the influence of various nuclear mass models, including a new RMF-based table, on r-process abundance predictions under consistent astrophysical conditions.

Findings

Different mass models cause significant deviations in r-process abundance predictions.

The new RMF mass table influences the predicted nucleosynthesis outcomes.

Model predictions vary notably for nuclei far from stability.

Abstract

Our understanding of the rapid neutron capture nucleosynthesis process in universe depends on the reliability of nuclear mass predictions. Initiated by the newly developed mass table in the relativistic mean field theory (RMF), in this paper the influence of mass models on the $r$-process calculations is investigated assuming the same astrophysical conditions. The different model predictions on the so far unreachable nuclei lead to significant deviations in the calculated r-process abundances.