The Rare Earth Peak : An Overlooked r-Process Diagnostic

TL;DR

This paper explores how the rare earth peak in r-process nucleosynthesis can serve as a diagnostic tool to infer astrophysical conditions, despite nuclear physics uncertainties.

Contribution

It demonstrates that analyzing the rare earth peak provides effective constraints on the astrophysical environment of the r-process, especially in high entropy scenarios.

Findings

Rare earth peak features constrain r-process conditions

High entropy environments produce matching abundance patterns

Method remains effective despite nuclear physics uncertainties

Abstract

The astrophysical site or sites responsible for the r-process of nucleosynthesis still remains an enigma. Since the rare earth region is formed in the latter stages of the r-process it provides a unique probe of the astrophysical conditions during which the r-process takes place. We use features of a successful rare earth region in the context of a high entropy r-process (S>100k_B) and discuss the types of astrophysical conditions that produce abundance patterns that best match meteoritic and observational data. Despite uncertainties in nuclear physics input, this method effectively constrains astrophysical conditions.