The 12C + 12C reaction and the impact on nucleosynthesis in massive stars

TL;DR

This study investigates how uncertainties in the 12C+12C reaction rate affect nucleosynthesis in massive stars, revealing significant impacts on s-process and p-process element production, including implications for solar system abundances.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of the effects of 12C+12C reaction rate uncertainties on nucleosynthesis in massive stars, including s-process and p-process yields, using various reaction rate models.

Findings

p-process production factors increase up to 8 times with higher reaction rates

13C(alpha,n)16O drives a secondary s-process independent of initial metallicity

Enhanced 12C+12C rates lead to increased production of Mo and Ru isotopes

Abstract

Despite much effort in the past decades, the C-burning reaction rate is uncertain by several orders of magnitude, and the relative strength between the different channels 12C(12C,alpha)20Ne, 12C(12C,p)23Na and 12C(12C,n)23Mg is poorly determined. Additionally, in C-burning conditions a high 12C+12C rate may lead to lower central C-burning temperatures and to 13C(alpha,n)16O emerging as a more dominant neutron source than 22Ne(alpha,n)25Mg, increasing significantly the s-process production. This is due to the rapid decrease of the 13N(gamma,p)12C with decreasing temperature, causing the 13C production via 13N(beta+)13C. Presented here is the impact of the 12C+12C reaction uncertainties on the s-process and on explosive p-process nucleosynthesis in massive stars, including also fast rotating massive stars at low metallicity. Using various 12C+12C rates, in particular an upper and lower rate limit of ~ 50000 higher and ~ 20 lower than the standard rate at 5*10^8 K, five 25 Msun stellar models are calculated. The enhanced s-process signature due to 13C(alpha,n)16O activation is considered, taking into account the impact of the uncertainty of all three C-burning reaction branches. Consequently, we show that the p-process abundances have an average production factor increased up to about a factor of 8 compared to the standard case, efficiently producing the elusive Mo and Ru proton-rich isotopes. We also show that an s-process being driven by 13C(alpha,n)16O is a secondary process, even though the abundance of 13C does not depend on the initial metal content. Finally, implications for the Sr-peak elements inventory in the Solar System and at low metallicity are discussed.