Theory Considerations For Nucleosynthesis Beyond Fe With Special Emphasis On p-Nuclei In Massive Stars

TL;DR

This paper discusses the complexities and uncertainties in modeling heavy element nucleosynthesis beyond iron, especially p-nuclei in massive stars, highlighting the importance of detailed models and accurate reaction rates.

Contribution

It emphasizes the need for refined experimental and theoretical methods and compares different stellar models to improve understanding of p-nuclei synthesis.

Findings

Different models yield varying p-nuclei production results.

Coarse zone grids can miss detailed p-nuclei synthesis.

Uncertainties in reaction rates impact nucleosynthesis predictions.

Abstract

Nucleosynthesis of heavy elements requires the use of different experimental and theoretical methods to determine astrophysical reaction rates than light element nucleosynthesis. Additionally, there are also larger uncertainties involved in the astrophysical models, both because the sites are not well known and because of differing numerical treatments in different models. As an example for the latter, the production of p-nuclei is compared in two different stellar models, demonstrating that a model widely used for postproduction calculations may have a zone grid too coarse to follow the synthesis of p-nuclei in detail.