Correlated and uncorrelated Monte Carlo neutron capture rate variations in weak $\textit{r}$-process simulations

TL;DR

This study investigates how uncertainties in neutron capture rates affect weak r-process nucleosynthesis predictions, using Monte Carlo simulations with both uncorrelated and correlated rate variations to identify key nuclear physics influences.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive Monte Carlo framework incorporating covariance matrices of neutron capture rates, revealing the impact of correlations on abundance uncertainties in weak r-process scenarios.

Findings

Correlations influence how abundances co-vary but do not reduce overall uncertainty.

Reducing neutron capture rate uncertainties can improve r-process abundance predictions.

Uncertainty in nuclear physics significantly affects nucleosynthesis modeling.

Abstract

Reliable predictions of weak rapid neutron capture ($\textit{r}$-process) abundances require a systematic treatment of nuclear physics uncertainties, especially neutron capture rates far from stability. We employ new neutron capture rates from cross sections calculated with Yet Another Hauser-Feshbach Code ($\texttt{YAHFC}$) using an uncertainty-quantified Koning-Delaroche potential modified for use on neutron-rich systems. Using these rates as a baseline, we perform Monte-Carlo studies with independent rate variations (uncorrelated Monte Carlo) and find correlations between specific neutron capture rates and the resulting elemental abundances for the three weak r-process scenarios: two separate simulations of neutron star merger remnant accretion disks and a simulation of a magnetorotational supernova. We discuss the underlying nuclear dynamics that give rise to these correlations and the role of astrophysical conditions in them. We demonstrate how reducing the uncertainty in these rates would improve the prospects for conducting precision $\textit{r}$-process studies in the future. We additionally present a correlated Monte Carlo study, which incorporates the full covariance matrix that describes the relationships between individual neutron capture rates that arise from an uncertainty-quantified optical potential. We find that the magnitude of the uncertainty in the abundance pattern is similar to that produced by an uncorrelated Monte Carlo that employs only the on-diagonal components of the covariance matrix. We show how correlations restructure how the abundances co-vary, but do not necessarily decrease the overall uncertainty envelope.