GSI | GSI-Theory | Nuclear Astrophysics Group
Nuclear Astrophysics Group | Theory Center | Institut für Kernphysik | TU Darmstadt
header GSI Theory GSI Theory

Kilonova: Probing r-process nucleosynthesis through its electromagnetic signatures

The lightest chemical elements –Hydrogen and Helium– were created about a minute after the Big Bang. Elements up to Iron are forged by fusion reactions in stars. Heavy elements between Iron and Uranium are produced by a sequence of neutron captures and beta-decays known as rapid neutron capture or r process. The freshly synthesized r-process elements undergo radioactive decay through various channels depositing energy in the ejecta that powers an optical/infrared transient called “kilonova” whose basic properties like luminosity and its dependence on ejecta mass, velocity, radioactive energy input, and atomic opacities have been dramatically confirmed by the observation of a kilonova electromagnetic transient associated with the gravitational wave signal GW170817. It provided the first direct indication that r-process elements are produced in neutron-star mergers. Additional events are expected to be detected in the following years, representing a complete change of paradigm in r-process research as for the first time we will be confronted with direct observational data. To fully exploit such opportunity, it is fundamental to combine an improved description of exotic neutron-rich nuclei involved in the r-process with sophisticated astrophysical simulations to provide accurate prediction of r-process nucleosynthesis yields and their electromagnetic signals to be confronted with observational data. We will further exploit the unique experimental capabilities of the GSI/FAIR facility, to advance our understanding of r-process nucleosynthesis and determine the contribution of mergers to the chemical enrichment of the galaxy in heavy elements.
PI
Gabriel Martínez-Pinedo
Postdocs
Andreas Flörs
Luke Shingles
Zewei Xiong
PhD students
Gerrit Leck
Mario Jakobs
Other team members
Diana Alvear Terrero
Oliver Just
Georgios Lioutas
Thomas Neff
Ninoy Rahman
Caroline Robin
Christian Schwebler
Ricardo Silva

Publications:
  1. J. J. Cowan, C. Sneden, J. E. Lawler, A. Aprahamian, M. Wiescher, K. Langanke, G. Martínez-Pinedo, and F.-K. Thielemann, Origin of the heaviest elements: The rapid neutron-capture process, Reviews of Modern Physics 93, 015002 (2021) doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.93.015002
  2. K. Langanke, G. Martínez-Pinedo, and R. G. T. Zegers, Electron capture in stars, Reports on Progress in Physics 84, 066301 (2021) doi:10.1088/1361-6633/abf207
  3. Z. Xiong and Y.-Z. Qian, Stationary solutions for fast flavor oscillations of a homogeneous dense neutrino gas, Physics Letters B 820, 136550 (2021) doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2021.136550
  4. M.-R. Wu, M. George, C.-Y. Lin, and Z. Xiong, Collective fast neutrino flavor conversions in a 1D box: Initial conditions and long-term evolution, Physical Review D 104, 103003 (2021) doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.104.103003
  5. J. T. O'Brien, W. E. Kerzendorf, A. Fullard, M. Williamson, R. Pakmor, J. Buchner, S. Hachinger, C. Vogl, J. H. Gillanders, A. Flörs, and P. van der Smagt, Probabilistic Reconstruction of Type Ia Supernova SN 2002bo, The Astrophysical Journal 916, L14 (2021) doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ac1173
  6. A. Perego, D. Vescovi, A. Fiore, L. Chiesa, C. Vogl, S. Benetti, S. Bernuzzi, M. Branchesi, E. Cappellaro, S. Cristallo, A. Flörs, W. E. Kerzendorf, and D. Radice, Production of Very Light Elements and Strontium in the Early Ejecta of Neutron Star Mergers, The Astrophysical Journal 925, 22 (2022) doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ac3751
  7. B. Barna, T. Pereira, S. Taubenberger, M. Magee, M. Kromer, W. Kerzendorf, C. Vogl, M. E. Williamson, A. Flörs, U. M. Noebauer, R. J. Foley, M. Sasdelli, and W. Hillebrandt, ASASSN-14lp: two possible solutions for the observed ultraviolet suppression, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 506, 415-431 (2021) doi:10.1093/mnras/stab1736
  8. G. Martínez-Pinedo and K. Langanke, Shell Model Applications in Nuclear Astrophysics, Physics 4, 677-689 (2022) doi:10.3390/physics4020046
  9. N. Rahman, H.-T. Janka, G. Stockinger, and S. E. Woosley, Pulsational pair-instability supernovae: gravitational collapse, black hole formation, and beyond, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 512, 4503-4540 (2022) doi:10.1093/mnras/stac758
  10. R. F. Silva, J. M. Sampaio, P. Amaro, A. Flörs, G. Martínez-Pinedo, and J. P. Marques, Structure Calculations in Nd III and U III Relevant for Kilonovae Modelling, Atoms 10, 18 (2022) doi:10.3390/atoms10010018
  11. Z. Xiong, Many-body effects of collective neutrino oscillations, Physical Review D 105, 103002 (2022) doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.105.103002
  12. L. J. Shingles, A. Flörs, S. A. Sim, C. E. Collins, F. K. Röpke, I. R. Seitenzahl, and K. J. Shen, Modelling the ionization state of Type Ia supernovae in the nebular phase, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 512, 6150-6163 (2022) doi:10.1093/mnras/stac902
  13. S. Richers, H. Duan, M.-R. Wu, S. Bhattacharyya, M. Zaizen, M. George, C.-Y. Lin, and Z. Xiong, Code comparison for fast flavor instability simulations, Physical Review D 106, 043011 (2022) doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.106.043011
  14. A. Roggero, E. Rrapaj, and Z. Xiong, Entanglement and correlations in fast collective neutrino flavor oscillations, Physical Review D 106, 043022 (2022) doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.106.043022
  15. L. Johns and Z. Xiong, Collisional instabilities of neutrinos and their interplay with fast flavor conversion in compact objects, Physical Review D 106, 103029 (2022) doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.106.103029
  16. Y. Dong, S. Valenti, A. Polin, A. Boyle, A. Flörs, C. Vogl, W. E. Kerzendorf, D. J. Sand, S. W. Jha, Ł. Wyrzykowski, K. A. Bostroem, J. Pearson, C. McCully, J. E. Andrews, S. Benetti, S. Blondin, L. Galbany, M. Gromadzki, G. Hosseinzadeh, D. A. Howell, C. Inserra, J. E. Jencson, M. Lundquist, J. D. Lyman, M. Magee, K. Maguire, N. Meza, S. Srivastav, S. Taubenberger, J. H. Terwel, S. Wyatt, and D. R. Young, SN 2016dsg: A Thermonuclear Explosion Involving a Thick Helium Shell, The Astrophysical Journal 934, 102 (2022) doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ac75eb
  17. S. Blondin, S. Blinnikov, F. P. Callan, C. E. Collins, L. Dessart, W. Even, A. Flörs, A. G. Fullard, D. J. Hillier, A. Jerkstrand, D. Kasen, B. Katz, W. Kerzendorf, A. Kozyreva, J. O'Brien, E. A. Pássaro, N. Roth, K. J. Shen, L. Shingles, S. A. Sim, J. Singhal, I. G. Smith, E. Sorokina, V. P. Utrobin, C. Vogl, M. Williamson, R. Wollaeger, S. E. Woosley, and N. Wygoda, StaNdaRT: a repository of standardised test models and outputs for supernova radiative transfer, Astronomy and Astrophysics 668, A163 (2022) doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202244134
  18. D. R. Pasham, M. Lucchini, T. Laskar, B. P. Gompertz, S. Srivastav, M. Nicholl, S. J. Smartt, J. C. A. Miller-Jones, K. D. Alexander, R. Fender, G. P. Smith, M. Fulton, G. Dewangan, K. Gendreau, E. R. Coughlin, L. Rhodes, A. Horesh, S. van Velzen, I. Sfaradi, M. Guolo, N. Castro Segura, A. Aamer, J. P. Anderson, I. Arcavi, S. J. Brennan, K. Chambers, P. Charalampopoulos, T.-W. Chen, A. Clocchiatti, T. de Boer, M. Dennefeld, E. Ferrara, L. Galbany, H. Gao, J. H. Gillanders, A. Goodwin, M. Gromadzki, M. Huber, P. G. Jonker, M. Joshi, E. Kara, T. L. Killestein, P. Kosec, D. Kocevski, G. Leloudas, C.-C. Lin, R. Margutti, S. Mattila, T. Moore, T. Müller-Bravo, C.-C. Ngeow, S. Oates, F. Onori, Y.-C. Pan, M. Perez-Torres, P. Rani, R. Remillard, E. J. Ridley, S. Schulze, X. Sheng, L. Shingles, K. W. Smith, J. F. Steiner, R. Wainscoat, T. Wevers, and S. Yang, The Birth of a Relativistic Jet Following the Disruption of a Star by a Cosmological Black Hole, Nature Astronomy 7, 88-104 (2023) doi:10.1038/s41550-022-01820-x
  19. L. A. Kwok, S. W. Jha, T. Temim, O. D. Fox, C. Larison, Y. Camacho-Neves, M. J. Brenner Newman, J. D. R. Pierel, R. J. Foley, J. E. Andrews, C. Badenes, B. Barna, K. A. Bostroem, M. Deckers, A. Flörs, P. Garnavich, M. L. Graham, O. Graur, G. Hosseinzadeh, D. A. Howell, J. P. Hughes, J. Johansson, S. Kendrew, W. E. Kerzendorf, K. Maeda, K. Maguire, C. McCully, J. T. O'Brien, A. Rest, D. J. Sand, M. Shahbandeh, L.-G. Strolger, T. Szalai, C. Ashall, E. Baron, C. R. Burns, J. M. DerKacy, T. M. Evans, A. Fisher, L. Galbany, P. Hoeflich, E. Hsiao, T. de Jaeger, E. Karamehmetoglu, K. Krisciunas, S. Kumar, J. Lu, J. Maund, P. A. Mazzali, K. Medler, N. Morrell, M. M. Phillips, B. J. Shappee, M. Stritzinger, N. Suntzeff, C. Telesco, M. Tucker, and L. Wang, A JWST Near- and Mid-infrared Nebular Spectrum of the Type Ia Supernova 2021aefx, The Astrophysical Journal 944, L3 (2023) doi:10.3847/2041-8213/acb4ec
  20. M. George, C.-Y. Lin, M.-R. Wu, T. G. Liu, and Z. Xiong, COSEν: A collective oscillation simulation engine for neutrinos, Computer Physics Communications 283, 108588 (2023) doi:10.1016/j.cpc.2022.108588
  21. G. Csörnyei, C. Vogl, S. Taubenberger, A. Flörs, S. Blondin, M. G. Cudmani, A. Holas, S. Kressierer, B. Leibundgut, and W. Hillebrandt, Consistency of Type IIP supernova sibling distances, Astronomy and Astrophysics 672, A129 (2023) doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202245379
  22. G. Martínez-Pinedo and K. Langanke, Nuclear quests for the r-process, European Physical Journal A 59, 67 (2023) doi:10.1140/epja/s10050-023-00987-9
  23. M. M. Dobson, M. E. Schwamb, S. D. Benecchi, A. J. Verbiscer, A. Fitzsimmons, L. J. Shingles, L. Denneau, A. N. Heinze, K. W. Smith, J. L. Tonry, H. Weiland, and D. R. Young, Phase Curves of Kuiper Belt Objects, Centaurs, and Jupiter-family Comets from the ATLAS Survey, The Planetary Science Journal 4, 75 (2023) doi:10.3847/PSJ/acc463
  24. I. Agudo, L. Amati, T. An, F. E. Bauer, S. Benetti, M. G. Bernardini, R. Beswick, K. Bhirombhakdi, T. de Boer, M. Branchesi, S. J. Brennan, E. Brocato, M. D. Caballero-García, E. Cappellaro, N. Castro Rodríguez, A. J. Castro-Tirado, K. C. Chambers, E. Chassande-Mottin, S. Chaty, T.-W. Chen, A. Coleiro, S. Covino, F. D'Ammando, P. D'Avanzo, V. D'Elia, A. Fiore, A. Flörs, M. Fraser, S. Frey, C. Frohmaier, M. Fulton, L. Galbany, C. Gall, H. Gao, J. García-Rojas, G. Ghirlanda, S. Giarratana, J. H. Gillanders, M. Giroletti, B. P. Gompertz, M. Gromadzki, K. E. Heintz, J. Hjorth, Y.-D. Hu, M. E. Huber, A. Inkenhaag, L. Izzo, Z. P. Jin, P. G. Jonker, D. A. Kann, E. C. Kool, R. Kotak, G. Leloudas, A. J. Levan, C.-C. Lin, J. D. Lyman, E. A. Magnier, K. Maguire, I. Mandel, B. Marcote, D. Mata Sánchez, S. Mattila, A. Melandri, M. J. Michałowski, J. Moldon, M. Nicholl, A. Nicuesa Guelbenzu, S. R. Oates, F. Onori, M. Orienti, R. Paladino, Z. Paragi, M. Perez-Torres, E. Pian, G. Pignata, S. Piranomonte, J. Quirola-Vásquez, F. Ragosta, A. Rau, S. Ronchini, A. Rossi, R. Sánchez-Ramírez, O. S. Salafia, S. Schulze, S. J. Smartt, K. W. Smith, J. Sollerman, S. Srivastav, R. L. C. Starling, D. Steeghs, H. F. Stevance, N. R. Tanvir, V. Testa, M. A. P. Torres, A. Valeev, S. D. Vergani, D. Vescovi, R. Wainscost, D. Watson, K. Wiersema, Ł. Wyrzykowski, J. Yang, S. Yang, and D. R. Young, Panning for gold, but finding helium: Discovery of the ultra-stripped supernova SN 2019wxt from gravitational-wave follow-up observations, Astronomy and Astrophysics 675, A201 (2023) doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202244751
  25. M. Deckers, O. Graur, K. Maguire, L. Shingles, S. J. Brennan, J. P. Anderson, J. Burke, T.-W. Chen, L. Galbany, M. J. P. Grayling, C. P. Gutiérrez, L. Harvey, D. Hiramatsu, D. A. Howell, C. Inserra, T. Killestein, C. McCully, T. E. Müller-Bravo, M. Nicholl, M. Newsome, E. Padilla Gonzalez, C. Pellegrino, G. Terreran, J. H. Terwel, M. Toy, and D. R. Young, Photometric study of the late-time near-infrared plateau in Type Ia supernovae, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 521, 4414-4430 (2023) doi:10.1093/mnras/stad841
  26. Z. Xiong, M.-R. Wu, G. Martínez-Pinedo, T. Fischer, M. George, C.-Y. Lin, and L. Johns, Evolution of collisional neutrino flavor instabilities in spherically symmetric supernova models, Physical Review D 107, 083016 (2023) doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.107.083016
  27. C. E. Collins, A. Bauswein, S. A. Sim, V. Vijayan, G. Martínez-Pinedo, O. Just, L. J. Shingles, and M. Kromer, 3D radiative transfer kilonova modelling for binary neutron star merger simulations, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 521, 1858-1870 (2023) doi:10.1093/mnras/stad606
  28. O. Just, V. Vijayan, Z. Xiong, S. Goriely, T. Soultanis, A. Bauswein, J. Guilet, H.-T. Janka, and G. Martínez-Pinedo, End-to-end Kilonova Models of Neutron Star Mergers with Delayed Black Hole Formation, The Astrophysical Journal 951, L12 (2023) doi:10.3847/2041-8213/acdad2
  29. V. Vijayan, N. Rahman, A. Bauswein, G. Martínez-Pinedo, and I. L. Arbina, Impact of pions on binary neutron star mergers, Physical Review D 108, 023020 (2023) doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.108.023020
  30. C. E. P. Robin and M. J. Savage, Quantum simulations in effective model spaces: Hamiltonian-learning variational quantum eigensolver using digital quantum computers and application to the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model, Physical Review C 108, 024313 (2023) doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.108.024313
  31. Z. Xiong, M.-R. Wu, and Y.-Z. Qian, Symmetry and bipolar motion in collective neutrino flavor oscillations, Physical Review D 108, 043007 (2023) doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.108.043007
  32. A. Flörs, R. F. Silva, J. Deprince, H. Carvajal Gallego, G. Leck, L. J. Shingles, G. Martínez-Pinedo, J. M. Sampaio, P. Amaro, J. P. Marques, S. Goriely, P. Quinet, P. Palmeri, and M. Godefroid, Opacities of singly and doubly ionized neodymium and uranium for kilonova emission modeling, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 524, 3083-3101 (2023) doi:10.1093/mnras/stad2053
  33. C. E. Collins, S. A. Sim, L. J. Shingles, S. Gronow, F. K. Röpke, R. Pakmor, I. R. Seitenzahl, and M. Kromer, Helium as a signature of the double detonation in Type Ia supernovae, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 524, 4447-4454 (2023) doi:10.1093/mnras/stad2170