1210.0680 (Z. M. Niu et al.)

$β$-decay half-lives of neutron-rich nuclei and matter flow in the $r$-process    [PDF]

Z. M. Niu, Y. F. Niu, H. Z. Liang, W. H. Long, T. Nikšić, D. Vretenar, J. Meng

The $\beta$-decay half-lives of neutron-rich nuclei with $20\leqslant Z\leqslant 50$ are systematically investigated using the newly developed fully self-consistent proton-neutron quasiparticle random phase approximation (QRPA), based on the relativistic Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (RHFB) framework. Available data are reproduced by including an isospin-dependent proton-neutron pairing interaction in the isoscalar channel of the RHFB+QRPA model. With the calculated $\beta$-decay half-lives of neutron-rich nuclei, a remarkable speeding up of $r$-matter flow is predicted. This leads to enhanced $r$-process abundances of elements with $A\gtrsim 140$, an important result for the understanding of the origin of heavy elements in the universe.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1210.0680