Neutron star mergers versus core-collapse supernovae as dominant r-process sites in the early Galaxy

By D. Argast, M. Samland, F. Thielemann, Y.-Z. Qian. 2003

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The astrophysical nature of r-process sites is a long-standing mystery and many probable sources have been suggested, among them lower-mass core-collapse supernovae (in the range 8–$10 \, {M}_{\odot}$), higher-mass core-collapse supernovae (with masses $\ge $20 ${M}_{\odot}$) and neutron star mergers. In this work, we present a detailed inhomogeneous chemical evolution study that considers for the first time neutron star mergers as major r-process sources, and compare this scenario to the ones in which core-collapse supernovae act as dominant r-process sites. We conclude that, due to the lack of reliable iron and r-process yields as a function of progenitor mass, it is not possible at present to distinguish between the lower-mass and higher-mass supernovae scenarios within the framework of inhomogeneous chemical evolution. However, neutron-star mergers seem to be ruled out as the dominant r-process source, since their low rates of occurrence would lead to r-process enrichment that is not consistent with observations at very low metallicities. Additionally, the considerable injection of r-process material by a single neutron-star merger leads to a scatter in [r-process/Fe] ratios at later times which is much too large compared to observations.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Nuclear and High Energy Physics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/29b1506028ae82ad55e79d15ba260aa863b76adc

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Citations in the corpus

Galactic r-process enrichment by neutron star mergers in cosmological simulations of a Milky Way-mass galaxy (2014, methodology): “In simple models of galactic chemical enrichment, these observations are difficult to reproduce (e.g. Qian 2000; Argast et al. 2004; Matteucci et al. 2014).”
THE HISTORY OF R-PROCESS ENRICHMENT IN THE MILKY WAY (2014, background): “These differences should surely be imprinted in the enrichment pattern ofr-process elements and may ultimately identify the dominant production mechanism (Argast et al. 2004; Matteucci et al. 2014).”
The Origin of r-process Elements in the Milky Way (2017, background): “…(CC SNe) and neutron star - neutron star (NS-NS) mergers are the two leading candidates for producing most of the rapid neutron capture process (r-process) elements in the universe (e.g., Argast et al. 2004; Arnould et al. 2007; Matteucci et al. 2014; Cescutti et al. 2015; Wehmeyer et al. 2015).”
MAGNETOROTATIONALLY DRIVEN SUPERNOVAE AS THE ORIGIN OF EARLY GALAXY r-PROCESS ELEMENTS? (2012, background): “The only problem is that it might be hard to explain the early appearance of r-process matter for metallicities at and below [Fe/H] = −− 3 (Argast et al. 2004).”
Nucleosynthesis in the Outflow from Gamma-Ray Burst Accretion Disks (2005, background): “The meteoritic data also hint that the low mass r-process nuclei are associated with a lower frequency event, such as a neutron star merger (Argast et al 2004).”
Mergers of Neutron Star-Black Hole Binaries with Small Mass Ratios: Nucleosynthesis, Gamma-Ray Bursts, and Electromagnetic Transients (2005, background): “For the neutron star merger case Argast et al. (2004) found that a conflict with the observed element ratios in metal-poor halo stars may arise if neutron star mergers were the dominant r-process source.”
THE r-PROCESS NUCLEOSYNTHESIS IN THE VARIOUS JET-LIKE EXPLOSIONS OF MAGNETOROTATIONAL CORE-COLLAPSE SUPERNOVAE (2015, background): “It is difficult to explain the existence of r-process elements in the early galaxy at the extremely low metallicity of [Fe/H] = −3 (Argast et al. 2004), because the merger of compact binaries is delayed due to the formation of binary NSs and the time scale of merging.”
Neutron-Capture Elements in the Early Galaxy (2008, background): “…binary neutron star or black hole mergers (Lattimer et al. 1977; Rosswog et al. 1999; Freiburghaus, Rosswog & Thielemann 1999; but see also Argast et al. 2004), prompt explosions of low-mass supernovae (Mathews & Cowan 1990; Mathews, Bazan & Cowan 1992; Wheeler, Cowan & Hillebrandt 1998;…”
NEUTRINO-DRIVEN WINDS IN THE AFTERMATH OF A NEUTRON STAR MERGER: NUCLEOSYNTHESIS AND ELECTROMAGNETIC TRANSIENTS (2015, background): “While earlier work (Argast et al. 2004) disfavored them as dominant source of r-process in the early galaxy, more recent studies are either more optimistic about their role (Matteucci et al. 2014) or actually favor them over supernovae as major production site, see for example the recent…”
r-PROCESS NUCLEOSYNTHESIS IN DYNAMICALLY EJECTED MATTER OF NEUTRON STAR MERGERS (2011, background): “Supernovae (SNe), for example, appear attractive because of their potential to explain observational features of the galactic chemical enrichment history (e.g., Argast et al. 2004).”
The physics of core-collapse supernovae (2005, result): “The latter is probably ruled out as the dominant r-process source, because the low rates of occurrence would lead to r-process enrichment that is not consistent with observation”
Neutron Star Mergers Might Not Be the Only Source of r-process Elements in the Milky Way (2018, methodology): “Indeed, when assuming constant delay times for NS-NS mergers, all Milky Way simulations reproduce the decreasing trend of [Eu/Fe] (Argast et al. 2004; Matteucci et al. 2014; Cescutti et al. 2015; Wehmeyer et al. 2015; Côté et al. 2017a).”
ELECTROMAGNETIC TRANSIENTS POWERED BY NUCLEAR DECAY IN THE TIDAL TAILS OF COALESCING COMPACT BINARIES (2011, background): “7 We note that even if all compact mergers are associated with SGRBs, the r-process powered SNe will still dominate the off-axis optical afterglow. explaining the low metallicity halo r-process abundance data within this scenario (Argast et al. 2004).”
The impact of individual nuclear properties on $r$-process nucleosynthesis (2015, background): “ess enhanced halo stars and is a match to the solar residuals. This suggests that whatever mechanism created these elements must have been operating in a consistent fashion since early galactic times [17, 18, 19, 20]. Core-collapse supernovae t the timescale argument, though the promise of early stu”
Europium production: neutron star mergers versus core-collapse supernovae (2013, background): “Our conclusions are different from those of Argast et al. (2004) who concluded that CBM cannot be the only Eu producers.”
DETAILED CHEMICAL ABUNDANCES IN THE r-PROCESS-RICH ULTRA-FAINT DWARF GALAXY RETICULUM 2 (2016, background): “…by modeling the chemical evolution of r-process elements integrated across the Galactic halo (e.g., Mathews et al. 1992; Ishimaru & Wanajo 1999; Argast et al. 2004; Matteucci et al. 2014; Cescutti et al. 2015), within dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies (Tsujimoto & Shigeyama 2014), or within…”