Study of primordial deuterium abundance in Big Bang nucleosynthesis

Big Bang nucleosynthesis(BBN)theory predicts the primordial abundances of the light elements^(2) H(referred to as deuterium,or D for short),^(3)He,^(4)He,and^(7) Li produced in the early universe.Among these,deuterium,the first nuclide produced by BBN,is a key primordial material for subsequent reactions.To date,the uncertainty in predicted deuterium abundance(D/H)remains larger than the observational precision.In this study,the Monte Carlo simulation code PRIMAT was used to investigate the sensitivity of 11 important BBN reactions to deuterium abundance.We found that the reaction rate uncertainties of the four reactions d(d,n)^(3)He,d(d,p)t,d(p,γ)^(3)He,and p(n,γ)d had the largest influence on the calculated D/H uncertainty.Currently,the calculated D/H uncertainty cannot reach observational precision even with the recent LUNA precise d(p,γ)^(3) He rate.From the nuclear physics aspect,there is still room to largely reduce the reaction-rate uncertainties;hence,further measurements of the important reactions involved in BBN are still necessary.A photodisintegration experiment will be conducted at the Shanghai Laser Electron Gamma Source Facility to precisely study the deuterium production reaction of p(n,γ)d.

The Origin of Cosmic Structures Part 4—Nucleosynthesis

In our original paper, we outlined a new model of nucleosynthesis which began when a small percentage of the vacuum energy was converted primarily into neutron-antineutron pairs but with a very small excess of neutrons. In this paper, we present a detailed study of that original idea. We show that immediately after their inception, annihilation and charge exchange reactions proceeded at a very high rate and after an interval of no more than 10-12 s, the matter/antimatter asymmetry of the universe and the present-day abundance of baryons had been established. The annihilations produced the high density of leptons critical for the weak interactions and the photons that make up the CMB. The model predicts a photon temperature in agreement with the present-day CMB value and also explains the origin of the CMB anisotropy spectrum. We also show how the nucleosynthesis density variations needed to explain all cosmic structures can resolve the difficulties that arise when trying to explain observed primordial element abundances in terms of a single-density universal model of nucleosynthesis.

Nucleosynthesis in the accretion disks of Type Ⅱ collapsars

We investigate nucleosynthesis inside the gamma-ray burst （GRB） accre- tion disks formed by the Type II collapsars. In these collapsars, the core collapse of massive stars first leads to the formation of a proto-neutron star. After that, an out- ward moving shock triggers a successful supernova. However, the supernova ejecta lacks momentum and within a few seconds the newly formed neutron star gets trans- formed to a stellar mass black hole via massive fallback. The hydrodynamics of such an accretion disk formed from the fallback material of the supernova ejecta has been studied extensively in the past. We use these well-established hydrodynamic models for our accretion disk in order to understand nucleosynthesis, which is mainly ad- vection dominated in the outer regions. Neutrino cooling becomes important in the inner disk where the temperature and density are higher. The higher the accretion rate （M） is, the higher the density and temperature are in the disks. We deal with accre- tion disks with relatively low accretion rates： 0.001 Mo s-1 ~ 3）/~ 0.01 Mo S--1 and hence these disks are predominantly advection dominated. We use He-rich and Si- rich abundances as the initial condition of nucleosynthesis at the outer disk, and being equipped with the disk hydrodynamics and the nuclear network code, we study the abundance evolution as matter inflows and falls into the central object. We investigate the variation in the nucleosynthesis products in the disk with the change in the initial abundance at the outer disk and also with the change in the mass accretion rate. We report the synthesis of several unusual nuclei like 31p, 39K, 43Sc＇ 35C1 and various isotopes of titanium, vanadium, chromium, manganese and copper. We also confirm that isotopes of iron, cobalt, nickel, argon, calcium, sulphur and silicon get synthe- sized in the disk, as shown by previous authors. Much of these heavy elements thus synthesized are ejected from the disk via outflows and hence they should leave their signature in observed data.

Analytical solutions for the slow neutron capture process of heavy element nucleosynthesis

In this paper, the network equation for the slow neutron capture process （s-process） of heavy element nucleosynthesis is investigated. Dividing the s-process network reaction chains into two standard forms and using the technique of matrix decomposition, a group of analytical solutions for the network equation are obtained. With the analytical solutions, a calculation for heavy element abundance of the solar system is carried out and the results are in good agreement with the astrophysical measurements.

Nucleosynthesis in Hot and Dense Media

We study the finite temperature and density effects on beta decay rates to compute their contributions to nucleosynthesis. QED type corrections to beta decay from the hot and dense background are estimated in terms of the statistical corrections to the self-mass of an electron. For this purpose, we re-examine the hot and dense background contributions to the electron mass and compute its effect to the beta decay rate, helium yield, energy density of the universe as well as the change in neutrino temperature from the first order contribution to the self-mass of electrons during these processes. We explicitly show that the thermal contribution to the helium abundance at T = m of a cooling universe (0.045 percent) is higher than the corresponding contribution to helium abundance of a heating universe (0.031 percent) due to the existence of hot fermions before the beginning of nucleosynthesis and their absence after the nucleosynthesis, in the early universe. Thermal contribution to helium abundance was a simple quadratic function of temperature, before and after the nucleosynthesis. However, this quadratic behavior was not the same before the decoupling temperature due to weak interactions;so the nucleosynthesis did not even start before the universe had cooled down to the neutrino decoupling temperatures and QED became a dominant theory in the presence of a high concentration of charged fermions. It is also explicitly shown that the chemical potential in the core of supermassive and superdense stars affect beta decay and their helium abundance but the background contributions depend on the ratio between temperature and chemical potential and not the chemical potential or temperature only. We calculate the hot and dense background contributions for m = T = μ. It has been noticed that temperature plays a role in regulating parameter in an extremely dense systems. Therefore, for extremely dense systems, temperature has to be large enough to get the expected value of helium production in the stellar cores.

Big Bang Nucleosynthesis in Carmeli Cosmology—Mass Density, Temperature and Expansion Rate of the Early Universe

The Carmeli Cosmological Special Relativity theory (CSR) is used to study the universe at early times after the big bang. The universe temperature vs. time relation is developed from the mass density relation. It is shown that CSR is well suited to analyze the nucleosynthesis of the light elements up to beryllium, equivalent to the standard model.

Nucleosynthesis in Advection-Dominated Accretion Flow onto a Black Hole

Nucleosynthesis in advection-dominated accretion flow （ADAF） onto a black hole is proposed to be an important role in chemical evolution around compact stars. We investigate the nucleosynthesis in ADAF relevant for a black hole of low mass, different from that of the self-similar solution. In particular, the presence of supersolar metal mass fractions of some isotopes seems to be associated with the known black hole nucleosynthesis in ADAF, which offers further evidence of diversity of the chemical enrichment.

The Origin of Cosmic Structures Part 6: CMB Anisotropy

In a recent series of papers, we introduced a new model of nucleosynthesis in which the matter content of the universe came into existence at a time of about 4 × 10-5 s. At that time, a small percentage of the vacuum energy was converted into neutron/antineutron pairs with a very small excess of neutrons. This process was regulated by an imprint that was established in the vacuum during an initial Plank-era inflation. Immediately after their inception, annihilation and charge exchange reactions proceeded at a very high rate and ran to completion after an interval of about 10-11 s. By then, all the antibaryons had disappeared thereby establishing the matter/antimatter asymmetry of the universe. What remained were very high densities of mesons and leptons, somewhat lower densities of protons and neutrons, and finally, the very high density of photons that eventually became the CMB. The density of matter so created varied from one location to another in such a manner as to account for all cosmic structures and because the energy density of the photons varied in proportion to that of the matter, the CMB-to-be came into existence with an anisotropic spectrum already in place. For structures, the size of galaxy clusters, the initial anisotropy magnitudes were on the order of 25%. In this paper, we will follow the subsequent evolution of the photons and show that this model predicts with accuracy the temperature of the warmest anisotropies in the observed CMB spectrum. .

Inelastic Scattering of Dark Matter with Heavy Cosmic Rays

We investigate the impact of inelastic collisions between dark matter(DM)and heavy cosmic ray(CR)nuclei on CR propagation.We approximate the fragmentation cross-sections for DM-CR collisions using collider-measured proton-nuclei scattering cross-sections,allowing us to assess how these collisions affect the spectra of CR boron and carbon.We derive new CR spectra from DM-CR collisions by incorporating their cross-sections into the source terms and solving the diffusion equation for the complete network of reactions involved in generating secondary species.In a specific example with a coupling strength of b_(χ)=0.1 and a DM mass of m_(χ)=0.1 GeV,considering a simplified scenario where DM interacts exclusively with oxygen,a notable modification in the boron-to-carbon spectrum due to the DM-CR interaction is observed.Particularly,the peak within the spectrum,spanning from 0.1 to 10 GeV,experiences an enhancement of approximately 1.5 times.However,in a more realistic scenario where DM particles interact with all CRs,this peak can be amplified to twice its original value.Utilizing the latest data from AMS-02 and DAMPE on the boron-to-carbon ratio,we estimate a 95%upper limit for the effective inelastic cross-section of DM-proton as a function of DM mass.Our findings reveal that at m_(χ)?2 MeV,the effective inelastic cross-section between DM and protons must be less than O(10^(-32))cm^(2).

Impact of the new ^(12)C+^(12)C reaction rate on presupernova nucleosynthesis

The ^(12)C+^(12)C reaction rate plays an essential role in stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis.Nevertheless,the uncertainties of this reaction rate are still large.We calculate a series of stellar evolution models with the near solar abundance from the zero-age main-sequence through presupernova stages for initial masses of 20 M_(⊙) to 40 M_(⊙).The ^(12)C+^(12)C reaction rates from two different studies are used in our investigation.One is the rate obtained using the Trojan Horse Method(THM)by Tumino et al.[Nature 557(7707),687(2018)],and the other was obtained by Mukhamedzhanov et al.[Physical Review C 99(6),064618(2019)](Muk19).Then,comparisons of the nucleosynthesis and presupernova isotopic abundances are conducted.In particular,we find that in the C burning shell,models with the THM produce a smaller amount of ^(23)Na and some neutron-rich isotopes than Muk19.The difference in the abundance ratios of Na/Mg,S/Mg,Ar/Mg,and K/Mg between the two models are apparent.We compare Na/Mg obtained from our theoretical presupernovae models with Na/Mg in stellar atmospheres observed with high-resolution spectra as well as from the latest galactic chemical evolution model.Although Na/Mg obtained using the THM is within 2σ of the observed stellar ratio,the theoretical uncertainty on Na/Mg introduced by the uncertainty of the ^(12)C+^(12)C reaction rate is almost equivalent to the standard deviation of astronomical observations.Therefore,a more accurate ^(12)C+^(12)C reaction rate is crucial.

Investigation of the ^(121)Sb(α,γ)^(125)I reaction cross-section calculations at astrophysical energies

Proton-rich nuclei are synthesized via photodisintegration and reverse reactions.To examine this mechanism and reproduce the observed p-nucleus abundances,it is crucial to know the reaction rates and thereby the reaction cross sections of many isotopes.Given that the number of experiments on the reactions in astrophysical energy regions is very rare,the reaction cross sections are determined by theoretical methods whose accuracy should be tested.In this study,given that ^(121)Sb is a stable seed isotope located in the region of medium-mass p-nuclei,we investigated the cross sections and reaction rates of the ^(121)Sb(α,γ)^(125)I reaction using the TALYS computer code with 432 different combinations of input parameters(OMP,LDM,and SFM).The optimal model combinations were determined using the threshold logic unit method.The theoretical reaction cross-sectional results were compared with the experimental results reported in the literature.The reaction rates were determined using the two input parameter sets most compatible with the measurements,and they were compared with the reaction rate databases:STARLIB and REACLIB.

3M_⊙AGB星表面重元素丰度的演化

本文以１３Ｃ（ａ，ｎ）１６Ｏ及２２Ｎｅ（ａ，ｎ）２５Ｍｇ作为双脉冲中子源，对于质量为３Ｍ■、初始金属度为０．０１５的热脉冲ＡＧＢ星，采用无分叉ｓ－过程反应通道，结合最新恒星演化的计算结果、在各参量合理取值范围内，计算了表面重元素丰度和碳氧比（Ｃ／Ｏ）的演化并与观测值进行比较。结果表明，就轻重ｓ－元素丰度关系图和 Ｃ／Ｏ重元素丰度关系图而言，在各参量的合理取值范围内，理论计算曲线能够同时落入观测值区域之内，ＭＳ、Ｓ星和Ｃ星对应的平均中子辐照量范围是对ＡＧＢ星的ｓ－元素超丰影响较大。在达到渐近分布后才开始挖掘的合理假设下，其它因素（例如核心质量Ｍｃ、每次脉冲挖掘质量大小是否随脉冲数变化）对内禀ＡＧＢ星表面重元素超丰影响不大。何时发生第三次挖掘对ＭＳ、Ｓ星的重元素超丰情况影响较大，但Ｃ星丰度几乎不受影响。

强电荷屏蔽下的电子俘获率

分析了电荷屏蔽对超新星前身星环境下的电子俘获反应的影响,分析中强电荷屏蔽势能采用了最近人们利用线性响应理论给出的结果,对核素56Co,56Fe,56Mn电子俘获率的分析计算表明,在低温高密情形下,电荷屏蔽对电子俘获反应的影响较先前的分析的影响程度略小,但电荷屏蔽对电子俘获反应的影响仍然显著.

贫金属星重元素丰度分布的参数化研究

基于大量贫金属星元素丰度的观测资料,以太阳系重元素丰度分布为标准,选取Sr、Ba、Eu分别作为贫金属星弱s-过程、主要s-过程、r-过程3种核合成的典型元素,采用参数化方法,分析了不同核合成过程对贫金属星重元素丰度的贡献比例.研究表明:金属丰度越高,弱s-过程、主要s-过程对较轻的中子俘获元素丰度的贡献就越大,较重的中子俘获元素主要由r-过程和主要s-过程产生;金属丰度较低,重中子俘获元素丰度主要由r-过程产生,星系早期弱s-过程对元素丰度几乎没有贡献.

s-过程核合成参数化研究与铅星产生的物理条件

介绍了重元素核合成理论和一些最新的AGB星核合成模型,利用参数化方法计算了AGB星核合成的产量,得到了不同中子数密度(初始金属丰度)、脉冲周期、重叠因子下[Pb/Ce]的数值,在此基础上讨论了铅星产生的物理条件,进而解释了已观测到的各金属丰度下AGB星Pb丰度离散的问题.

电荷屏蔽与超新星前身星阶段电子俘获

利用核的壳层模型 ,讨论了电荷屏蔽对超新星的前身星阶段一些较丰的核在一些重要的温度—密度点的电子俘获率的影响 ,结果表明由于电荷屏蔽的作用其电子丰度变化率下降了 1 0 %～ 2 0 % .

中子辐照量指数分布函数式中比例系数的确定

讨论如何确定中子辐照量分布函数ρ(τ)=C_1(1-r)/△τr^(τ/△τ)=C_2/τ_0exp(-τ/τ_0)中的比例系数C_1和C_2的值。结果表明,C_1由归一化条件确定,通常取为1。但是C_2≠C_1,C_2/C_1的值完全由重叠因子r的值确定,即r=1时,C_2/C_1=1;0<r<1时,C_2/C_1=(r-1)/Inr。进一步的讨论还表明,0<r<1时,C_2/C_1小于1且随r增大而增大。

同位素丰度比^(12)C/^(13)C与恒星演化及其核过程

近20年中在银河系及河外星系中同位素丰度比(12)C／(13)C的毫米波及光学观测取得了一些结果，同位素丰度比(12)C／(13)C在研究恒星演化及其核过程方面具有重要的意义。银河系中的(12)C／(13)C随银心距D(GC)呈梯度分布，附近河外星系中明显较高的(12)C／(13)C表明银河系中心处于一个较为宁静的物理相，恒星中不同的(12)C／(13)C值则反映了各自不同的演化阶段。进一步高精度、大样本的观测将有助于人们更加细致地了解恒星演化及其核过程。

贫金属星中子俘获元素丰度

贫金属星的中子俘获元素丰度与恒星的形成和演化密切相关，它为研究星系形成早期的历史背景和化学演化提供了重要信息。贫金属星中子俘获元素丰度的研究已成为近年来核天体物理研究的前沿和热点。介绍了恒星内部重元素的核合成图像，ｓ过程和ｒ过程核合成的概念及其核合成场所。着重介绍了近年来有关贫金属星中子俘获元素丰度的观测结果，综述了近年来贫金属星中子俘获元素丰度分布的理论研究进展情况和中子俘获元素的星系化学演化的研究进展情况，并且提出了在该领域进一步开展理论和观测研究的建议。

AGB星核合成理论的研究进展

综述了近年来AGB星核合成的理论研究情况,包括轻、重核素核合成理论、AGB星的分类、AGB星的演化特征、AGB星内的元素核合成理论的研究及外赋MS、S星的双星吸积机制的研究情况。