Nucleosynthesis in Early Supernova Winds II

The Role of Neutrinos

One of the outstanding unsolved riddles of nuclear astrophysics is the origin of the so called ''p-process'' nuclei from A = 92 to 126. Both the lighter and heavier p-process nuclei are adequately produced in the neon and oxygen shells of ordinary Type II supernovae, but the origin of these intermediate isotopes, especially {sup 92,94}Mo and {sup 96,98}Ru, has long been mysterious. Here we explore the production of these nuclei in the neutrino-driven wind from a young neutron star. We consider such early times that the wind still contains a proton excess because the rates for [nu]{sub e} and positron captures on neutrons are faster than those for the inverse captures on protons. Following a suggestion by Froehlich et al. (2005), they also include the possibility that, in addition to the protons, [alpha]-particles, and heavy seed, a small flux of neutrons is maintained by the reaction p({bar {nu}}{sub e}, e)n. This flux of neutrons is critical in bridging the long waiting points along the path of the rp-process by (n, p) and (n, [gamma]) reactions. Using the unmodified ejecta histories from a recent two-dimensional supernova model by Janka, Buras, and Rampp (2003), they find synthesis of p-rich nuclei up to 1°2Pd. However, if the entropy of these ejecta is increased by a factor of two, the synthesis extends to 12°Te. Still larger increases in entropy, that might reflect the role of magnetic fields or vibrational energy input neglected in the hydrodynamical model, result in the production of numerous r-, s-, and p-process nuclei up to A H"170, even in winds that are proton-rich.

One of the outstanding unsolved riddles of nuclear astrophysics is the origin of the so called ''p-process'' nuclei from A = 92 to 126.