articleThe Astrophysical JournalAug 12, 2013BRONZE OA

OPACITIES AND SPECTRA OF THE r -PROCESS EJECTA FROM NEUTRON STAR MERGERS

DKDaniel KasenNRN. R. BadnellJBJennifer Barnes

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory · University of California, Berkeley · +1 more institution

Indexed inarxivcrossrefdoaj

Abstract

Material ejected during (or immediately following) the merger of two neutron stars may assemble into heavy elements by the r-process. The subsequent radioactive decay of the nuclei can power electromagnetic emission similar to, but significantly dimmer than, an ordinary supernova. Identifying such events is an important goal of future transient surveys, offering new perspectives on the origin of r-process nuclei and the astrophysical sources of gravitational waves. Predictions of the transient light curves and spectra, however, have suffered from the uncertain optical properties of heavy ions. Here we consider the opacity of expanding r-process material and argue that it is dominated by line transitions from…

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Authors

3
  • DK
    Daniel KasenCorresponding

    Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley

  • NR
    N. R. Badnell

    University of Strathclyde

  • JB
    Jennifer Barnes

    Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley

Topics & keywords

Topics
Keywords
  • Opacity
  • Supernova
  • Ejecta
  • Radiative transfer
  • Spectral line
  • Neutron star
  • Light curve
  • Infrared
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