Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Discovery of an Exceptionally Strong β -Decay Transition of F 20 and Implications for the Fate of Intermediate-Mass Stars

Kirsebom, O. S. ; Jones, S. ; Strömberg, D. F. ; Martínez-Pinedo, G. ; Langanke, K. ; Röpke, F. K. ; Brown, B. A. ; Eronen, T. ; Fynbo, H. O.U. and Hukkanen, M. , et al. (2019) In Physical Review Letters 123(26).
Abstract

A significant fraction of stars between 7 and 11 solar masses are thought to become supernovae, but the explosion mechanism is unclear. The answer depends critically on the rate of electron capture on Ne20 in the degenerate oxygen-neon stellar core. However, because of the unknown strength of the transition between the ground states of Ne20 and F20, it has not previously been possible to fully constrain the rate. By measuring the transition, we establish that its strength is exceptionally large and that it enhances the capture rate by several orders of magnitude. This has a decisive impact on the evolution of the core, increasing the likelihood that the star is (partially) disrupted by a thermonuclear explosion rather than collapsing to... (More)

A significant fraction of stars between 7 and 11 solar masses are thought to become supernovae, but the explosion mechanism is unclear. The answer depends critically on the rate of electron capture on Ne20 in the degenerate oxygen-neon stellar core. However, because of the unknown strength of the transition between the ground states of Ne20 and F20, it has not previously been possible to fully constrain the rate. By measuring the transition, we establish that its strength is exceptionally large and that it enhances the capture rate by several orders of magnitude. This has a decisive impact on the evolution of the core, increasing the likelihood that the star is (partially) disrupted by a thermonuclear explosion rather than collapsing to form a neutron star. Importantly, our measurement resolves the last remaining nuclear physics uncertainty in the final evolution of degenerate oxygen-neon stellar cores, allowing future studies to address the critical role of convection, which at present is poorly understood

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and , et al. (More)
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and (Less)
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Physical Review Letters
volume
123
issue
26
article number
262701
publisher
American Physical Society
external identifiers
  • scopus:85077304817
  • pmid:31951442
ISSN
0031-9007
DOI
10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.262701
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
b0cd2ead-376b-488e-9354-b6fc5b1ec783
date added to LUP
2020-05-30 19:49:57
date last changed
2025-01-10 12:49:59
@article{b0cd2ead-376b-488e-9354-b6fc5b1ec783,
  abstract     = {{<p>A significant fraction of stars between 7 and 11 solar masses are thought to become supernovae, but the explosion mechanism is unclear. The answer depends critically on the rate of electron capture on Ne20 in the degenerate oxygen-neon stellar core. However, because of the unknown strength of the transition between the ground states of Ne20 and F20, it has not previously been possible to fully constrain the rate. By measuring the transition, we establish that its strength is exceptionally large and that it enhances the capture rate by several orders of magnitude. This has a decisive impact on the evolution of the core, increasing the likelihood that the star is (partially) disrupted by a thermonuclear explosion rather than collapsing to form a neutron star. Importantly, our measurement resolves the last remaining nuclear physics uncertainty in the final evolution of degenerate oxygen-neon stellar cores, allowing future studies to address the critical role of convection, which at present is poorly understood</p>}},
  author       = {{Kirsebom, O. S. and Jones, S. and Strömberg, D. F. and Martínez-Pinedo, G. and Langanke, K. and Röpke, F. K. and Brown, B. A. and Eronen, T. and Fynbo, H. O.U. and Hukkanen, M. and Idini, A. and Jokinen, A. and Kankainen, A. and Kostensalo, J. and Moore, I. and Möller, H. and Ohlmann, S. T. and Penttilä, H. and Riisager, K. and Rinta-Antila, S. and Srivastava, P. C. and Suhonen, J. and Trzaska, W. H. and Äystö, J.}},
  issn         = {{0031-9007}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{12}},
  number       = {{26}},
  publisher    = {{American Physical Society}},
  series       = {{Physical Review Letters}},
  title        = {{Discovery of an Exceptionally Strong β -Decay Transition of F 20 and Implications for the Fate of Intermediate-Mass Stars}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.262701}},
  doi          = {{10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.262701}},
  volume       = {{123}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}