Speaker
Rebecca Surman
(University of Notre Dame)
Description
Our understanding of the formation of the heaviest elements via r-process nucleosynthesis is built up through the detection and analysis of a variety of astrophysical observables: isotopic and elemental abundance patterns, electromagnetic signatures, and radioisotopes. The interpretation of each type of observable is complicated by the unknown nuclear physics of the thousands of neutron-rich species that participate in the r process. Here we will describe a few examples of how r-process observables can be exploited to provide clues as to the nature of r-process site(s) of production, and note how current and upcoming experiments at radioactive beam facilities can provide crucial data and fresh insight.
Primary author
Rebecca Surman
(University of Notre Dame)
