What is it about?
The origin of elements heavier than iron is still matter of debate. We study a possibility to identify the origin by measuring the composition of cosmic-rays. We calculate the transfer of heavy element particles ejected by supernovae and binary neutron star mergers assuming several acceleration sites and propose a method to discriminate different origins.
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Why is it important?
The universe started its history with a few species of elements, hydrogen, helium, and a little lithium 14 billion years ago while the current world is composed of about 100 species of elements including heavy elements like uranium. Astronomers explore when and where these heavy elements were synthesized and distributed to understand from where we come from.
Perspectives
I hope this article promotes the abundance measurement of meteorites to investigate the origin of heavy elements.
Dr. Toshikazu Shigeyama
University of Tokyo
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: R-process Element Cosmic Rays from Neutron Star Mergers, The Astrophysical Journal, September 2017, American Astronomical Society,
DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/aa86b3.
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