APS: Neutron-Star Implosions as Heavy-Element Sources

[MargaritaMc]

https://physics.aps.org/articles/v10/89
Viewpoint: Neutron-Star Implosions as Heavy-Element Sources
Hans-Thomas Janka, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 1, D-85748 Garching, Germany
August 7, 2017• Physics 10, 89
A dramatic scenario in which a compact black hole eats a spinning neutron star from inside might explain a nearby galaxy’s unexpectedly high abundance of heavy elements.
The lightest of the chemical elements—hydrogen, helium, and lithium—were created in the hot, early phase of the Universe, about a minute after the big bang. Heavier elements were forged later—in the nuclear fires of many generations of stars and during supernova explosions. But the origin of many rare chemical species, particularly the heaviest elements, remains uncertain. In particular, recent observations of a nearby galaxy * enriched with heavy elements challenge traditional nucleosynthesis models. George Fuller of the University of California, San Diego, and colleagues ‡ now propose a novel scenario for the origin of the heaviest elements, including gold, platinum, and uranium. Their hypothesis involves tiny black holes inducing neutron-star implosions and, if viable, would in one [...] swoop offer solutions to other astrophysical riddles beyond heavy element synthesis.

* Reticulum II
‡https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/1 ... 119.061101
Primordial Black Holes and r -Process Nucleosynthesis
George M. Fuller, Alexander Kusenko, and Volodymyr Takhistov
Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 061101 – Published 7 August 2017
https://arxiv.org/abs/1704.01129

UC San Diego press release
http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressrelease/p ... y_elements

There is some background to the issue in these two articles
https://www.quantamagazine.org/did-neut ... -20170323/

http://www.kavlifoundation.org/science- ... vy-metals/

[Ann]

That is an absolutely fascinating idea, Margarita! It is radical, too, so we may have to wait for some additional support of it. Nevertheless, it is indeed fascinating!

Ann

[MargaritaMc]

That is an absolutely fascinating idea, Margarita! It is radical, too, so we may have to wait for some additional support of it. Nevertheless, it is indeed fascinating!

Ann

It is fascinating isn't it? I hesitated about posting it, but thought that it might be of interest. That it was the subject of an APS Physics "viewpoint" (and by a person notable in this field) made me pay close attention.

[bystander]

Physicists Propose New Theories of Black Holes from the Very Early Universe
University of California, Los Angeles | 2017 Sep 01

‘Primordial black holes,’ believed to have formed shortly after the Big Bang, might explain how gold, platinum and uranium are created

UCLA physicists have proposed new theories for how the universe’s first black holes might have formed and the role they might play in the production of heavy elements such as gold, platinum and uranium. ...

A long-standing question in astrophysics is whether the universe’s very first black holes came into existence less than a second after the Big Bang or whether they formed only millions of years later during the deaths of the earliest stars.

Primordial Black Holes from Supersymmetry in the Early Universe - Eric Cotner, Alexander Kusenko

• Physical Review Letters 119(03):1103 (21 Jul 2017) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.031103
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1612.02529 > 08 Dec 2016 (v1), 21 Jul 2017 (v3)

Primordial Black Holes and r-Process Nucleosynthesis - George M. Fuller, Alexander Kusenko, Volodymyr Takhistov

• Physical Review Letters 119(06):1101 (07 Aug 2017) DOI: 10.1103 /PhysRevLett.119.061101
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1704.01129 > 04 Apr 2017 (v1), 09 Aug 2017 (v2)