Influence of 73Rb on the ashes of accreting neutron stars


Influence of 73Rb on the ashes of accreting neutron stars

Hoff, D. E. M.; Rogers, A. M.; Meisel, Z.; Bender, P. C.; Brandenburg, K.; Childers, K.; Clark, J. A.; Dombos, A. C.; Doucet, E. R.; Jin, S.; Lewis, R.; Liddick, S. N.; Lister, C. J.; Morse, C.; Schatz, H.; Schmidt, K.; Soltesz, D.; Subedi, S. K.; Wang, S. M.; Waniganeththi, S.

We find that the proton separation energy, S(p), of 73Rb is −640(40) keV, deduced from the observation of β-delayed ground-state protons following the decay of 73Sr. This lower-limit determination of the proton separation energy of 73Rb coupled with previous upper limits from nonobservation, provides a full constraint on the mass excess with ΔM(73Rb)=−46.01±0.04 MeV. With this new mass excess and the excitation energy of the Jπ=5/2− isobaric-analog state (T=3/2) in 73Rb, an improved constraint can be put on the mass excess of 73Sr using the isobaric-multiplet mass equation (IMME), and we find ΔM(73Sr)=−31.98±0.37 MeV. These new data were then used to study the composition of ashes on accreting neutron stars following Type I x-ray bursts. Counterintuitively, we find that there should be an enhanced fraction of A>102 nuclei with more negative proton separation energies at the 72Kr rp-process waiting point. Larger impurities of heavier nuclei in the ashes of accreting neutron stars will impact the cooling models for such astrophysical scenarios.

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Publ.-Id: 36484