The reactions and ashes of thermonuclear explosions on neutron stars

This paper reports on the detailed rp-process reaction flow on an accreting neutron star and the resulting ashes of a type I X-ray burst. It is obtained by coupling a 298 isotope reaction network to a self-consistent one-dimensional model calculation with a constant accretion rate of dM/dt=1.0e17g/s (0.09 Eddington).Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to the INPC2004 proceeding

Extracting the rp-process from X-ray burst light curves

The light curves of type I X-ray bursts (XRBs) result from energy released from the atmosphere of a neutron star when accreted hydrogen and helium ignite and burn explosively via the rp-process. Since charged particle reaction rates are both density and very temperature dependent, a simulation model must provide accurate values of these variables to predict the reaction flow. This paper uses a self-consistent one-dimensional model calculation with a constant accretion rate of dM/dt=5e16g/s (0.045 Eddington) and reports on the detailed rp-process reaction flow of a given burst.Comment: 4 pages, submitted to Nucl. Phys. A as part of the Nuclei in Cosmos 8 proceeding

Nuclear-reaction rates in the thermonuclear runaway phase of accreting neutron stars

The rp-process has been suggested as the dominant nucleosynthesis process in explosive hydrogen burning at high temperature and density conditions. The process is characterized by a sequence of fast proton capture reactions and subsequent $\beta$-decays. The reaction path of the rp-process runs along the drip line up to $Z \approx 50$. Most of the charged-particle reaction rates for the reaction path are presently based on statistical Hauser-Feshbach calculations. While these rates are supposed to be reliable within a factor of two for conditions of high density in the compound nuclei, discrepancies may occur for nuclei near closed shells or near the proton drip line where the $Q$-values of proton capture processes are typically very small. It has been argued that the thermonuclear runaway is less sensitive to the reaction rates because of the rapid time-scale of the event. However, since these processes may operate at the same time-scale as fast mixing and convection processes, a change in reaction rates indeed may have a significant impact. In this paper we present two examples, the break-out from the hot CNO cycles, and the thermonuclear runaway in X-ray bursts itself, where changes in reaction rates have a direct impact on time-scale, energy generation and nucleosynthesis predictions for the explosive event