Nuclear Mass Measurements With Radioactive Ion Beams

Nuclear masses are the most fundamental of all nuclear properties, yet they can provide a wealth of knowledge, including information on astrophysical sites, constraints on existing theory, and fundamental symmetries. In nearly all applications, it is necessary to measure nuclear masses with very high precision. As mass measurements push to more short-lived and more massive nuclei, the practical constraints on mass measurement techniques become more exacting. Various techniques used to measure nuclear masses, including their advantages and disadvantages are described. Descriptions of some of the world facilities at which the nuclear mass measurements are performed are given, and brief summaries of planned facilities are presented. Future directions are mentioned, and conclusions are presented which provide a possible outlook and emphasis on upcoming plans for nuclear mass measurements at existing facilities, those under construction, and those being planned.Comment: Accepted for publication in IJMP

Low-lying Resonances and Relativistic Screening in Big Bang Nucleosynthesis

We explore effects of the screening due to the relativistic electron-positron plasma and presence of resonances in the secondary reactions leading to A=7 nuclei during the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. In particular, we investigate and examine possible low-lying resonances in the $^7$Be($^3$He, $\gamma$)$^{10}$C reaction and examine the resultant destruction of $^7$Be for various resonance locations and strengths. While a resonance in the $^{10}$C compound nucleus is thought to have negligible effects we explore the possibility of an enhancement from plasma screening that may adjust the final $^7$Be abundance. We find the effects of relativistic screening and possible low-lying resonances to be relatively small in the standard Early Universe models.Comment: 8 pages, 13 figures, Physical Review C (2016) (in press

Impacts of the New Carbon Fusion Cross Sections on Type Ia Supernovae

Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are thought to be thermonuclear explosion of white dwarfs (WDs). Their progenitors are not well understood. One popular scenario is the double-degenerate (DD) scenario, which attributes SNe Ia to WD-WD binary mergers. The fates of the WD mergers depend on the rate of $^{12}$C+$^{12}$C reaction. Recently, the $^{12}$C+$^{12}$C cross sections have been measured and the analysis of the data using the Trojan Horse Method suggested that the astrophysical reaction rate is larger than conventional rates at astrophysical temperatures due to possible resonances. The resonance contribution results in a decrease of the carbon burning ignition temperature. Therefore accretion induced collapse occurs more easily and increases the birthrate of Galactic neutron stars with the contribution of the DD scenario to the SNe Ia rate becoming even smaller.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter

Elimination of the Blue Loops in the Evolution of Intermediate-mass Stars by the Neutrino Magnetic Moment and Large Extra Dimensions

For searching beyond Standard Model physics, stars are laboratories which complement terrestrial experiments. Massless neutrinos in the Standard Model of particle physics cannot have a magnetic moment, but massive neutrinos have a finite magnetic moment in the minimal extension of the Standard Model. Large extra dimensions are a possible solution of the hierarchy problem. Both of these provide additional energy loss channels in stellar interiors via the electromagnetic interaction and radiation into extra dimensions, respectively, and thus affect stellar evolution. We perform simulations of stellar evolution with such additional energy losses and find that they eliminate the blue loops in the evolution of intermediate-mass stars. The existence of Cepheid stars can be used to constrain the neutrino magnetic moment and large extra dimensions. In order for Cepheids to exist, the neutrino magnetic moment should be smaller than the range ~2x10^{-10} to 4x10^{-11}mu_B, where mu_B is the Bohr magneton, and the fundamental scale in the (4+2)-spacetime should be larger than ~2 to 5 TeV, depending on the rate of the ^{12}C(alpha, gamma)^{16}O reaction. The fundamental scale also has strong dependence on the metallicity. This value of the magnetic moment is in the range explored in the reactor experiments, but higher than the limit inferred from globular clusters. Similarly the fundamental scale value we constrain corresponds to a size of the compactified dimensions comparable to those explored in the torsion balance experiments, but is smaller than the limits inferred from collider experiments and low-mass stars.Comment: 12 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Chiral Selection, Isotopic Abundance Shifts, and Autocatalysis of Meteoritic Amino Acids

The discovery of amino acids in meteorites has presented two clues to the origin of their processing subsequent to their formation: a slight preference for left-handedness in some of them, and isotopic anomalies in some of their constituent atoms. In this article we present theoretical results from the Supernova Neutrino Amino Acid Processing (SNAAP) model, which uses electron anti-neutrinos and the magnetic fields from source objects such as supernovae or colliding neutron stars to selectively destroy one amino acid chirality and to create isotopic abundance shifts. For plausible magnetic fields and electron anti-neutrino fluxes, non-zero, positive enantiomeric excesses, $ee$s, defined to be the relative left/right asymmetry in an amino acid population, are reviewed for two amino acids, and conditions are suggested that would produce $ee>0$ for all of the $\alpha$-amino acids. The relatively high energy anti-neutrinos that produce the $ee$s would inevitably also produce isotopic anomalies. A nuclear reaction network was developed to describe the reactions resulting from them and the nuclides in the meteorites. At similar anti-neutrino fluxes, assumed recombination of the detritus from the anti-neutrino interactions is shown to produce appreciable isotopic anomalies in qualitative agreement with those observed for D/$^1$H and $^{15}$N/$^{14}$N. The isotopic anomalies for $^{13}$C/$^{12}$C are predicted to be small, as are also observed. Autocatalysis may be necessary for any model to produce the largest $ee$s observed in meteorites. This allows the constraints of the original SNAAP model to be relaxed, increasing the probability of meteoroid survival in sites where amino acid processing is possible. These results have obvious implications for the origin of life on Earth.Comment: 24 pages, 8 figures, to be published in Physical Review Researc

Sites That Can Produce Left-Handed Amino Acids in the Supernova Neutrino Amino Acid Processing Model

The Supernova Neutrino Amino Acid Processing model, which uses electron anti-neutrinos and the magnetic field from a source object such as a supernova to selectively destroy one amino acid chirality, is studied for possible sites that would produce meteoroids having partially left-handed amino acids. Several sites appear to provide the requisite magnetic field intensities and electron anti-neutrino fluxes. These results have obvious implications for the origin of life on Earth.Comment: Accepted to ApJ

Screening corrections to Electron Capture Rates and resulting constraints on Primordial Magnetic Fields

We explore screening effects arising from a relativistic magnetized plasma with applications to Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN). %Specifically, due to their small magnetic moments, energies of electrons and positrons can be easily quantized via Landau quantization. The screening potential which depends on the thermodynamics of charged particles in the plasma is altered by the magnetic field. We focus on the impact of screening on the electron capture interaction. Taking into account the correction in BBN arising from a homogeneous primordial magnetic field (PMF), we constrain the epoch at which the PMF was generated and its strength during BBN. Considering such screening corrections to the electron capture rates and using up-to-date observations of primordial elemental abundances, we also discuss the possibility of solving the problem of under-estimation of the deuterium abundance. We find for certain values of the PMF strength predicted D and $^4$He abundances are both consistent with the observational constraints.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. ReV.

Enhancement of Lithium in Red Clump Stars by the Additional Energy Loss Induced by New Physics

Since 7Li is easily destroyed in low temperatures, the surface lithium abundance decreases as stars evolve. This is supported by the lithium depletion observed in the atmosphere of most red giants. However, recent studies show that almost all of red clump stars have high lithium abundances A(Li)>-0.9, which are not predicted by the standard theory of the low-mass stellar evolution. In order to reconcile the discrepancy between the observations and the model, we consider additional energy loss channels which may come from physics beyond the Standard Model. A(Li) slightly increases near the tip of the red giant branch even in the standard model with thermohaline mixing because of the 7Be production by the Cameron-Fowler mechanism, but the resultant 7Li abundance is much lower than the observed values. We find that the production of 7Be becomes more active if there are additional energy loss channels, because themohaline mixing becomes more efficient and a heavier helium core is formed.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figures, accepted by MNRA

Nuclear Reaction Screening, Weak Interactions, and r-Process Nucleosynthesis in High Magnetic Fields

Coulomb screening and weak interactions in a hot, magnetized plasma are investigated. Coulomb screening is evaluated in a relativistic thermal plasma in which electrons and positrons are in equilibrium. In addition to temperature effects, effects on weak screening from a strong external magnetic field are evaluated. In high fields, the electron transverse momentum components are quantized into Landau levels. The characteristic plasma screening length at high temperatures and at high magnetic fields is explored. In addition to changes to the screening length, changes in weak interaction rates are estimated. It is found that high fields can result in increased $\beta$-decay rates as the electron and positron spectra are dominated by Landau levels. Finally, the effects studied here are evaluated in a simple r-process model. It is found that relativistic Coulomb screening has a small effect on the final abundance distribution. While changes in weak interaction rates in strong magnetic fields can have an effect on the r-process evolution and abundance distribution, the field strength required to have a significant effect may be larger than what is currently thought to be typical of the r-process environment in collapsar jets or neutron star mergers. If r-process sites exist in fields $\gtrsim 10^{14}$ G effects from fields on weak decays could be significant.Comment: 24 pages, 16 figure

Screening Effects on Electron Capture Rates and Type Ia Supernova Nucleosynthesis

Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are believed to be a thermonuclear explosion of a white dwarf, but the mass of their progenitors is still an open problem. In near-Chandrasekhar-mass (near-M_Ch) models of SNe Ia, the central density reaches >10^9 g cm^{-3}. The electron chemical potential becomes higher than the Q-values of electron capture (EC) transitions between fp-shell nuclei, so a portion of the available electrons is captured by iron group elements and thus neutron-rich isotopes are formed. Since EC reaction rates are sensitive to the density, the degree of neutronization is a key to distinguish near- and sub-M_Ch models. In order to compare observations and theoretical models, an accurate treatment of EC reactions is necessary. In previous theoretical works, however, effects of electron screening on ECs are ignored. Screening lowers EC rates and thus leads to a higher electron fraction. We implement electron screening on ECs to calculate explosive SN Ia nucleosynthesis in a near-M_Ch single degenerate model. It is found that some of neutron-rich nuclear abundances, namely those of 46,48Ca, 50Ti, 54Cr, 58Fe, 64Ni and 67,70Zn, decrease when screening effects on ECs are considered. Of these, 50Ti, 54Cr and 58Fe are particularly interesting because a significant portion of the solar abundance of these nuclei is presumed to originate from SNe Ia. We conclude that implementing the screening effect on ECs in modern SN Ia models is desirable to precisely calculate abundances of neutron-rich nuclides.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Ap