Elemental r-process Abundance Patterns in Metal-Poor (old) Stars

James Lawler, University of Wisconsin
Monday, Oct 09, 12:30 PM - JINA-CEE Pizza Lunch
1400 Biomedical and Physical Sciences Building

Abstract:  Heavy nuclei beyond the Fe-group are made primarily via r(apid)-process and s(low)-process n(eutron)-capture events. Although the s-process n-capture is fairly well understood, the r-process n-capture events remain poorly understood. The relative role of Core Collapse Supernova and n-star mergers will likely be understood in the next few decades. I will discuss recent studies of old Metal-Poor stars that are revealing some new details of nucleosynthesis. This progress is due to the availability of high resolution spectra from large ground based telescopes, access to the UV via the Hubble Space Telescope, and better laboratory data.