R-process nucleosynthesis

The synthesis of heavy and neutron-rich elements (with the mass number A>=70) is reconsidered in the framework of a dynamical supernova model. The synthesis equations for the rapid neutron-capture (or, the r-) process and the hydrodynamical equations for the supernova explosion are solved simultaneously. Improved systematics of nuclear parameters (nuclear masses, β-decay half-lives etc) are used, and the energy release due to β-decays as well as the energy loss due to neutrinos (and their feedback on the hydrodynamics) is taken into account. It is shown that the observed solar-system abundance curve can be well reproduced by assuming only one supernova event on a time-scale of the order of 1 sec