PT Journal
AU Domingo-Pardo, C
TI Beta-delayed neutron emission: first measurements in the heavy mass region and future prospects
SO Acta Physica Polonica B
JI Acta Phys. Pol. B
PY 2016
BP 729
EP 737
VL 47
IS 3
DI 10.5506/APhysPolB.47.729
LA English
AB Beta-delayed neutrons play a key role in the formation of heavy elements in explosive stellar environments. The final r-process abundance distribution, including the rare-earth peak, is tailored to a large extent by the neutrons released after the beta decay of very exotic neutron-rich nuclei encountered along the r-process path and during the freeze-out phase. Such scenarios involve a vast amount of – yet undiscovered – nuclei, and most of them are expected to be neutron emitters. In this respect, existing beta-delayed neutron emission data is rather scarce, spanning from the lightest isotopes up to the region of the fission-fragments with masses up to A similar to 150. This contribution gives an overview on the latest measurements of neutron branching ratios in the heavy mass region around N = 126, which was practically unexplored in the past. Present plans to access very exotic nuclei at the RIB-facility of RIKEN in the framework of the BRIKEN project, are presented, together with the expected impact in r-process nucleosynthesis studies.
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