[seminar] Astro Journal Club on November 29th (Wednesday, 3 p.m.)

[Lana Ceraj]

Dear all,

join us again on Astro Journal Club next Wednesday (Nov 29th) at 3 p.m. (sharp) in the seminar room F-201 of the Physics Department.

You can find information about the upcoming AJC seminars and links to previous AJC presentations @ https://lanaceraj.wixsite.com/ajc-main 

Presenter: Lana Ceraj, mag. phys.

Title of the talk: Collision of neutron stars - detection and aftermath

Paper: Origin of the heavy elements in binary neutron-star mergers from a gravitational wave event 

Authors: Kasen et al. (2017)

Abstract: 
The cosmic origin of the elements heavier than iron has long been uncertain. Theoretical modelling shows that the matter that is expelled in the violent merger of two neutron stars can assemble into heavy elements such as gold and platinum in a process known as rapid neutron capture (r-process) nucleosynthesis. The radioactive decay of isotopes of the heavy elements is predicted to power a distinctive thermal glow (a 'kilonova'). The discovery of an electromagnetic counterpart to the gravitational-wave source GW170817 represents the first opportunity to detect and scrutinize a sample of freshly synthesized r-process elements. Here we report models that predict the detailed electromagnetic emission of kilonovae and enable the mass, velocity and composition of ejecta to be derived from the observations. We compare the models to the optical and infrared radiation associated with GW170817 event to argue that the observed source is a kilonova. We infer the presence of two distinct components of ejecta, one composed primarily of light (atomic mass number less than 140) and one of heavy (atomic mass number greater than 140) r-process elements. Inferring the ejected mass and a merger rate from GW170817 implies that such mergers are a dominant mode of r-process production in the Universe. 

Link to paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/1710.05463

Additional link: https://arxiv.org/abs/1710.05832


If you’d like to present a paper from the field of astrophysics, please contact me via this email (lceraj at phy.hr).

See you all on Wednesday.

Cheers,
Lana