A Long, Cold, Early r-process? Neutrino-induced Nucleosynthesis in He Shells Revisited

Abstract

We revisit a neutrino-driven r-process mechanism in the He shell of a core-collapse supernova, finding that it could succeed in early stars of metallicity < solar/1000, at relatively low temperatures and neutron densities, producing A ~ 130 and 195 abundance peaks over ~ 10-20 s. The mechanism is sensitive to the neutrino emission model and to neutrino oscillations. We discuss the implications of an r-process that could alter interpretations of abundance data from metal-poor stars, and point out the need for further calculations that include effects of the supernova shock.

Comments: 5 pages, 3 figures, revised version with additional references and some clarifications, to appear in Physical Review Letters