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i-process Nucleosynthesis and Mass Retention Efficiency in He-shell Flash Evolution of Rapidly Accreting White Dwarfs

Denissenkov, Pavel A.; Herwig, Falk; Battino, Umberto; Ritter, Christian; Pignatari, Marco; Jones, Samuel; Paxton, Bill

Authors

Pavel A. Denissenkov

Falk Herwig

Umberto Battino

Christian Ritter

Marco Pignatari

Samuel Jones

Bill Paxton



Abstract

© 2017. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Based on stellar evolution simulations, we demonstrate that rapidly accreting white dwarfs (WDs) in close binary systems are an astrophysical site for the intermediate neutron-capture process. During recurrent and very strong He-shell flashes in the stable H-burning accretion regime H-rich material enters the He-shell flash convection zone. 12 C(p, γ) 13 N reactions release enough energy to potentially impact convection, and i process is activated through the 13 C(α, n) 16 O reaction. The H-ingestion flash may not cause a split of the convection zone as it was seen in simulations of He-shell flashes in post-AGB and low-Z asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. We estimate that for the production of first-peak heavy elements this site can be of similar importance for galactic chemical evolution as the s-process production by low-mass AGB stars. The He-shell flashes result in the expansion and, ultimately, ejection of the accreted and then i-process enriched material, via super-Eddington-luminosity winds or Roche-lobe overflow. The WD models do not retain any significant amount of the accreted mass, with a He retention efficiency of ≲ 10% depending on mass and convective boundary mixing assumptions. This makes the evolutionary path of such systems to supernova Ia explosion highly unlikely.

Citation

Denissenkov, P. A., Herwig, F., Battino, U., Ritter, C., Pignatari, M., Jones, S., & Paxton, B. (2017). i-process Nucleosynthesis and Mass Retention Efficiency in He-shell Flash Evolution of Rapidly Accreting White Dwarfs. Astrophysical journal. Letters, 834(2), L10. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/834/2/l10

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Dec 9, 2016
Online Publication Date Jan 9, 2017
Publication Date Jan 9, 2017
Deposit Date Feb 7, 2017
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Astrophysical journal letters
Print ISSN 2041-8205
Electronic ISSN 2041-8213
Publisher American Astronomical Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 834
Issue 2
Article Number ARTN L10
Pages L10
DOI https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/834/2/l10
Keywords Space and Planetary Science; Astronomy and Astrophysics
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/447858
Publisher URL http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/834/2/L10/meta;jsessionid=88C3F3206484B771AFA85564E246EE33.ip-10-40-1-105
Additional Information Journal title: The Astrophysical Journal; Article type: paper; Article title: i-process Nucleosynthesis and Mass Retention Efficiency in He-shell Flash Evolution of Rapidly Accreting White Dwarfs; Copyright information: © 2017. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.; Date received: 2016-10-26; Date accepted: 2016-12-09; Online publication date: 2017-01-09

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