papers

Publications (22)

astro-ph.HE2017

Constraints on Bygone Nucleosynthesis of Accreting Neutron Stars

Zach Meisel, Alex Deibel

Nuclear burning near the surface of an accreting neutron star produces ashes that, when compressed deeper by further accretion, alter the star's thermal and compositional structure…

astro-ph.HE2018

Consistent Modeling of GS 1826-24 X-ray Bursts for Multiple Accretion Rates Demonstrates the Possibility to Constrain rp-process Reaction Rates

Zach Meisel

Type-I X-ray burst light curves encode unique information about the structure of accreting neutron stars and the nuclear reaction rates of the rp-process that powers bursts. Using…

astro-ph.HE2020

Urca Nuclide Production in Type-I X-ray Bursts and Implications for Nuclear Physics Studies

Grant Merz, Zach Meisel

The thermal structure of accreting neutron stars is affected by the presence of urca nuclei in the neutron star crust. Nuclear isobars harboring urca nuclides can be produced in th…

astro-ph.HE2020

Sensitivity of Ti and Ni production in CCSN shock-driven nucleosynthesis to reaction rates

Shiv K. Subedi, Zach Meisel, Grant Merz

Recent observational advances have enabled high resolution mapping of Ti in core-collapse supernova (CCSN) remnants. Comparisons between observations and models provide st…

astro-ph.HE2018

The Great Wall: Urca Cooling Layers in the Accreted NS Crust

Zach Meisel

Accreting neutron stars host a number of astronomical observables which can be used to infer the properties of the underlying dense matter. These observables are sensitive to the h…

astro-ph.HE2019

Crust Cooling Models are Insensitive to the Crust-Core Transition Pressure for Realistic Equations of State

Sudhanva Lalit, Zach Meisel, Edward F. Brown

Neutron stars cooling after sustained accretion outbursts provide unique information about the neutron star crust and underlying dense matter. Comparisons between astronomical obse…

nucl-th2021

Decision Theory for the Mass Measurements at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams

Jesse N. Farr, Zach Meisel, Andrew W. Steiner

Nuclear physics facilities, like the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), can potentially perform many nuclear mass measurements of exotic isotopes. Each measurement comes with…

nucl-ex2020

Mapping the frontiers of the nuclear mass surface

Zach Meisel

Nuclear masses play a central role in nuclear astrophysics, significantly impacting the origin of the elements and observables used to constrain ultradense matter. A variety of tec…

nucl-ex2016

From dripline to dripline: Nuclear astrophysics in the laboratory

Zach Meisel

For the better part of a century the field of nuclear astrophysics has aimed to answer fundamental questions about nature, such as the origin of the elements and the behavior of hi…

physics.ins-det2017

The Edwards Accelerator Laboratory at Ohio University

Zach Meisel, C. R. Brune, S. M. Grimes +3

The Edwards Accelerator Laboratory at Ohio University is the hub for a vibrant program in low energy nuclear physics. Research performed with the lab's 4.5MV tandem accelerator spa…

nucl-ex2021

Improved Nuclear Physics Near Refines Urca Neutrino Luminosities in Accreted Neutron Star Crusts

Zach Meisel, Alec Hamaker, G. Bollen +16

We performed a Penning trap mass measurement of at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory and NuShellX calculations of the and $^{62}{\rm…

nucl-ex2022

Measurements of the Zr(,n)Mo cross section for astrophysics and applications

Gula Hamad, Kristyn Brandenburg, Zach Meisel +9

The reaction Zr(,n)Mo plays an important role in -driven wind nucleosynthesis in core-collapse supernovae and is a possible avenue for medical isotope product…

physics.ins-det2017

Energy Acceptance of the St. George Recoil Separator

Zach Meisel, M. T. Moran, G. Gilardy +3

Radiative alpha-capture, (), reactions play a critical role in nucleosynthesis and nuclear energy generation in a variety of astrophysical environments. The St. George recoi…

astro-ph.HE2026

Nuclear Physics of X-ray Bursts

Yi Xu, Hendrik Schatz, Rita Lau +2

Thermonuclear X-ray bursts from the surface of accreting neutron stars are the most common astrophysical explosions in our galaxy. They provide a unique window into the physics of…

astro-ph.HE2024

Constraining Accreted Neutron Star Crust Shallow Heating with the Inferred Depth of Carbon Ignition in X-ray Superbursts

Zach Meisel

Evidence has accumulated for an as-yet unaccounted for source of heat located at shallow depths within the accreted neutron star crust. However, the nature of this heat source is u…

astro-ph.HE2018

Nuclear Physics of the Outer Layers of Accreting Neutron Stars

Zach Meisel, Alex Deibel, Laurens Keek +2

Now 50 years since the existence of the neutron star crust was proposed, we review the current understanding of the nuclear physics of the outer layers of accreting neutron stars.…

astro-ph.HE2023

Pulse Profile Modeling of Thermonuclear Burst Oscillations I: The Effect of Neglecting Variability

Yves Kini, Tuomo Salmi, Anna L. Watts +6

We study the effects of the time-variable properties of thermonuclear X-ray bursts on modeling their millisecond-period burst oscillations. We apply the pulse profile modeling tech…

astro-ph.HE2018

Influence of Nuclear Reaction Rate Uncertainties on Neutron Star Properties Extracted From X-ray Burst Model-Observation Comparisons

Zach Meisel, Grant Merz, Sophia Medvid

Type-I X-ray bursts can be used to determine properties of accreting neutron stars via comparisons between model calculations and astronomical observations, exploiting the sensitiv…

astro-ph.HE2019

Catching Element Formation In The Act

Chris L. Fryer, Frank Timmes, Aimee L. Hungerford +216

Gamma-ray astronomy explores the most energetic photons in nature to address some of the most pressing puzzles in contemporary astrophysics. It encompasses a wide range of objects…

astro-ph.HE2016

Urca cooling pairs in the neutron star ocean and their effect on superbursts

Alex Deibel, Zach Meisel, Hendrik Schatz +2

An accretion outburst onto a neutron star deposits hydrogen-rich and/or helium-rich material into the neutron star's envelope. Thermonuclear burning of accreted material robustly p…

astro-ph.HE2023

Pulse Profile Modelling of Thermonuclear Burst Oscillations II: Handling variability

Yves Kini, Tuomo Salmi, Serena Vinciguerra +6

Pulse profile modelling is a relativistic ray-tracing technique that can be used to infer masses, radii and geometric parameters of neutron stars. In a previous study, we looked at…

physics.ins-det2016

Exploratory investigation of the HIPPO gas-jet target fluid dynamic properties

Zach Meisel, Ke Shi, Aleksandar Jemcov +1

In order to optimize the performance of gas-jet targets for future nuclear reaction measurements, a detailed understanding of the dependence of the gas-jet properties on experiment…