On r-process nucleosynthesis from matter ejected in binary neutron starmergers

Abstract

When binary systems of neutron stars merge, a very small fraction of their rest mass is ejected, either dynamically or secularly. This material is neutron-rich and its nucleosynthesis could provide the astrophysical site for the production of heavy elements in the universe, together with a kilonova signal confirming neutron-star mergers as the origin of short gamma-ray bursts. We perform full general-relativistic simulations of binary neutron-star mergers employing three different nuclear-physics EOSs, considering both equal- and unequal-mass configurations, and adopting a leakage scheme to account for neutrino radiative losses. Using a combination of techniques, we carry out an extensive and systematic study of the hydrodynamical, thermodynamical, and geometrical properties of the matter ejected dynamically, employing the WinNet nuclear-reaction network to recover the relative abundances of heavy elements produced by each configurations. Among the results obtained, three are particularly important. First, we find that both the properties of the dynamical ejecta and the nucleosynthesis yields are robust against variations of the EOS and masses, and match very well the observed chemical abundances. Second, using a conservative but robust criterion for unbound matter, we find that the amount of ejected mass is $\lesssim 10^{-3}{M}_{\odot }$, hence at least one order of magnitude smaller than what normally assumed in modelling kilonova signals. Finally, using a simplified and gray-opacity model we assess the observability of the infrared kilonova emission finding, that for all binaries the luminosity peaks around $\sim 1/2$ day in the $H$-band, reaching a maximum magnitude of $-13$, and decreasing rapidly after one day. These rather low luminosities make the prospects for detecting kilonovae less promising than what assumed so far.

24 pages, 18 figures, submitted to PRD

References in corpus (107)

• Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger
• GW170817: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Neutron Star Inspiral
• Nuclear Ground-State Masses and Deformations
• Multi-messenger Observations of a Binary Neutron Star Merger
• Gravitational Waves and Gamma-rays from a Binary Neutron Star Merger: GW170817 and GRB 170817A
• GW151226: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a 22-Solar-Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence
• GW170104: Observation of a 50-Solar-Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence at Redshift 0.2
• Gamma-Ray Bursts as the Death Throes of Massive Binary Stars
• Transient Events from Neutron Star Mergers
• On the Numerical Integration of Einstein's Field Equations
• Electromagnetic Counterparts of Compact Object Mergers Powered by the Radioactive Decay of R-process Nuclei
• Short-Duration Gamma-Ray Bursts
• The Electromagnetic Counterpart of the Binary Neutron Star Merger LIGO/VIRGO GW170817. II. UV, Optical, and Near-IR Light Curves and Comparison to Kilonova Models
• Composition and thermodynamics of nuclear matter with light clusters
• Astrophysical Reaction Rates From Statistical Model Calculations
• Mass models of the Milky Way
• A "kilonova" associated with short-duration gamma-ray burst 130603B
• Core-collapse supernova equations of state based on neutron star observations
• Evolutions in 3D numerical relativity using fixed mesh refinement
• Production of all the r-process nuclides in the dynamical ejecta of neutron star mergers
• Comprehensive nucleosynthesis analysis for ejecta of compact binary mergers
• Neutrino-induced nucleosynthesis of A>64 nuclei: The nu p-process
• On the astrophysical robustness of neutron star merger r-process
• Systematics of dynamical mass ejection, nucleosynthesis, and radioactively powered electromagnetic signals from neutron-star mergers
• Magnetorotationally driven Supernovae as the origin of early galaxy $r$-process elements?
• Binary neutron-star mergers: a review of Einstein's richest laboratory
• The mass ejection from the merger of binary neutron stars
• R-Process Nucleosynthesis in Dynamically Ejected Matter of Neutron Star Mergers
• An r-Process Kilonova Associated with the Short-Hard GRB 130603B
• The missing link: Merging neutron stars naturally produce jet-like structures and can power short Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Neutrino-driven winds from neutron star merger remnants
• Protoneutron star evolution and the neutrino driven wind in general relativistic neutrino radiation hydrodynamics simulations
• Kilonovae
• Neutrino Signal of Electron-Capture Supernovae from Core Collapse to Cooling
• R-process enrichment from a single event in an ancient dwarf galaxy
• Dynamical Mass Ejection from Binary Neutron Star Mergers
• Delayed outflows from black hole accretion tori following neutron star binary coalescence
• Neutrino signatures and the neutrino-driven wind in Binary Neutron Star Mergers
• Radioactivity and thermalization in the ejecta of compact object mergers and their impact on kilonova light curves
• Electromagnetic Transients Powered by Nuclear Decay in the Tidal Tails of Coalescing Compact Binaries
• Maximum mass, moment of inertia and compactness of relativistic stars
• The dynamical mass ejection from binary neutron star mergers: Radiation-hydrodynamics study in general relativity
• Dynamical mass ejection from the merger of asymmetric binary neutron stars: Radiation-hydrodynamics study in general relativity
• A possible Macronova in the late afterglow of the `long-short' burst GRB 060614
• Quasiequilibrium sequences of synchronized and irrotational binary neutron stars in general relativity. I. Method and tests
• Symmetry Parameter Constraints From A Lower Bound On The Neutron-Matter Energy
• High Resolution Calculations of Merging Neutron Stars II: Neutrino Emission
• The Electromagnetic Signals of Compact Binary Mergers
• Magnetorotational Core-Collapse Supernovae in Three Dimensions
• Neutrino-driven winds in the aftermath of a neutron star merger: nucleosynthesis and electromagnetic transients
• Positivity-preserving flux limiters for high-order conservative schemes
• Accurate evolutions of unequal-mass neutron-star binaries: properties of the torus and short GRB engines
• The long-term evolution of neutron star merger remnants - II. Radioactively powered transients
• Turduckening black holes: an analytical and computational study
• Effects of the microphysical Equation of State in the mergers of magnetized Neutron Stars With Neutrino Cooling
• The multi-messenger picture of compact object encounters: binary mergers versus dynamical collisions
• Time-Dependent Models of Accretion Disks Formed from Compact Object Mergers
• The Macronova in GRB 050709 and the GRB/macronova connection
• THC: a new high-order finite-difference high-resolution shock-capturing code for special-relativistic hydrodynamics
• Low mass binary neutron star mergers : gravitational waves and neutrino emission
• The Role of Fission in Neutron Star Mergers and its Impact on the r-Process Peaks
• Upper limits on the rates of binary neutron star and neutron-star--black-hole mergers from Advanced LIGO's first observing run
• Properties of hypermassive neutron stars formed in mergers of spinning binaries
• Gravitational waves and mass ejecta from binary neutron star mergers: Effect of the mass-ratio
• The intermediate r-process in core-collapse supernovae driven by the magneto-rotational instability
• The lightcurve of the macronova associated with the long-short burst GRB 060614
• The r-process in proto-neutron-star wind revisited
• High-Order Fully General-Relativistic Hydrodynamics: new Approaches and Tests
• On the nuclear robustness of the r process in neutron-star mergers
• Impact of an improved neutrino energy estimate on outflows in neutron star merger simulations
• Rotational properties of hypermassive neutron stars from binary mergers
• Neutron star-black hole mergers with a nuclear equation of state and neutrino cooling: Dependence in the binary parameters
• Unequal mass binary neutron star mergers and multimessenger signals
• Detectability of compact binary merger macronovae
• Modeling dynamical ejecta from binary neutron star mergers and implications for electromagnetic counterparts
• General relativistic simulations of compact binary mergers as engines of short gamma-ray bursts
• Short gamma-ray bursts from dynamically-assembled compact binaries in globular clusters: pathways, rates, hydrodynamics and cosmological setting
• Implementation of a simplified approach to radiative transfer in general relativity
• Necessary Conditions for Short Gamma-Ray Burst Production in Binary Neutron Star Mergers
• Analytic modelling of tidal effects in the relativistic inspiral of binary neutron stars
• How Gravitational-wave Observations Can Shape the Gamma-ray Burst Paradigm
• Properties of Neutrino-driven Ejecta from the Remnant of Binary Neutron Star Merger : Purely Radiation Hydrodynamics Case
• Neutron-star merger ejecta as obstacles to neutrino-powered jets of gamma-ray bursts
• Calculations of fission rates for r-process nucleosynthesis
• Magnetically driven winds from differentially rotating neutron stars and X-ray afterglows of short gamma-ray bursts
• Neutron-induced astrophysical reaction rates for translead nuclei
• Covariant formulations of BSSN and the standard gauge
• High Resolution Calculations of Merging Neutron Stars I: Model Description and Hydrodynamic Evolution
• Impact of nuclear mass uncertainties on the $r$-process
• Ultrarelativistic electromagnetic counterpart to binary neutron star mergers
• Compact Binary Progenitors of Short Gamma-Ray Bursts
• The impact of individual nuclear masses on $r$-process abundances
• Kilonova/Macronova Emission from Compact Binary Mergers
• Structure of Stable Binary Neutron Star Merger Remnants: a Case Study
• A novel paradigm for short gamma-ray bursts with extended X-ray emission
• Advanced LIGO Constraints on Neutron Star Mergers and R-Process Sites
• Short gamma-ray bursts in the "time-reversal" scenario
• The dynamic ejecta of compact object mergers and eccentric collisions
• Nucleosynthesis in Magnetically Driven Jets from Collapsars
• Compact object coalescence rate estimation from short gamma-ray burst observations
• Afterglow of binary neutron star merger
• Evolution of Accretion Discs around a Kerr Black Hole using Extended Magnetohydrodynamics
• Pair Fireball Precursors of Neutron Star Mergers
• Three dimensional evolution of differentially rotating magnetized neutron stars
• Hyper-accreting black holes
• On the use of tracer particles in simulations of binary neutron stars
• On the dynamics of tilted black hole-torus systems

Cited by in corpus (121)

• Light Curves of the Neutron Star Merger GW170817/SSS17a: Implications for R-Process Nucleosynthesis
• Using gravitational-wave observations and quasi-universal relations to constrain the maximum mass of neutron stars
• Black holes, gravitational waves and fundamental physics: a roadmap
• Origin of the Heaviest Elements: the Rapid Neutron-Capture Process
• New constraints on radii and tidal deformabilities of neutron stars from GW170817
• GW170817: Joint Constraint on the Neutron Star Equation of State from Multimessenger Observations
• Kilonovae
• Binary Neutron Star Mergers: Mass Ejection, Electromagnetic Counterparts and Nucleosynthesis
• Signatures of quark-hadron phase transitions in general-relativistic neutron-star mergers
• Long-term GRMHD Simulations of Neutron Star Merger Accretion Disks: Implications for Electromagnetic Counterparts
• Merger and Mass Ejection of Neutron-Star Binaries
• Neutron Star Mergers Might not be the Only Source of r-Process Elements in the Milky Way
• Gravitational waves from neutron star mergers and their relation to the nuclear equation of state
• The Origin of r-Process Elements in the Milky Way
• Three-dimensional GRMHD simulations of neutrino-cooled accretion disks from neutron star mergers
• A magnetar origin for the kilonova ejecta in GW170817
• Postmerger Gravitational-Wave Signatures of Phase Transitions in Binary Mergers
• Full Transport Model of GW170817-Like Disk Produces a Blue Kilonova
• Neutron Star Mergers as sites of r-process Nucleosynthesis and Short Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Radiative transfer simulation for the optical and near-infrared electromagnetic counterparts to GW170817
• Numerical Relativity Simulations of the Neutron Star Merger GW170817: Long-Term Remnant Evolutions, Winds, Remnant Disks, and Nucleosynthesis
• The electromagnetic counterparts of compact binary mergers
• A General-relativistic Determination of the Threshold Mass to Prompt Collapse in Binary Neutron Star Mergers
• Diversity of kilonova light curves
• When Did the Remnant of GW170817 Collapse to a Black Hole?
• Neutron Star Merger Remnants
• Plasmoid formation in global GRMHD simulations and AGN flares
• Interpreting Binary Neutron Star Mergers: Describing the Binary Neutron Star Dynamics, Modelling Gravitational Waveforms, and Analyzing Detections
• Beyond second-order convergence in simulations of magnetised binary neutron stars with realistic microphysics
• Mass ejection from disks surrounding a low-mass black hole: Viscous neutrino-radiation hydrodynamics simulation in full general relativity
• Fast neutrino flavor conversion, ejecta properties, and nucleosynthesis in newly-formed hypermassive remnants of neutron-star mergers
• Modeling Kilonova Light Curves: Dependence on Nuclear Inputs
• Post-merger Mass Ejection of Low-mass Binary Neutron Stars
• AT2017gfo: Bayesian inference and model selection of multi-component kilonovae and constraints on the neutron star equation of state
• Radioactive heating rate of r-process elements and macronova light curve
• Implications of the radio and X-ray emission that followed GW170817
• Actinide Production in Neutron-Rich Ejecta of a Neutron Star Merger
• Improved Leakage-Equilibration-Absorption Scheme (ILEAS) for Neutrino Physics in Compact Object Mergers
• Production of very light elements and strontium in the early ejecta of neutron star mergers
• $Abinitio$ constraints on thermal effects of the nuclear equation of state
• Coalescence of black hole--neutron star binaries
• Realistic Finite-Temperature Effects in Neutron Star Merger Simulations
• Emergence of microphysical bulk viscosity in binary neutron star post-merger dynamics
• A low-mass binary neutron star: long-term ejecta evolution and kilonovae with weak blue emission
• Long-term evolution of neutron-star merger remnants in general relativistic resistive-magnetohydrodynamics with a mean-field dynamo term
• 129I and 247Cm in Meteorites Constrain the Last Astrophysical Source of Solar r-process Elements
• 3D magnetised jet break-out from neutron-star binary merger ejecta: afterglow emission from the jet and the ejecta
• Merger of compact stars in the two-families scenario
• Gravitational waves and mass ejecta from binary neutron star mergers: Effect of large eccentricities
• Symmetry energy constraints from GW170817 and laboratory experiments
• Dynamical ejecta and nucleosynthetic yields from eccentric binary neutron-star mergers
• Formation and Evolution of Binary Neutron Stars: Mergers and Their Host Galaxies
• Fission fragment distributions and their impact on the r-process nucleosynthesis in neutron star mergers
• Composition Effects on Kilonova Spectra and Light Curves: I
• Nucleosynthesis and observation of the heaviest elements
• Neutrino emission from binary neutron star mergers: characterizing light curves and mean energies
• A Bayesian inference of relativistic mean-field model for neutron star matter from observation of NICER and GW170817/AT2017gfo
• On the opening angle of magnetised jets from neutron-star mergers: the case of GRB170817A
• Impact of the nuclear symmetry energy on the post-merger phase of a binary neutron star coalescence
• Co-production of light and heavy $r$-process elements via fission deposition
• Probing the production of actinides under different r-process conditions
• The role of weak interactions in dynamic ejecta from binary neutron star mergers
• Numerical relativity simulations of the neutron star merger GW190425: microphysics and mass ratio effects
• From the microscopic to the macroscopic world: from nucleons to neutron stars
• Radiation hydrodynamics modeling of kilonovae with SNEC
• The origin of polarization in kilonovae and the case of the gravitational-wave counterpart AT 2017gfo
• Beyond moments: relativistic Lattice-Boltzmann methods for radiative transport in computational astrophysics
• The R-Process Alliance: The Peculiar Chemical Abundance Pattern of RAVE J183013.5-455510
• Signatures of R-process Enrichment in Supernovae from Collapsars
• Two-moment scheme for general-relativistic radiation hydrodynamics: a systematic description and new applications
• Neutron star binary orbits in their host potential: effect on early r-process enrichment
• Impact of extreme spins and mass ratios on the post-merger observables of high-mass binary neutron stars
• MeV Gamma Rays from Fission: A Distinct Signature of Actinide Production in Neutron Star Mergers
• Impact of high spins on the ejection of mass in GW170817
• Fast ejecta as a potential way to distinguish black holes from neutron stars in high-mass gravitational-wave events
• Understanding the Engines and Progenitors of Gamma-Ray Bursts
• r-Process Radioisotopes from Near-Earth Supernovae and Kilonovae
• Electrical Resistivity and Hall Effect in Binary Neutron-Star Mergers
• Binary neutron star merger simulations with hot microscopic equations of state
• Electromagnetic counterparts of binary neutron star mergers leading to a strongly magnetized long-lived remnant neutron star
• Extreme r-process enhanced stars at high metallicity in Fornax
• Quantifying uncertainties in general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic codes
• Pre-merger sky localization of gravitational waves from binary neutron star mergers using deep learning
• Magnetically inspired explosive outflows from neutron-star mergers
• Decoding the compositions of four bright $r$-process-enhanced stars
• Reconstructing Masses of Merging Neutron Stars from Stellar $R$-Process Abundance Signatures
• Predicting electromagnetic counterparts using low-latency, gravitational-wave data products
• Interacting Kilonovae: Long-lasting Electromagnetic Counterparts to Binary Mergers in the Accretion Disks of Active Galactic Nuclei
• Fallback Accretion Model for the Years-to-Decades X-ray Counterpart to GW170817
• Nucleosynthesis in outflows of compact objects and detection prospects of associated kilonovae
• The Influence of Muons, Pions, and Trapped Neutrinos on Neutron Star Mergers
• The impact of r-process heating on the dynamics of neutron star merger accretion disc winds and their electromagnetic radiation
• Scattered Short Gamma-Ray Bursts as Electromagnetic Counterparts to Gravitational Waves and Implications of GW170817 and GRB 170817A
• A hybrid approach to long-term binary neutron-star simulations
• Effects of nuclear matter properties in neutron star mergers
• Observational constraints on the origin of the elements. VI. Origin and evolution of neutron-capture elements as probed by the Gaia-ESO survey
• Impact of nuclear matter properties on the nucleosynthesis and the kilonova from binary neutron star merger ejecta
• Sandblasting the $\text{r}$-Process: Spallation of Ejecta from Neutron Star Mergers
• On the Role of Muons in Binary Neutron Star Mergers: First Simulations
• A Toy Model for the Electromagnetic Output of Neutron-star Merger Prompt Collapse to a Black Hole: Magnetized Neutron-star Collisions
• r-Process enrichment in the Galactic halo characterized by nucleosynthesis variation in the ejecta of coalescing neutron star binaries
• Proposed Lunar Measurements of $r$-Process Radioisotopes to Distinguish Origin of Deep-sea 244Pu
• Impact of anisotropic ejecta on jet dynamics and afterglow emission in binary neutron-star mergers
• Gamma-rays from kilonovae and the cosmic gamma-ray background
• Characterizing $r$-Process Sites through Actinide Production
• An explosion is triggered by the late collapse of the compact remnant from a neutron star merger
• Constraints on $R$-process Nucleosynthesis from ${}^{129}$I and ${}^{247}$Cm in the Early Solar System
• R-process Nucleosynthesis of Subminimal Neutron Star Explosions
• Estimates of the early EM emission from compact binary mergers
• Long-term impact of the magnetic-field strength on the evolution and electromagnetic emission by neutron-star merger remnants
• Fully general-relativistic simulations of isolated and binary strange quark stars
• A Broad Grid of 2D Kilonova Emission Models
• Dynamical ejecta of neutron star mergers with nucleonic weak processes I: Nucleosynthesis
• General relativistic hydrodynamic simulations of binary strange star mergers
• FRIB and the GW170817 Kilonova
• Kilonova and progenitor properties of merger-driven gamma-ray bursts
• Exploring Composition Mixing in Kilonova Ejecta with Ray-by-ray Simulations
• Three-dimensional equation of state extension of quark matter in Fermi-liquid theory
• Signatures of deconfined quark phases in binary neutron star mergers
• GW170817 and GW190814: tension on the maximum mass
• Resolving the fastest ejecta from binary Neutron Star mergers: implications for electromagnetic counterparts