Abstract
The masses of ten proton-rich nuclides, including the nuclides and , were measured with the Penning trap mass spectrometer SHIPTRAP. Compared to the Atomic Mass Evaluation 2003 a systematic shift of the mass surface by up to 1.6 MeV is observed causing significant abundance changes of the ashes of astrophysical x-ray bursts. Surprisingly low separation energies for neutron-deficient Mo and Tc are found, making the formation of a ZrNb cycle in the process possible. Such a cycle would impose an upper temperature limit for the synthesis of elements beyond Nb in the process.
- Received 26 August 2010
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.122501
© 2011 American Physical Society
Viewpoint
Putting rare isotopes on the scale
Published 21 March 2011
New mass measurements of proton-rich nuclei will allow scientists to more accurately simulate the nucleosynthesis that occurs on the surface of neutron stars.
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