Date of Award

6-2011

Document Type

Open Access

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Department

Physics and Astronomy

First Advisor

Rebecca Surman

Language

English

Keywords

data, abundance, number, process

Abstract

We examined a potential r-process site by modeling nucleosynthesis in a late-stage supernova explosion, considering different hydrodynamic conditions. After collecting the resultant abundances with respect to atomic and mass number, we decayed the isotopes in our data sample to stability. Then, we plotted the decayed and undecayed abundances with respect to their atomic number and mass number, and compared them to the abundances procured from solar and metal-poor halo star data. Both of these environments are known to house r-process elements, and an agreement between the observed abundance data and the abundance data from our simulation would support the theory of a late-stage supernova as a site of r-process nucleosynthesis. Graphing the aforementioned data sets reveals a correspondence between some of the abundance peaks in our simulation and the solar and metal-poor halo star data.

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