The astrophysical site for the nucleosynthesis of heavy nuclei by rapid neutron capture has remained a mystery for decades, although it has generally been believed that somewhere in supernovae this process could occur. We have made considerable recent progress in understanding the physical explosion mechanism for supernovae and in particular, the important role of charged-current and neutral-current interactions with shock heated material which accounts for most of the explosion energy. We explore the war in which the high entropy bubble generated by the neutrino interactions becomes an ideal site for the formation of heavy elements as material is blown from the surface of the proto-neutron star in a neutrino-heated wind.
For more information about this research project of the Astrophysics Group, please send us an e-mail to gmathews@nd.edu.