Neutrino mixing in nuclear rapid neutron-capture processes

Abstract

A possible mechanism for the formation of heavy-mass elements in supernovae is the rapid neutron-capture-mechanism (r-process). It depends upon the electron-fraction Ye, a quantity which is determined by beta-decay-rates. In this paper, we focus on the calculation of electroweak decay-rates in presence of massive neutrinos. The resulting expressions are then used to calculate nuclear reactions entering the rapid-neutron capture. We fix the astrophysical parameters to the case of a core-collapse supernova. The neutrino sector includes a mass scheme and mixing angles for active neutrinos, and also by including the mixing between active and sterile neutrinos. The results of the calculations show that the predicted abundances of heavy-mass nuclei are indeed affected by the neutrino mixing.