The effect of 12C + 12C rate uncertainties on s-process yields

M E Bennett, R Hirschi, M Pignatari, S Diehl, C Fryer, F Herwig, A Hungerford, G Magkotsios, G Rockefeller, F Timmes, M Wiescher, P Young

Published 2010-02-15Version 1

The slow neutron capture process in massive stars (the weak s-process) produces most of the s-only isotopes in the mass region 60 < A < 90. The nuclear reaction rates used in simulations of this process have a profound effect on the final s-process yields. We generated 1D stellar models of a 25 solar mass star varying the 12C + 12C rate by a factor of 10 and calculated full nucleosynthesis using the post-processing code PPN. Increasing or decreasing the rate by a factor of 10 affects the convective history and nucleosynthesis, and consequently the final yields.