Central Engine Physics

• long-soft bursts
  • hypernovae
  • collapsars
• short-hard bursts:
  • compact object mergers--neutron stars, black holes; movie: Illinois relativity group
  • collapsars; movie: Illinois relativity group

Beyond the Iron Peak

Neutron Capture Processes

• solar system abundances vs mass number and vs neutron number
• s-process
• r-process
• neutron capture cross sections
• paths on the chart of the nuclides

The s-Process

• basic physics
• path on the chart of the nuclides
• encoding in solar abundances
• searching for a site: characteristic scales
• context: post-main-sequence stellar evolution
• abundance - cross section correlation here
• identifying the site: S-stars
• the crown jewel: Merrill (1956) (cf chart of the nuclides)