@article{perkins_ellis_fields_hartmann_liu_mclaughlin_surman_wang_2024, title={Could a Kilonova Kill: A Threat Assessment}, volume={961}, ISSN={["1538-4357"]}, DOI={10.3847/1538-4357/ad12b7}, abstractNote={Abstract
               Binary neutron star mergers produce high-energy emissions from several physically different sources, including a gamma-ray burst (GRB) and its afterglow, a kilonova (KN), and, at late times, a remnant many parsecs in size. Ionizing radiation from these sources can be dangerous for life on Earth-like planets when located too close. Work to date has explored the substantial danger posed by the GRB to on-axis observers; here we focus instead on the potential threats posed to nearby off-axis observers. Our analysis is based largely on observations of the GW170817/GRB 170817A multi-messenger event, as well as theoretical predictions. For baseline KN parameters, we find that the X-ray emission from the afterglow may be lethal out to ∼1 pc and the off-axis gamma-ray emission may threaten a range out to ∼4 pc, whereas the greatest threat comes years after the explosion, from the cosmic rays accelerated by the KN blast, which can be lethal out to distances up to ∼11 pc. The distances quoted here are typical, but the values have significant uncertainties and depend on the viewing angle, ejected mass, and explosion energy in ways we quantify. Assessing the overall threat to Earth-like planets, KNe have a similar kill distance to supernovae, but are far less common. However, our results rely on the scant available KN data, and multi-messenger observations will clarify the danger posed by such events.}, number={2}, journal={ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL}, author={Perkins, Haille M. L. and Ellis, John and Fields, Brian D. and Hartmann, Dieter H. and Liu, Zhenghai and Mclaughlin, Gail C. and Surman, Rebecca and Wang, Xilu}, year={2024}, month={Feb} }
 @article{sprouse_lund_miller_mclaughlin_mumpower_2024, title={Emergent Nucleosynthesis from a 1.2 s Long Simulation of a Black Hole Accretion Disk}, volume={962}, ISSN={["1538-4357"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad1819}, DOI={10.3847/1538-4357/ad1819}, abstractNote={Abstract
               We simulate a black hole accretion disk system with full-transport general relativistic neutrino radiation magnetohydrodynamics for 1.2 s. This system is likely to form after the merger of two compact objects and is thought to be a robust site of r-process nucleosynthesis. We consider the case of a black hole accretion disk arising from the merger of two neutron stars. Our simulation time coincides with the nucleosynthesis timescale of the r-process (∼1 s). Because these simulations are time-consuming, it is common practice to run for a “short” duration of approximately 0.1–0.3 s. We analyze the nucleosynthetic outflow from this system and compare the results of stopping at 0.12 and 1.2 s. We find that the addition of mass ejected in the longer simulation as well as more favorable thermodynamic conditions from emergent viscous ejecta greatly impacts the nucleosynthetic outcome. We quantify the error in nucleosynthetic outcomes between short and long cuts.}, number={1}, journal={ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL}, author={Sprouse, Trevor M. and Lund, Kelsey A. and Miller, Jonah M. and Mclaughlin, Gail C. and Mumpower, Matthew R.}, year={2024}, month={Feb} }
 @article{lund_mclaughlin_miller_mumpower_2024, title={Magnetic Field Strength Effects on Nucleosynthesis from Neutron Star Merger Outflows}, volume={964}, ISSN={["1538-4357"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad25ef}, DOI={10.3847/1538-4357/ad25ef}, abstractNote={Abstract
               Magnetohydrodynamic turbulence drives the central engine of post-merger remnants, potentially powering both a nucleosynthetically active disk wind and the relativistic jet behind a short gamma-ray burst. We explore the impact of the magnetic field on this engine by simulating three post-merger black hole accretion disks using general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics with Monte Carlo neutrino transport, in each case varying the initial magnetic field strength. We find increasing ejecta masses associated with increasing magnetic field strength. We find that a fairly robust main r-process pattern is produced in all three cases, scaled by the ejected mass. Changing the initial magnetic field strength has a considerable effect on the geometry of the outflow and hints at complex central engine dynamics influencing lanthanide outflows. We find that actinide production is especially sensitive to magnetic field strength, with the overall actinide mass fraction calculated at 1 Gyr post-merger increasing by more than a factor of 6 with a tenfold increase in magnetic field strength. This hints at a possible connection to the variability in actinide enhancements exhibited by metal-poor, r-process-enhanced stars.}, number={2}, journal={ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL}, author={Lund, Kelsey A. and Mclaughlin, Gail C. and Miller, Jonah M. and Mumpower, Matthew R.}, year={2024}, month={Apr} }
 @article{froustey_richers_grohs_flynn_foucart_kneller_mclaughlin_2024, title={Neutrino fast flavor oscillations with moments: Linear stability analysis and application to neutron star mergers}, volume={109}, ISSN={["2470-0029"]}, url={https://www.osti.gov/biblio/2311835}, DOI={10.1103/PhysRevD.109.043046}, abstractNote={Providing an accurate modeling of neutrino physics in dense astrophysical environments such as binary neutron star mergers presents a challenge for hydrodynamic simulations. Nevertheless, understanding how flavor transformation can occur and affect the dynamics, the mass ejection, and the nucleosynthesis will need to be achieved in the future. Computationally expensive, large-scale simulations frequently evolve the first classical angular moments of the neutrino distributions. By promoting these quantities to matrices in flavor space, we develop a linear stability analysis of fast flavor oscillations using only the first two ``quantum'' moments, which notably requires generalizing the classical closure relations that appropriately truncate the hierarchy of moment equations in order to treat quantum flavor coherence. After showing the efficiency of this method on a well-understood test situation, we perform a systematic search of the occurrence of fast flavor instabilities in a neutron star merger simulation. We discuss the successes and shortcomings of moment linear stability analysis, as this framework provides a time-efficient way to design and study better closure prescriptions in the future.}, number={4}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW D}, author={Froustey, Julien and Richers, Sherwood and Grohs, Evan and Flynn, Samuel D. and Foucart, Francois and Kneller, James P. and McLaughlin, Gail C.}, year={2024}, month={Feb} }
 @article{vassh_wang_lariviere_sprouse_mumpower_surman_liu_mclaughlin_denissenkov_herwig_2024, title={Thallium-208: A Beacon of<i> In</i><i> Situ</i> Neutron Capture Nucleosynthesis}, volume={132}, ISSN={["1079-7114"]}, DOI={10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.052701}, abstractNote={We demonstrate that the well-known 2.6 MeV gamma-ray emission line from thallium-208 could serve as a real-time indicator of astrophysical heavy element production, with both rapid ($r$) and intermediate ($i$) neutron capture processes capable of its synthesis. We consider the $r$ process in a Galactic neutron star merger and show Tl-208 to be detectable from $\ensuremath{\sim}12$ hours to $\ensuremath{\sim}\mathrm{ten}$ days, and again $\ensuremath{\sim}1--20\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{years}$ postevent. Detection of Tl-208 represents the only identified prospect for a direct signal of lead production (implying gold synthesis), arguing for the importance of future MeV telescope missions which aim to detect Galactic events but may also be able to reach some nearby galaxies in the Local Group.}, number={5}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS}, author={Vassh, Nicole and Wang, Xilu and Lariviere, Maude and Sprouse, Trevor and Mumpower, Matthew R. and Surman, Rebecca and Liu, Zhenghai and Mclaughlin, Gail C. and Denissenkov, Pavel and Herwig, Falk}, year={2024}, month={Jan} }
 @article{mukhopadhyay_miller_mclaughlin_2024, title={The Time Evolution of Fast Flavor Crossings in Postmerger Disks around a Black Hole Remnant}, volume={974}, ISSN={["1538-4357"]}, DOI={10.3847/1538-4357/ad6c42}, abstractNote={Abstract We postprocess a three-dimensional, general relativistic, full transport neutrino radiation magnetohydrodynamics simulation of the black-hole-accretion disk-wind system thought to be a potential outcome of the GW170817 merger to investigate the presence of electron lepton number (ELN-XLN) crossings in the neutrino angular distribution. Neutrinos are evolved with an explicit Monte Carlo method and can interact with matter via emission, absorption, or scattering. Within the postprocessing framework, we find ubiquitous occurrence of ELN-XLN crossings at early times (∼11 ms), but this does not hold for later times in the simulation. At postmerger times of ∼60 ms and beyond, ELN-XLN crossings are only present near the equator. We provide a detailed analysis of the neutrino radiation field to investigate the origin and time evolution of these crossings. Previous reports have suggested ubiquitous flavor crossings persisting throughout the simulation lifetime, albeit for different sets of conditions for the merger remnant, the treatment of hydrodynamics, and neutrino transport. Even though we do not perform a direct comparison with other published works, we qualitatively assess the reasons for the difference with our results. The geometric structure and evolution of the ELN-XLN crossings found in our analysis, and by extension, fast flavor instabilities, have important implications for heavy element nucleosynthesis in neutron star mergers.}, number={1}, journal={ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL}, author={Mukhopadhyay, Payel and Miller, Jonah and McLaughlin, Gail C.}, year={2024}, month={Oct} }
 @article{grohs_richers_couch_foucart_froustey_kneller_mclaughlin_2024, title={Two-moment Neutrino Flavor Transformation with Applications to the Fast Flavor Instability in Neutron Star Mergers}, volume={963}, ISSN={["1538-4357"]}, url={https://www.osti.gov/biblio/2310431}, DOI={10.3847/1538-4357/ad13f2}, abstractNote={Abstract
               Multi-messenger astrophysics has produced a wealth of data with much more to come in the future. This enormous data set will reveal new insights into the physics of core-collapse supernovae, neutron star mergers, and many other objects where it is actually possible, if not probable, that new physics is in operation. To tease out different possibilities, we will need to analyze signals from photons, neutrinos, gravitational waves, and chemical elements. This task is made all the more difficult when it is necessary to evolve the neutrino component of the radiation field and associated quantum-mechanical property of flavor in order to model the astrophysical system of interest—a numerical challenge that has not been addressed to this day. In this work, we take a step in this direction by adopting the technique of angular-integrated moments with a truncated tower of dynamical equations and a closure, convolving the flavor-transformation with spatial transport to evolve the neutrino radiation quantum field. We show that moments capture the dynamical features of fast flavor instabilities in a variety of systems, although our technique is by no means a universal blueprint for solving fast flavor transformation. To evaluate the effectiveness of our moment results, we compare to a more precise particle-in-cell method. Based on our results, we propose areas for improvement and application to complementary techniques in the future.}, number={1}, journal={ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL}, author={Grohs, Evan and Richers, Sherwood and Couch, Sean M. and Foucart, Francois and Froustey, Julien and Kneller, James P. and McLaughlin, Gail C.}, year={2024}, month={Mar} }
 @article{holmbeck_surman_roederer_mclaughlin_frebel_2023, title={HD 222925: A New Opportunity to Explore the Astrophysical and Nuclear Conditions of r-process Sites}, volume={951}, ISSN={0004-637X 1538-4357}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acccf3}, DOI={10.3847/1538-4357/acccf3}, abstractNote={Abstract
               With the most trans-iron elements detected of any star outside the solar system, HD 222925 represents the most complete chemical inventory among metal-poor stars enhanced with elements made by the rapid neutron capture (“r”) process. As such, HD 222925 may be a new “template” for the observational r-process, where before the (much higher-metallicity) solar r-process residuals were used. In this work, we test under which conditions a single site accounts for the entire elemental r-process abundance pattern of HD 222925. We found that several of our tests—with the single exception of the black hole–neutron star merger case—challenge the single-site assumption by producing an ejecta distribution that is highly constrained, in disagreement with simulation predictions. However, we found that ejecta distributions that are more in line with simulations can be obtained under the condition that the nuclear data near the second r-process peak are changed. Therefore, for HD 222925 to be a canonical r-process template likely as a product of a single astrophysical source, the nuclear data need to be reevaluated. The new elemental abundance pattern of HD 222925—including the abundances obtained from space-based, ultraviolet (UV) data—call for a deeper understanding of both astrophysical r-process sites and nuclear data. Similar UV observations of additional r-process–enhanced stars will be required to determine whether the elemental abundance pattern of HD 222925 is indeed a canonical template (or an outlier) for the r-process at low metallicity.}, number={1}, journal={The Astrophysical Journal}, publisher={American Astronomical Society}, author={Holmbeck, Erika M. and Surman, Rebecca and Roederer, Ian U. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Frebel, Anna}, year={2023}, month={Jun}, pages={30} }
 @article{grohs_richers_couch_foucart_kneller_mclaughlin_2023, title={Neutrino fast flavor instability in three dimensions for a neutron star merger}, volume={846}, ISSN={["1873-2445"]}, url={https://www.osti.gov/biblio/2326022}, DOI={10.1016/j.physletb.2023.138210}, abstractNote={The flavor evolution of neutrinos in core collapse supernovae and neutron star mergers is a critically important unsolved problem in astrophysics. Following the electron flavor evolution of the neutrino system is essential for calculating the thermodynamics of compact objects as well as the chemical elements they produce. Accurately accounting for flavor transformation in these environments is challenging for a number of reasons, including the large number of neutrinos involved, the small spatial scale of the oscillation, and the nonlinearity of the system. We take a step in addressing these issues by presenting a method which describes the neutrino fields in terms of angular moments. We apply our moment method to neutron star merger conditions and show it simulates fast flavor neutrino transformation in a region where this phenomenon is expected to occur. By comparing with particle-in-cell calculations we show that the moment method is able to capture the three phases of growth, saturation, and decoherence, and correctly predicts the lengthscale of the fastest growing fluctuations in the neutrino field.}, journal={PHYSICS LETTERS B}, author={Grohs, Evan and Richers, Sherwood and Couch, Sean M. and Foucart, Francois and Kneller, James P. and McLaughlin, G. C.}, year={2023}, month={Nov} }
 @article{holmbeck_barnes_lund_sprouse_mclaughlin_mumpower_2023, title={Superheavy Elements in Kilonovae}, volume={951}, ISSN={["2041-8213"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acd9cb}, DOI={10.3847/2041-8213/acd9cb}, abstractNote={Abstract
               As LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA enters its fourth observing run, a new opportunity to search for electromagnetic counterparts of compact object mergers will also begin. The light curves and spectra from the first “kilonova” associated with a binary neutron star merger (NSM) suggests that these sites are hosts of the rapid neutron capture (“r”) process. However, it is unknown just how robust elemental production can be in mergers. Identifying signposts of the production of particular nuclei is critical for fully understanding merger-driven heavy-element synthesis. In this study, we investigate the properties of very neutron-rich nuclei for which superheavy elements (Z ≥ 104) can be produced in NSMs and whether they can similarly imprint a unique signature on kilonova light-curve evolution. A superheavy-element signature in kilonovae represents a route to establishing a lower limit on heavy-element production in NSMs as well as possibly being the first evidence of superheavy-element synthesis in nature. Favorable NSM conditions yield a mass fraction of superheavy elements X
                  
                     Z≥104 ≈ 3 × 10−2 at 7.5 hr post-merger. With this mass fraction of superheavy elements, we find that the component of kilonova light curves possibly containing superheavy elements may appear similar to those arising from lanthanide-poor ejecta. Therefore, photometric characterizations of superheavy-element rich kilonova may possibly misidentify them as lanthanide-poor events.}, number={1}, journal={ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS}, author={Holmbeck, Erika M. and Barnes, Jennifer and Lund, Kelsey A. and Sprouse, Trevor M. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Mumpower, Matthew R.}, year={2023}, month={Jul} }
 @article{lund_engel_mclaughlin_mumpower_ney_surman_2023, title={The Influence of beta-decay Rates on r-process Observables}, volume={944}, ISSN={["1538-4357"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acaf56}, DOI={10.3847/1538-4357/acaf56}, abstractNote={Abstract
               The rapid neutron capture process (r-process) is one of the main mechanisms whereby elements heavier than iron are synthesized, and is entirely responsible for the natural production of the actinides. Kilonova emissions are modeled as being largely powered by the radioactive decay of species synthesized via the r-process. Given that the r-process occurs far from nuclear stability, unmeasured beta-decay rates play an essential role in setting the timescale for the r-process. In an effort to better understand the sensitivity of kilonova modeling to different theoretical global beta-decay descriptions, we incorporate these into nucleosynthesis calculations. We compare the results of these calculations and highlight differences in kilonova nuclear energy generation and light-curve predictions, as well as final abundances and their implications for nuclear cosmochronometry. We investigate scenarios where differences in beta-decay rates are responsible for increased nuclear heating on timescales of days that propagates into a significantly increased average bolometric luminosity between 1 and 10 days post-merger. We identify key nuclei, both measured and unmeasured, whose decay rates directly impact nuclear heating generation on timescales responsible for light-curve evolution. We also find that uncertainties in beta-decay rates significantly impact age estimates from cosmochronometry.}, number={2}, journal={ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL}, author={Lund, Kelsey A. and Engel, J. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Mumpower, M. R. and Ney, E. M. and Surman, R.}, year={2023}, month={Feb} }
 @article{myers_cooper_warren_kneller_mclaughlin_richers_grohs_frohlich_2022, title={Neutrino flavor mixing with moments}, volume={105}, ISSN={["2470-0029"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.105.123036}, DOI={10.1103/PhysRevD.105.123036}, abstractNote={The successful transition from core-collapse supernova simulations using classical neutrino transport to simulations using quantum neutrino transport will require the development of methods for calculating neutrino flavor transformations that mitigate the computational expense. One potential approach is the use of angular moments of the neutrino field, which has the added appeal that there already exist simulation codes which make use of moments for classical neutrino transport. Evolution equations for quantum moments based on the quantum kinetic equations can be straightforwardly generalized from the evolution of classical moments based on the Boltzmann equation. We present an efficient implementation of neutrino transformation using quantum angular moments in the free streaming, spherically symmetric bulb model. We compare the results against analytic solutions and the results from more exact multi-angle neutrino flavor evolution calculations. We find that our moment-based methods employing scalar closures predict, with good accuracy, the onset of collective flavor transformations seen in the multi-angle results. However in some situations they overestimate the coherence of neutrinos traveling along different trajectories. More sophisticated quantum closures may improve the agreement between the inexpensive moment-based methods and the multi-angle approach.}, number={12}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW D}, author={Myers, McKenzie and Cooper, Theo and Warren, MacKenzie and Kneller, Jim and McLaughlin, Gail and Richers, Sherwood and Grohs, Evan and Frohlich, Carla}, year={2022}, month={Jun} }
 @article{orford_vassh_clark_mclaughlin_mumpower_ray_savard_surman_buchinger_burdette_et al._2022, title={Searching for the origin of the rare-earth peak with precision mass measurements across Ce-Eu isotopic chains}, volume={105}, ISSN={["2469-9993"]}, DOI={10.1103/PhysRevC.105.L052802}, abstractNote={A nuclear mass survey of rare-earth isotopes has been conducted with the Canadian Penning Trap mass spectrometer using the most neutron-rich nuclei thus far extracted from the CARIBU facility. We present a collection of 12 nuclear masses determined with a precision of (cid:2) 10 keV / c 2 for Z = 58–63 nuclei near N = 100. Independently, a detailed study exploring the role of nuclear masses in the formation of the r -process rare-earth abundance peak has been performed. Employing a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) technique, mass predictions of lanthanide isotopes have been made which uniquely reproduce the observed solar abundances near A = 164 under three distinct astrophysical outflow conditions. We demonstrate that the mass surface trends thus far mapped out by our measurements are most consistent with MCMC mass predictions given an r process that forms the rare-earth peak during an extended ( n ,γ ) (cid:2) ( γ, n ) equilibrium.}, number={5}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW C}, author={Orford, R. and Vassh, N. and Clark, J. A. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Mumpower, M. R. and Ray, D. and Savard, G. and Surman, R. and Buchinger, F. and Burdette, D. P. and et al.}, year={2022}, month={May} }
 @article{vassh_mclaughlin_mumpower_surman_2022, title={Solar data uncertainty impacts on MCMC methods for r-process nucleosynthesis}, volume={10}, ISSN={["2296-424X"]}, DOI={10.3389/fphy.2022.1046638}, abstractNote={In recent work, we developed a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) procedure to predict the ground state masses capable of forming the observed Solar r-process rare-earth abundance peak. By applying this method to nucleosynthesis calculations which make use of distinct astrophysical conditions and comparing our results to the latest precision mass measurements, we are able to shed light on the conditions/masses capable of producing a rare-earth peak which matches Solar data. Here we examine how our mass predictions change when using a few different sets of r-process Solar abundance residuals that have been reported in the literature. We explore how the differing error estimates of these Solar evaluations propagate through the Markov Chain Monte Carlo to our mass predictions. We find that Solar data which reports the rare-earth peak to have its highest abundance at mass number A = 162 can require distinctly different mass predictions from data with the peak centered at A = 164. Nevertheless, we find that two important general conclusions from past work, regarding the inconsistency of ‘cold’ astrophysical outflows with current mass measurements and the need for local stability at N = 104 in ‘hot’ scenarios, remain robust in the face of differing Solar data evaluations. Additionally, we show that the masses our procedure finds capable of producing a peak at A < 164 are not in line with the latest precision mass measurements.}, journal={FRONTIERS IN PHYSICS}, author={Vassh, Nicole and McLaughlin, Gail C. C. and Mumpower, Matthew R. R. and Surman, Rebecca}, year={2022}, month={Dec} }
 @article{barnes_zhu_lund_sprouse_vassh_mclaughlin_mumpower_surman_2021, title={Kilonovae Across the Nuclear Physics Landscape: The Impact of Nuclear Physics Uncertainties on r-process-powered Emission}, volume={918}, ISSN={["1538-4357"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac0aec}, DOI={10.3847/1538-4357/ac0aec}, abstractNote={Abstract
               Merging neutron stars produce “kilonovae”—electromagnetic transients powered by the decay of unstable nuclei synthesized via rapid neutron capture (the r-process) in material that is gravitationally unbound during inspiral and coalescence. Kilonova emission, if accurately interpreted, can be used to characterize the masses and compositions of merger-driven outflows, helping to resolve a long-standing debate about the origins of r-process material in the Universe. We explore how the uncertain properties of nuclei involved in the r-process complicate the inference of outflow properties from kilonova observations. Using r-process simulations, we show how nuclear physics uncertainties impact predictions of radioactive heating and element synthesis. For a set of models that span a large range in both predicted heating and final abundances, we carry out detailed numerical calculations of decay product thermalization and radiation transport in a kilonova ejecta with a fixed mass and density profile. The light curves associated with our models exhibit great diversity in their luminosities, with peak brightness varying by more than an order of magnitude. We also find variability in the shape of the kilonova light curves and their color, which in some cases runs counter to the expectation that increasing levels of lanthanide and/or actinide enrichment will be correlated with longer, dimmer, redder emission.}, number={2}, journal={ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL}, author={Barnes, Jennifer and Zhu, Y. L. and Lund, K. A. and Sprouse, T. M. and Vassh, N. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Mumpower, M. R. and Surman, R.}, year={2021}, month={Sep} }
 @article{vassh_mclaughlin_mumpower_surman_2021, title={Markov Chain Monte Carlo Predictions of Neutron-rich Lanthanide Properties as a Probe of r-process Dynamics}, volume={907}, ISSN={["1538-4357"]}, DOI={10.3847/1538-4357/abd035}, abstractNote={Abstract
               Lanthanide element signatures are key to understanding many astrophysical observables, from merger kilonova light curves to stellar and solar abundances. To learn about the lanthanide element synthesis that enriched our solar system, we apply the statistical method of Markov Chain Monte Carlo to examine the nuclear masses capable of forming the r-process rare-earth abundance peak. We describe the physical constraints we implement with this statistical approach and demonstrate the use of the parallel chains method to explore the multidimensional parameter space. We apply our procedure to three moderately neutron-rich astrophysical outflows with distinct types of r-process dynamics. We show that the mass solutions found are dependent on outflow conditions and are related to the r-process path. We describe in detail the mechanism behind peak formation in each case. We then compare our mass predictions for neutron-rich neodymium and samarium isotopes to the latest experimental data from the CPT at CARIBU. We find our mass predictions given outflows that undergo an extended (n,γ)⇄(γ,n) equilibrium to be those most compatible with both observational solar abundances and neutron-rich mass measurements.}, number={2}, journal={ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL}, author={Vassh, Nicole and McLaughlin, Gail C. and Mumpower, Matthew R. and Surman, Rebecca}, year={2021}, month={Feb} }
 @article{zhu_lund_barnes_sprouse_vassh_mclaughlin_mumpower_surman_2021, title={Modeling Kilonova Light Curves: Dependence on Nuclear Inputs}, volume={906}, ISSN={["1538-4357"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/abc69e}, DOI={10.3847/1538-4357/abc69e}, abstractNote={Abstract
               The mergers of binary neutron stars, as well as black hole–neutron star systems, are expected to produce an electromagnetic counterpart that can be analyzed to infer the element synthesis that occurred in these events. We investigate one source of uncertainties pertinent to lanthanide-rich outflows: the nuclear inputs to rapid neutron capture nucleosynthesis calculations. We begin by examining 32 different combinations of nuclear inputs: eight mass models, two types of spontaneous fission rates, and two types of fission daughter product distributions. We find that such nuclear physics uncertainties typically generate at least one order of magnitude uncertainty in key quantities such as the nuclear heating (one and a half orders of magnitude at 1 day post-merger), the bolometric luminosity (one order of magnitude at 5 days post-merger), and the inferred mass of material from the bolometric luminosity (factor of 8 when considering the 8–10 day region). Since particular nuclear processes are critical for determining the electromagnetic signal, we provide tables of key nuclei undergoing β-decay, α-decay, and spontaneous fission important for heating at different times, identifying decays that are common among the many nuclear input combinations.}, number={2}, journal={ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL}, publisher={American Astronomical Society}, author={Zhu, Y. L. and Lund, K. A. and Barnes, J. and Sprouse, T. M. and Vassh, N. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Mumpower, M. R. and Surman, R.}, year={2021}, month={Jan} }
 @article{holmbeck_frebel_mclaughlin_surman_fernandez_metzger_mumpower_sprouse_2021, title={Reconstructing Masses of Merging Neutron Stars from Stellar r-process Abundance Signatures}, volume={909}, ISSN={["1538-4357"]}, DOI={10.3847/1538-4357/abd720}, abstractNote={Abstract
               Neutron star mergers (NSMs) are promising astrophysical sites for the rapid neutron-capture (“r”) process, but can their integrated yields explain the majority of heavy-element material in the Galaxy? One method to address this question implements a forward approach that propagates NSM rates and yields along with stellar formation rates and compares those results with observed chemical abundances of r-process-rich, metal-poor stars. In this work, we take the inverse approach by utilizing r-process-element abundance ratios of metal-poor stars as input to reconstruct the properties—especially the masses—of their neutron star (NS) binary progenitors. This novel analysis provides an independent avenue for studying the population of the original NS binary systems that merged and produced the r-process material now incorporated in Galactic metal-poor halo stars. We use ratios of elements typically associated with the limited-r-process and the actinide region to those in the lanthanide region (i.e., Zr/Dy and Th/Dy) to probe the NS masses of the progenitor merger. We find that NSMs can account for all r-process material in metal-poor stars that display r-process signatures, while simultaneously reproducing the present-day distribution of double-NS systems. Notably, with our model assumptions and the studied stellar sample, we postulate that the most r-process enhanced stars (the r–II stars) on their own would require progenitor NSMs of asymmetric systems that are distinctly different from present ones in the Galaxy. We also explore variations to the model and find that the predicted degree of asymmetry is most sensitive to the electron fraction of the remnant disk wind.}, number={1}, journal={ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL}, author={Holmbeck, Erika M. and Frebel, Anna and McLaughlin, G. C. and Surman, Rebecca and Fernandez, Rodrigo and Metzger, Brian D. and Mumpower, Matthew R. and Sprouse, T. M.}, year={2021}, month={Mar} }
 @article{holmbeck_surman_frebel_mclaughlin_mumpower_sprouse_kawano_vassh_beers_2020, title={Characterizing r-Process Sites through Actinide Production}, volume={1668}, ISSN={["1742-6596"]}, DOI={10.1088/1742-6596/1668/1/012020}, abstractNote={Abstract
               Of the variations in the elemental abundance patterns of stars enhanced with r-process elements, the variation in the relative actinide-to-lanthanide ratio is among the most significant. We investigate the source of these actinide differences in order to determine whether these variations are due to natural differences in astrophysical sites, or due to the uncertain nuclear properties that are accessed in r-process sites. We find that variations between relative stellar actinide abundances is most likely astrophysical in nature, owing to how neutron-rich the ejecta from an r-process event may be. Furthermore, if an r-process site is capable of generating variations in the neutron-richness of its ejected material, then only one type of r-process site is needed to explain all levels of observed relative actinide enhancements.}, journal={NUCLEAR PHYSICS IN ASTROPHYSICS IX (NPA-IX)}, author={Holmbeck, Erika M. and Surman, Rebecca and Frebel, Anna and McLaughlin, G. C. and Mumpower, Matthew R. and Sprouse, Trevor M. and Kawano, Toshihiko and Vassh, Nicole and Beers, Timothy C.}, year={2020} }
 @article{vassh_mumpower_mclaughlin_sprouse_surman_2020, title={Coproduction of Light and Heavyr-process Elements via Fission Deposition}, volume={896}, ISSN={["1538-4357"]}, DOI={10.3847/1538-4357/ab91a9}, abstractNote={Abstract
               We apply for the first time fission yields determined across the chart of nuclides from the macroscopic-microscopic theory of the Finite Range Liquid Drop Model to simulations of rapid neutron capture (r-process) nucleosynthesis. With the fission rates and yields derived within the same theoretical framework utilized for other relevant nuclear data, our results represent an important step toward self-consistent applications of macroscopic-microscopic models in r-process calculations. The yields from this model are wide for nuclei with extreme neutron excess. We show that these wide distributions of neutron-rich nuclei, and particularly the asymmetric yields for key species that fission at late times in the r process, can contribute significantly to the abundances of the lighter heavy elements, specifically the light precious metals palladium and silver. Since these asymmetric yields correspondingly also deposit into the lanthanide region, we consider the possible evidence for coproduction by comparing our nucleosynthesis results directly with the trends in the elemental ratios of metal-poor stars rich in r-process material. We show that for r-process enhanced stars palladium over europium and silver over europium display mostly flat trends suggestive of coproduction and compare to the lanthanum over europium trend which is often used to justify robustness arguments in the lanthanide region. We find that such robustness arguments may be extendable down to palladium and heavier and demonstrate that fission deposition is a mechanism by which such a universality or robustness can be achieved.}, number={1}, journal={ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL}, author={Vassh, Nicole and Mumpower, Matthew R. and McLaughlin, Gail C. and Sprouse, Trevor M. and Surman, Rebecca}, year={2020}, month={Jun} }
 @article{sprouse_perez_surman_mumpower_mclaughlin_schunck_2020, title={Propagation of statistical uncertainties of Skyrme mass models to simulations of r-process nucleosynthesis}, volume={101}, ISSN={["2469-9993"]}, DOI={10.1103/PhysRevC.101.055803}, abstractNote={Uncertainties in nuclear models have a major impact on simulations that aim at understanding the origin of heavy elements in the universe through the rapid neutron capture process ($r$ process) of nucleosynthesis. Within the framework of the nuclear density functional theory, we use results of Bayesian statistical analysis to propagate uncertainties in the parameters of energy density functionals to the predicted $r$-process abundance pattern, by way not only of the nuclear masses but also through the influence of the masses on $\beta$-decay and neutron capture rates. We additionally make the first identifications of specific parameters of Skyrme-like energy density functionals which are correlated with particular aspects of the $r$-process abundance pattern. While previous studies have explored the reduction in the abundance pattern uncertainties due to anticipated new measurements of neutron-rich nuclei, here we point out that an even larger reduction will occur when these new measurements are used to reduce the uncertainty of model predictions of masses, which are then propagated through to the abundance pattern. We make a quantitative prediction for how large this reduction will be.}, number={5}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW C}, author={Sprouse, T. M. and Perez, R. Navarro and Surman, R. and Mumpower, M. R. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Schunck, N.}, year={2020}, month={May} }
 @article{holmbeck_frebel_mclaughlin_mumpower_sprouse_surman_2019, title={Actinide-rich and Actinide-poor r-process-enhanced Metal-poor Stars Do Not Require Separate r-process Progenitors}, volume={881}, ISSN={["1538-4357"]}, DOI={10.3847/1538-4357/ab2a01}, abstractNote={Abstract
               The astrophysical production site of the heaviest elements in the universe remains a mystery. Incorporating heavy-element signatures of metal-poor, r-process-enhanced stars into theoretical studies of r-process production can offer crucial constraints on the origin of heavy elements. In this study, we introduce and apply the “actinide-dilution with matching” model to a variety of stellar groups, ranging from actinide-deficient to actinide-enhanced, to empirically characterize r-process ejecta mass as a function of electron fraction. We find that actinide-boost stars do not indicate the need for a unique and separate r-process progenitor. Rather, small variations of neutron richness within the same type of r-process event can account for all observed levels of actinide enhancements. The very low-Y
                  
                     e
                  , fission-cycling ejecta of an r-process event need only constitute 10%–30% of the total ejecta mass to accommodate most actinide abundances of metal-poor stars. We find that our empirical Y
                  
                     e
                   distributions of ejecta are similar to those inferred from studies of GW170817 mass ejecta ratios, which is consistent with neutron-star mergers being a source of the heavy elements in metal-poor, r-process-enhanced stars.}, number={1}, journal={ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL}, author={Holmbeck, Erika M. and Frebel, Anna and McLaughlin, G. C. and Mumpower, Matthew R. and Sprouse, Trevor M. and Surman, Rebecca}, year={2019}, month={Aug} }
 @article{schilbach_caballero_mclaughlin_2019, title={Black hole accretion disk diffuse neutrino background}, volume={100}, ISSN={["2470-0029"]}, DOI={10.1103/PhysRevD.100.043008}, abstractNote={We study the cosmic MeV neutrino background from accretion disks formed during collapsars and the coalescence of compact-object mergers. We provide updated estimates, including detection rates, of relic neutrinos from collapsars, as well as estimates for neutrinos that are produced in mergers. Our results show that diffuse neutrinos detected at HyperK would likely include some that were emitted from binary neutron-star mergers. The collapsar rate is uncertain, but at its upper limit relic neutrinos from these sources would provide a significant contribution to the Cosmic Diffuse Neutrino Background.}, number={4}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW D}, author={Schilbach, T. S. H. and Caballero, O. L. and McLaughlin, G. C.}, year={2019}, month={Aug} }
 @article{richers_mclaughlin_kneller_vlasenko_2019, title={Neutrino quantum kinetics in compact objects}, volume={99}, ISSN={["2470-0029"]}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85068983479&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1103/PhysRevD.99.123014}, abstractNote={Neutrinos play a critical role of transporting energy and changing the lepton density within core-collapse supernovae and neutron star mergers. The quantum kinetic equations (QKEs) combine the effects of neutrino-matter interactions treated in classical Boltzmann transport with the neutrino flavor-changing effects treated in neutrino oscillation calculations. We present a method for extending existing neutrino interaction rates to full QKE source terms for use in numerical calculations. We demonstrate the effects of absorption and emission by nucleons and nuclei, electron scattering, electron-positron pair annihilation, nucleon-nucleon bremsstrahlung, neutrino-neutrino scattering. For the first time, we include all these collision terms self-consistently in a simulation of the full isotropic QKEs in conditions relevant to core-collapse supernovae and neutron star mergers. For our choice of parameters, the long-term evolution of the neutrino distribution function proceeds similarly with and without the oscillation term, though with measurable differences. We demonstrate that electron scattering, nucleon-nucleon bremsstrahlung processes, and four-neutrino processes dominate flavor decoherence in the protoneutron star (PNS), absorption dominates near the shock, and all of the considered processes except elastic nucleon scattering are relevant in the decoupling region. Finally, we propose an effective decoherence opacity that at most energies predicts decoherence rates to within a factor of 10 in our model PNS and within 20% outside of the PNS.}, number={12}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW D}, publisher={American Physical Society (APS)}, author={Richers, Sherwood A. and McLaughlin, Gail C. and Kneller, James P. and Vlasenko, Alexey}, year={2019}, month={Jun} }
 @article{horowitz_arcones_côté_dillmann_nazarewicz_roederer_schatz_aprahamian_atanasov_bauswein_et al._2019, title={r</i>-process nucleosynthesis: connecting rare-isotope beam facilities with the cosmos}, volume={46}, ISSN={0954-3899 1361-6471}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1361-6471/ab0849}, DOI={10.1088/1361-6471/ab0849}, abstractNote={This is an exciting time for the study of r-process nucleosynthesis. Recently, a neutron star merger GW170817 was observed in extraordinary detail with gravitational waves and electromagnetic radiation from radio to gamma rays. The very red color of the associated kilonova suggests that neutron star mergers are an important r-process site. Astrophysical simulations of neutron star mergers and core collapse supernovae are making rapid progress. Detection of both, electron neutrinos and antineutrinos from the next galactic supernova will constrain the composition of neutrino-driven winds and provide unique nucleosynthesis information. Finally FRIB and other rare-isotope beam facilities will soon have dramatic new capabilities to synthesize many neutron-rich nuclei that are involved in the r-process. The new capabilities can significantly improve our understanding of the r-process and likely resolve one of the main outstanding problems in classical nuclear astrophysics. However, to make best use of the new experimental capabilities and to fully interpret the results, a great deal of infrastructure is needed in many related areas of astrophysics, astronomy, and nuclear theory. We will place these experiments in context by discussing astrophysical simulations and observations of r-process sites, observations of stellar abundances, galactic chemical evolution, and nuclear theory for the structure and reactions of very neutron-rich nuclei. This review paper was initiated at a three-week International Collaborations in Nuclear Theory program in June 2016 where we explored promising r-process experiments and discussed their likely impact, and their astrophysical, astronomical, and nuclear theory context.}, number={8}, journal={Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics}, publisher={IOP Publishing}, author={Horowitz, C J and Arcones, A and Côté, B and Dillmann, I and Nazarewicz, W and Roederer, I U and Schatz, H and Aprahamian, A and Atanasov, D and Bauswein, A and et al.}, year={2019}, month={Jul}, pages={083001} }
 @article{zhu_wollaeger_vassh_surman_sprouse_mumpower_moller_mclaughlin_korobkin_kawano_et al._2018, title={Californium-254 and Kilonova Light Curves}, volume={863}, ISSN={["2041-8213"]}, DOI={10.3847/2041-8213/aad5de}, abstractNote={Abstract
               Neutron star mergers offer unique conditions for the creation of the heavy elements, and additionally provide a testbed for our understanding of this synthesis known as the r-process. We have performed dynamical nucleosynthesis calculations and identified a single isotope, 254Cf, which has a particularly high impact on the brightness of electromagnetic transients associated with mergers on the order of 15 to 250 days. This is due to the anomalously long half-life of this isotope and the efficiency of fission thermalization compared to other nuclear channels. We estimate the fission fragment yield of this nucleus and outline the astrophysical conditions under which 254Cf has the greatest impact to the light curve. Future observations in the mid-infrared, which are bright during this regime, could indicate the production of actinide nucleosynthesis.}, number={2}, journal={ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS}, author={Zhu, Y. and Wollaeger, R. T. and Vassh, N. and Surman, R. and Sprouse, T. M. and Mumpower, M. R. and Moller, P. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Korobkin, O. and Kawano, T. and et al.}, year={2018}, month={Aug} }
 @article{deaton_o'connor_zhu_bohn_jesse_foucart_duez_mclaughlin_2018, title={Elastic scattering in general relativistic ray tracing for neutrinos}, volume={98}, ISSN={["2470-0029"]}, DOI={10.1103/PhysRevD.98.103014}, abstractNote={We present a covariant ray tracing algorithm for computing high-resolution neutrino distributions in general relativistic numerical spacetimes with hydrodynamical sources. Our formulation treats th ...}, number={10}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW D}, author={Deaton, M. Brett and O'Connor, Evan and Zhu, Y. L. and Bohn, Andy and Jesse, Jerred and Foucart, Francois and Duez, Matthew D. and McLaughlin, G. C.}, year={2018}, month={Nov} }
 @article{vlasenko_mclaughlin_2018, title={Matter-neutrino resonance in a multiangle neutrino bulb model}, volume={97}, ISSN={["2470-0029"]}, DOI={10.1103/physrevd.97.083011}, abstractNote={Simulations of neutrino flavor evolution in compact merger environments have shown that neutrino flavor, and hence nucleosynthesis, can be strongly affected by the presence of matter-neutrino resonances (MNRs), where there is a cancelation between the matter and the neutrino potential. Simulations performed thus far follow flavor evolution along a single neutrino trajectory, but self-consistency requires all trajectories to be treated simultaneously, and it has not been known whether MNR phenomena would still occur in multi-angle models. In this paper, we present the first fully multi-angle calculations of MNR. We find that familiar MNR phenomena, where neutrinos transform to a greater extent than anti-neutrinos and a feedback mechanism maintains the cancellation between the matter and neutrino potential, still occurs for a subset of angular bins, although the flavor transformation is not as efficient as in the single-angle case. In addition, we find other types of flavor transformation that are not seen in single-angle simulations. These flavor transformation phenomena appear to be robust and are present for a wide range of model parameters, as long as an MNR is present. Although computational constraints currently limit us to models with spherical symmetry, our results suggest that the presence of an MNR generally leads to large-scale neutrino flavor evolution in multi-angle systems.}, number={8}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW D}, author={Vlasenko, Alexey and McLaughlin, G. C.}, year={2018}, month={Apr} }
 @article{orford_vassh_clark_mclaughlin_mumpower_savard_surman_aprahamian_buchinger_burkey_et al._2018, title={Precision Mass Measurements of Neutron-Rich Neodymium and Samarium Isotopes and Their Role in Understanding Rare-Earth Peak Formation}, volume={120}, ISSN={["1079-7114"]}, DOI={10.1103/physrevlett.120.262702}, abstractNote={The Canadian Penning Trap mass spectrometer at the Californium Rare Isotope Breeder Upgrade (CARIBU) facility was used to measure the masses of eight neutron-rich isotopes of Nd and Sm. These measurements are the first to push into the region of nuclear masses relevant to the formation of the rare-earth abundance peak at A∼165 by the rapid neutron-capture process. We compare our results with theoretical predictions obtained from "reverse engineering" the mass surface that best reproduces the observed solar abundances in this region through a Markov chain Monte Carlo technique. Our measured masses are consistent with the reverse-engineering predictions for a neutron star merger wind scenario.}, number={26}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS}, author={Orford, R. and Vassh, N. and Clark, J. A. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Mumpower, M. R. and Savard, G. and Surman, R. and Aprahamian, A. and Buchinger, F. and Burkey, M. T. and et al.}, year={2018}, month={Jun} }
 @article{mumpower_mclaughlin_surman_steiner_2017, title={Reverse engineering nuclear properties from rare earth abundances in the r process}, volume={44}, ISSN={["1361-6471"]}, DOI={10.1088/1361-6471/44/3/034003}, abstractNote={The bulk of the rare earth elements are believed to be synthesized in the rapid neutron capture process or $r$ process of nucleosynthesis. The solar $r$-process residuals show a small peak in the rare earths around $A\sim 160$, which is proposed to be formed dynamically during the end phase of the $r$ process by a pileup of material. This abundance feature is of particular importance as it is sensitive to both the nuclear physics inputs and the astrophysical conditions of the main $r$ process. We explore the formation of the rare earth peak from the perspective of an inverse problem, using Monte Carlo studies of nuclear masses to investigate the unknown nuclear properties required to best match rare earth abundance sector of the solar isotopic residuals. When nuclear masses are changed, we recalculate the relevant $\beta$-decay properties and neutron capture rates in the rare earth region. The feedback provided by this observational constraint allows for the reverse engineering of nuclear properties far from stability where no experimental information exists. We investigate a range of astrophysical conditions with this method and show how these lead to different predictions in the nuclear properties influential to the formation of the rare earth peak. We conclude that targeted experimental campaigns in this region will help to resolve the type of conditions responsible for the production of the rare earth nuclei, and will provide new insights into the longstanding problem of the astrophysical site(s) of the $r$ process.}, number={3}, journal={JOURNAL OF PHYSICS G-NUCLEAR AND PARTICLE PHYSICS}, author={Mumpower, M. R. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Surman, R. and Steiner, A. W.}, year={2017}, month={Mar} }
 @article{caballero_zielinski_mclaughlin_surman_2016, title={Black hole spin influence on accretion disk neutrino detection}, volume={93}, ISSN={["2470-0029"]}, DOI={10.1103/physrevd.93.123015}, abstractNote={Neutrinos are copiously emitted from black hole accretion disks playing a fundamental role in their evolution, as well as in the production of gamma ray bursts and r-process nucleosynthesis. The black hole generates a strong gravitational field able to change the properties of the emerging neutrinos. We study the influence of the black hole spin on the structure of the neutrino surfaces, neutrino luminosities, average neutrino energies, and event counts at SuperK. We consider several disk models and provide estimates that cover different black hole efficiency scenarios. We discuss the influence of the detector's inclination with respect to the axis of the torus on neutrino properties. We find that tori around spinning black holes have larger luminosities, energies and rates compared to tori around static black holes, and that the inclination of the observer causes a reduction in the luminosities and detection rates but an increase in the average energies.}, number={12}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW D}, author={Caballero, O. L. and Zielinski, T. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Surman, R.}, year={2016}, month={Jun} }
 @article{zhu_perego_mclaughlin_2016, title={Matter-neutrino resonance transitions above a neutron star merger remnant}, volume={94}, ISSN={["2470-0029"]}, DOI={10.1103/physrevd.94.105006}, abstractNote={This paper performs a study of the matter neutrino resonance (MNR) phenomenon in neutron star mergers based on a model employing three dimensional merger simulations. MNRs alter the neutrino flavor content, potentially influencing the neutrino dynamics and electromagnetic emission from the remnants, and could have broad ramifications in diverse fields, including high energy astrophysics.}, number={10}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW D}, author={Zhu, Y. L. and Perego, A. and McLaughlin, G. C.}, year={2016}, month={Nov} }
 @article{stapleford_vaananen_kneller_mclaughlin_shapiro_2016, title={Nonstandard neutrino interactions in supernovae}, volume={94}, ISSN={["2470-0029"]}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85002112694&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1103/physrevd.94.093007}, abstractNote={Nonstandard interactions (NSI) of neutrinos with matter can significantly alter neutrino flavor evolution in supernovae with the potential to impact explosion dynamics, nucleosynthesis, and the neutrinos signal. In this paper, we explore, both numerically and analytically, the landscape of neutrino flavor transformation effects in supernovae due to NSI and find a new, heretofore unseen transformation processes can occur. These new transformations can take place with NSI strengths well below current experimental limits. Within a broad swath of NSI parameter space, we observe symmetric and standard matter-neutrino resonances for supernovae neutrinos, a transformation effect previously only seen in compact object merger scenarios; in another region of the parameter space we find the NSI can induce neutrino collective effects in scenarios where none would appear with only the standard case of neutrino oscillation physics; and in a third region the NSI can lead to the disappearance of the high density Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein resonance. Using a variety of analytical tools, we are able to describe quantitatively the numerical results allowing us to partition the NSI parameter according to the transformation processes observed. Our results indicate nonstandard interactions of supernova neutrinos provide a sensitive probe of beyond the Standard Model physics complementary to present and future terrestrial experiments.}, number={9}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW D}, author={Stapleford, Charles J. and Vaananen, Daavid J. and Kneller, James P. and McLaughlin, Gail C. and Shapiro, Brandon T.}, year={2016}, month={Nov} }
 @article{malkus_mclaughlin_surman_2016, title={Symmetric and standard matter neutrino resonances above merging compact objects}, volume={93}, ISSN={["2470-0029"]}, DOI={10.1103/physrevd.93.045021}, abstractNote={Matter-neutrino resonances (MNR) can occur in environments where the flux of electron antineutrinos is greater than the flux of electron neutrinos. These resonances may result in dramatic neutrino flavor transformation. Compact object merger disks are an example of an environment where electron antineutrinos outnumber neutrinos. We study MNR resonances in several such disk configurations and find two qualitatively different types of matter-neutrino resonances: a standard MNR and a symmetric MNR. We examine the transformation that occurs in each type of resonance and explore the consequences for nucleosynthesis.}, number={4}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW D}, author={Malkus, A. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Surman, R.}, year={2016}, month={Feb} }
 @article{mumpower_mclaughlin_surman_steiner_2016, title={THE LINK BETWEEN RARE-EARTH PEAK FORMATION AND THE ASTROPHYSICAL SITE OF THE R PROCESS}, volume={833}, ISSN={["1538-4357"]}, DOI={10.3847/1538-4357/833/2/282}, abstractNote={ABSTRACT
               The primary astrophysical source of the rare-earth elements is the rapid neutron capture process (r process). The rare-earth peak that is seen in the solar r-process residuals has been proposed to originate as a pile-up of nuclei during the end of the r process. We introduce a new method utilizing Monte Carlo studies of nuclear masses in the rare-earth region, that includes self-consistently adjusting β-decay rates and neutron capture rates, to find the mass surfaces necessary for the formation of the rare-earth peak. We demonstrate our method with two types of astrophysical scenario, one corresponding to conditions typical of hot winds from core-collapse supernovae and stellar-mass accretion disks, and one corresponding to conditions typical of the ejection of the material from the tidal tails of neutron star mergers. In each type of astrophysical condition, this method successfully locates a region of enhanced stability in the mass surface that is responsible for the rare-earth peak. For each scenario, we find that the change in the mass surface has qualitatively different features, thus future measurements can shed light on the type of environment in which the r process occurred.}, number={2}, journal={ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL}, author={Mumpower, Matthew R. and McLaughlin, Gail C. and Surman, Rebecca and Steiner, Andrew W.}, year={2016}, month={Dec} }
 @article{mumpower_surman_mclaughlin_aprahamian_2016, title={The impact of individual nuclear properties on r-process nucleosynthesis (vol 86C, pg 86, 2015)}, volume={87}, ISSN={["1873-2224"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.ppnp.2015.12.002}, journal={PROGRESS IN PARTICLE AND NUCLEAR PHYSICS}, author={Mumpower, M. R. and Surman, R. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Aprahamian, A.}, year={2016}, month={Mar}, pages={116–116} }
 @article{vaananen_mclaughlin_2016, title={Uncovering the matter-neutrino resonance}, volume={93}, ISSN={["2470-0029"]}, DOI={10.1103/physrevd.93.105044}, abstractNote={Matter-neutrino resonances (MNRs) can drastically modify neutrino flavor evolution in astrophysical environments and may significantly impact nucleosynthesis. Here we further investigate the underlying physics of MNR-type flavor transitions. We provide generalized resonance conditions and make analytical predictions for the behavior of the system. We discuss the adiabatic evolution of these transitions considering both symmetric and standard MNR scenarios. Symmetric MNR transitions differ from standard MNR transitions in that both neutrinos and antineutrinos can completely transform to other flavors simultaneously. We provide an example of the simplest system in which such transitions can occur with a neutrino and an antineutrino having a single energy and emission angle. We further apply linearized stability analysis to predict the location of self-induced nutation-type (or bipolar) oscillations due to $\ensuremath{\nu}\ensuremath{\nu}$ interactions in the regions where MNR is ineffective. In all cases, we compare our analytical predictions to numerical calculations.}, number={10}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW D}, author={Vaananen, D. and McLaughlin, G. C.}, year={2016}, month={May} }
 @article{arcones_bardayan_beers_bernstein_blackmon_messer_brown_brown_brune_champagne_et al._2017, title={White paper on nuclear astrophysics and low energy nuclear physics Part 1: Nuclear astrophysics}, volume={94}, ISSN={["1873-2224"]}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ppnp.2016.12.003}, DOI={10.1016/j.ppnp.2016.12.003}, abstractNote={This white paper informs the nuclear astrophysics community and funding agencies about the scientific directions and priorities of the field and provides input from this community for the 2015 Nuclear Science Long Range Plan. It summarizes the outcome of the nuclear astrophysics town meeting that was held on August 21–23, 2014 in College Station at the campus of Texas A&M University in preparation of the NSAC Nuclear Science Long Range Plan. It also reflects the outcome of an earlier town meeting of the nuclear astrophysics community organized by the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics (JINA) on October 9–10, 2012 Detroit, Michigan, with the purpose of developing a vision for nuclear astrophysics in light of the recent NRC decadal surveys in nuclear physics (NP2010) and astronomy (ASTRO2010). The white paper is furthermore informed by the town meeting of the Association of Research at University Nuclear Accelerators (ARUNA) that took place at the University of Notre Dame on June 12–13, 2014. In summary we find that nuclear astrophysics is a modern and vibrant field addressing fundamental science questions at the intersection of nuclear physics and astrophysics. These questions relate to the origin of the elements, the nuclear engines that drive life and death of stars, and the properties of dense matter. A broad range of nuclear accelerator facilities, astronomical observatories, theory efforts, and computational capabilities are needed. With the developments outlined in this white paper, answers to long standing key questions are well within reach in the coming decade.}, journal={PROGRESS IN PARTICLE AND NUCLEAR PHYSICS}, author={Arcones, Almudena and Bardayan, Dan W. and Beers, Timothy C. and Bernstein, Lee A. and Blackmon, Jeffrey C. and Messer, Bronson and Brown, B. Alex and Brown, Edward F. and Brune, Carl R. and Champagne, Art E. and et al.}, year={2017}, month={May}, pages={1–67} }
 @article{shafer_engel_frohlich_mclaughlin_mumpower_surman_2016, title={beta decay of deformed r-process nuclei near A=80 and A=160, including odd-A and odd-odd nuclei, with the Skyrme finite-amplitude method}, volume={94}, ISSN={["2469-9993"]}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/physrevc.94.055802}, DOI={10.1103/physrevc.94.055802}, abstractNote={After identifying the nuclei in the regions near A =80 and A = 160 for which beta-decay rates have the greatest effect on weak and main r-process abundance patterns, we apply the finite-amplitude method (FAM) with Skyrme energy-density functionals (EDFs) to calculate beta-decay half-lives of those nuclei in the quasiparticle random-phase approximation (QRPA). We use the equal filling approximation to extend our implementation of the charge-changing FAM, which incorporates pairing correlations and allows axially symmetric deformation, to odd-A and odd-odd nuclei. Within this framework we find differences of up to a factor of seven between our calculated beta-decay half-lives and those of previous efforts. Repeated calculations with nuclei near A = 160 and multiple EDFs show a spread of two to four in beta-decay half-lives, with differences in calculated Q values playing an important role. We investigate the implications of these results for r-process simulations.}, number={5}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW C}, author={Shafer, T. and Engel, J. and Frohlich, C. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Mumpower, M. and Surman, R.}, year={2016}, month={Nov} }
 @article{malkus_kneller_mclaughlin_surman_2015, title={Neutrino Oscillation Above a Black Hole Accretion Disk}, volume={1663}, ISSN={["0094-243X"]}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85006201488&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1063/1.4919479}, abstractNote={We examine neutrino oscillations in the context of an accretion disk surrounding a black hole. Because accretion disks produce large quantities of neutrinos, they may be home to interesting neutrino oscillation as well. We model accretion disks associated with stellar collapse for the sake of understanding neutrino oscillations. We find that the neutrino oscillations include phenomena seen in the protoneutron star setting as well as phenomena not seen elsewhere.}, journal={NUINT12: 8TH INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON NEUTRINO-NUCLEUS INTERACTIONS IN THE FEW-GEV REGION}, author={Malkus, A. and Kneller, J. P. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Surman, R.}, year={2015} }
 @article{caballero_surman_mclaughlin_2015, title={Neutrinos and the synthesis of heavy elements: the role of gravity}, volume={93}, ISSN={["2100-014X"]}, DOI={10.1051/epjconf/20159303002}, abstractNote={The synthesis of heavy elements in the Universe presents several challenges. From one side the astrophysical site is still undetermined and on other hand the input from nuclear physics requires the knowledge of properties of exotic nuclei, some of them perhaps accessible in ion beam facilities. Black hole accretion disks have been proposed as possible r-process sites. Analogously to Supernovae these objects emit huge amounts of neutrinos. We discuss the neutrino emission from black hole accretion disks. In particular we show the influence that the black hole strong gravitational field has on changing the electron fraction relevant to the synthesis of elements.}, journal={CGS15 - CAPTURE GAMMA-RAY SPECTROSCOPY AND RELATED TOPICS}, author={Caballero, L. and Surman, R. and McLaughlin, G. C.}, year={2015} }
 @article{patton_kneller_mclaughlin_2015, title={Stimulated neutrino transformation through turbulence on a changing density profile and application to supernovae}, volume={91}, ISSN={["1550-2368"]}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84937147972&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1103/physrevd.91.025001}, abstractNote={We apply the model of stimulated neutrino transitions to neutrinos travelling through turbulence on a non constant density profile. We describe a method to predict the location of large amplitude transitions and demonstrate the effectiveness of this method by comparing to numerical calculations using a model supernova (SN) profile. The important wavelength scales of turbulence, both those that stimulate neutrino transformations and those that suppress them, are presented and discussed. We then examine the effects of changing the parameters of the turbulent spectrum, specifically the root-mean-square amplitude and cutoff wavelength, and show how the stimulated transitions model offers an explanation for the increase in both the amplitude and number of transitions with large amplitude turbulence, as well as a suppression or absence of transitions for long cutoff wavelengths. The method can also be used to predict the location of transitions between anti-neutrino states which, in the normal hierarchy we are using, will not undergo Mikheev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein transitions. Lastly, the stimulated neutrino transitions method is applied to a turbulent 2D supernova simulation and explains the minimal observed effect on neutrino oscillations in the simulation as being due to excessive long wavelength modes suppressing transitions and the absence of modes that fulfill themore » parametric resonance condition.« less}, number={2}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW D}, author={Patton, Kelly M. and Kneller, James P. and McLaughlin, Gail C.}, year={2015}, month={Jan} }
 @misc{mumpower_surman_mclaughlin_aprahamian_2016, title={The impact of individual nuclear properties on r-process nucleosynthesis}, volume={86}, ISSN={["1873-2224"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.ppnp.2015.09.001}, abstractNote={The astrophysical rapid neutron capture process or ' r process' of nucleosynthesis is believed to be responsible for the production of approximately half the heavy element abundances found in nature. This multifaceted problem remains one of the greatest open challenges in all of physics . Knowledge of nuclear physics properties such as masses, β -decay and neutron capture rates, as well as β -delayed neutron emission probabilities are critical inputs that go into calculations of r -process nucleosynthesis. While properties of nuclei near stability have been established, much still remains unknown regarding neutron-rich nuclei far from stability that may participate in the r process. Sensitivity studies gauge the astrophysical response of a change in nuclear physics input(s) which allows for the isolation of the most important nuclear properties that shape the final abundances observed in nature. This review summarizes the extent of recent sensitivity studies and highlights how these studies play a key role in facilitating new insight into the r process. The development of these tools promotes a focused effort for state-of-the-art measurements, motivates construction of new facilities and will ultimately move the community toward addressing the grand challenge of 'How were the elements from iron to uranium made?'.}, journal={PROGRESS IN PARTICLE AND NUCLEAR PHYSICS}, author={Mumpower, M. R. and Surman, R. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Aprahamian, A.}, year={2016}, month={Jan}, pages={86–126} }
 @article{mclaughlin_2015, title={Theory and Phenomenology of Coherent Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering}, volume={1666}, ISSN={["0094-243X"]}, DOI={10.1063/1.4915590}, abstractNote={We review the theory and phenomenology of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEνNS). After a brief introduction, we summarize the places where CEνNS is already in use and then turn to future physics opportunities from CEνNS. CEνNS has been proposed as a way to limit or discover beyond the standard model physics, measure the nuclear-neutron radius and constrain the Weinberg angle.}, journal={XXVI INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON NEUTRINO PHYSICS AND ASTROPHYSICS (NEUTRINO 2014)}, author={McLaughlin, Gail}, year={2015} }
 @article{surman_caballero_mclaughlin_just_janka_2014, title={Production of Ni-56 in black hole-neutron star merger accretion disc outflows}, volume={41}, ISSN={["1361-6471"]}, DOI={10.1088/0954-3899/41/4/044006}, abstractNote={The likely outcome of a compact object merger event is a central black hole surrounded by a rapidly accreting torus of debris. This disk of debris is a rich source of element synthesis, the outcome of which is needed to predict electromagnetic counterparts of individual events and to understand the contribution of mergers to galactic chemical evolution. Here we study disk outflow nucleosynthesis in the context of a two-dimensional, time-dependent black hole-neutron star merger accretion disk model. We use two time snapshots from this model to examine the impact of the evolution of the neutrino fluxes from the disk on the element synthesis. While the neutrino fluxes from the early-time disk snapshot appear to favor neutron-rich outflows, by the late-time snapshot the situation is reversed. As a result we find copious production of Nickel-56 in the outflows.}, number={4}, journal={JOURNAL OF PHYSICS G-NUCLEAR AND PARTICLE PHYSICS}, author={Surman, R. and Caballero, O. L. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Just, O. and Janka, H-Th}, year={2014}, month={Apr} }
 @article{surman_mumpower_sinclair_jones_hix_mclaughlin_2014, title={Sensitivity studies for the weak r process: neutron capture rates}, volume={4}, ISSN={["2158-3226"]}, DOI={10.1063/1.4867191}, abstractNote={Rapid neutron capture nucleosynthesis involves thousands of nuclear species far from stability, whose nuclear properties need to be understood in order to accurately predict nucleosynthetic outcomes. Recently sensitivity studies have provided a deeper understanding of how the r process proceeds and have identified pieces of nuclear data of interest for further experimental or theoretical study. A key result of these studies has been to point out the importance of individual neutron capture rates in setting the final r-process abundance pattern for a ‘main’ (A ∼ 130 peak and above) r process. Here we examine neutron capture in the context of a ‘weak’ r process that forms primarily the A ∼ 80 r-process abundance peak. We identify the astrophysical conditions required to produce this peak region through weak r-processing and point out the neutron capture rates that most strongly influence the final abundance pattern.}, number={4}, journal={AIP ADVANCES}, author={Surman, R. and Mumpower, M. and Sinclair, R. and Jones, K. L. and Hix, W. R. and McLaughlin, G. C.}, year={2014}, month={Apr} }
 @article{surman_mumpower_cass_bentley_aprahamian_mclaughlin_2014, title={Sensitivity studies forr-process nucleosynthesis in three astrophysical scenarios}, volume={66}, ISSN={2100-014X}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/EPJCONF/20146607024}, DOI={10.1051/EPJCONF/20146607024}, abstractNote={In rapid neutron capture, or r-process, nucleosynthesis, heavy elements are built up via a sequence of neutron captures and beta decays that involves thousands of nuclei far from stability. Though we understand the basics of how the r-process proceeds, its astrophysical site is still not conclusively known. The nuclear network simulations we use to test potential astrophysical scenarios require nuclear physics data (masses, beta decay lifetimes, neutron capture rates, fission probabilities) for all of the nuclei on the neutron-rich side of the nuclear chart, from the valley of stability to the neutron drip line. Here we discuss recent sensitivity studies that aim to determine which individual pieces of nuclear data are the most crucial for r-process calculations. We consider three types of astrophysical scenarios: a traditional hot r-process, a cold r-process in which the temperature and density drop rapidly, and a neutron star merger trajectory.}, journal={EPJ Web of Conferences}, publisher={EDP Sciences}, author={Surman, R. and Mumpower, M. and Cass, J. and Bentley, I. and Aprahamian, A. and McLaughlin, G.C.}, editor={Lunardi, S. and Bizzeti, P.G. and Bucci, C. and Chiari, M. and Dainese, A. and Di Nezza, P. and Menegazzo, R. and Nannini, A. and Signorini, C. and Valiente-Dobon, J.J.Editors}, year={2014}, pages={07024} }
 @article{patton_kneller_mclaughlin_2014, title={Stimulated neutrino transformation through turbulence}, volume={89}, ISSN={["1550-2368"]}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84899723375&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1103/physrevd.89.073022}, abstractNote={We derive an analytical solution for the flavor evolution of a neutrino through a turbulent density profile which is found to accurately predict the amplitude and transition wavelength of numerical solutions on a case-by-case basis. The evolution is seen to strongly depend upon those Fourier modes in the turbulence which are approximately the same as the splitting between neutrino eigenvalues. Transitions are strongly enhanced by those Fourier modes in the turbulence which are approximately the same as the splitting between neutrino eigenvalues. Lastly, we also find a suppression of transitions due to the long wavelength modes when the ratio of their amplitude and the wavenumber is of order, or greater than, the first root of the Bessel function J0.}, number={7}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW D}, author={Patton, Kelly M. and Kneller, James P. and McLaughlin, Gail C.}, year={2014}, month={Apr} }
 @article{caballero_malkus_mclaughlin_surman_2014, title={The influence of neutrinos on the nucleosynthesis of accretion disc outflows}, volume={41}, ISSN={["1361-6471"]}, DOI={10.1088/0954-3899/41/4/044004}, abstractNote={We present a short review of recent progress on the influence of neutrinos on the nucleosynthesis from black hole accretion disc outflows. Discs that form from the end of life of rapidly rotating massive stars as well as discs that form from mergers will produce large numbers of neutrinos. These neutrinos influence the nucleosynthesis that occurs in hot accretion disc outflows. A variety of nucleosynthesis products can be produced in these outflows. We review work on nickel, p-process and r-process elements.}, number={4}, journal={JOURNAL OF PHYSICS G-NUCLEAR AND PARTICLE PHYSICS}, author={Caballero, O. L. and Malkus, A. C. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Surman, R. A.}, year={2014}, month={Apr} }
 @article{kneller_mclaughlin_patton_2014, title={Turbulence and its effects upon neutrinos}, volume={1604}, ISSN={["0094-243X"]}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84903938255&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1063/1.4883432}, abstractNote={As a neutrino passes through turbulent matter, large amplitude transitions between its eigenstates can occur. These transitions can be modeled as like those of an irradiated polarized atom and we investigate this connection both analytically and numerically. We find a simple theory that makes use of the Rotating Wave Approximation can make predictions for the amplitudes and wavelengths of the transitions that agree very well with those from the numerical solutions.}, journal={WORKSHOP ON DARK MATTER, NEUTRINO PHYSICS AND ASTROPHYSICS CETUP 2013: VIITH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INTERCONNECTIONS BETWEEN PARTICLE PHYSICS AND COSMOLOGY PPC 2013}, author={Kneller, J. P. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Patton, K. M.}, year={2014}, pages={204–209} }
 @misc{patton_mclaughlin_scholberg_2013, title={PROSPECTS FOR USING COHERENT ELASTIC NEUTRINO-NUCLEUS SCATTERING TO MEASURE THE NUCLEAR NEUTRON FORM FACTOR}, volume={22}, ISSN={["1793-6608"]}, DOI={10.1142/s0218301313300130}, abstractNote={ We review the prospects of using coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CENNS) to measure the nuclear neutron form factor. The merits and limitations of several potential neutrino sources are discussed. The effects of detector shape uncertainty and detector size on a measurement of the neutron RMS radius are also considered. We find that the detector spectral shape uncertainty is the important limiting factor on a measurement of the neutron RMS radius. In order to measure the neutron RMS radius to 5%, the spectral shape uncertainty of the detector needs to be known to 1% or better. }, number={6}, journal={INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MODERN PHYSICS E}, author={Patton, Kelly M. and Mclaughlin, Gail C. and Scholberg, Kate}, year={2013}, month={Jun} }
 @article{kneller_mclaughlin_patton_2013, title={Stimulated neutrino transformation in supernovae}, volume={1560}, ISSN={["0094-243X"]}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84890049775&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1063/1.4826746}, abstractNote={Large amplitude oscillations between neutrino states can be stimulated by sinusoidal external potentials with frequencies that are equal to the energy level splitting of the states or a fraction thereof: a phenomenon known as parametric resonance. Simple expressions for the amplitude and wavelength of the neutrino transitions both on and off resonance can be derived that reproduce the numerical results well. When applied to the supernova environment one finds that it is possible to predict where stimulated transitions occur when a sinusoidal perturbation is superposed upon an underlying profile indicating that stimulated transitions may be a useful way of understanding the effect of fluctuating density profiles such as turbulence.}, journal={11TH CONFERENCE ON THE INTERSECTIONS OF PARTICLE AND NUCLEAR PHYSICS (CIPANP 2012)}, author={Kneller, James P. and McLaughlin, Gail C. and Patton, Kelly M.}, year={2013}, pages={176–178} }
 @article{kneller_mclaughlin_patton_2013, title={Stimulated neutrino transformation with sinusoidal density profiles}, volume={40}, ISSN={["0954-3899"]}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84876921182&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1088/0954-3899/40/5/055002}, abstractNote={Large amplitude oscillations between the states of a quantum system can be stimulated by sinusoidal external potentials with frequencies that are similar to the energy level splitting of the states or a fraction thereof. Situations where the applied frequency is equal to an integer fraction of the energy level splittings are known as parametric resonances. We investigate this effect for neutrinos both analytically and numerically for the case of arbitrary numbers of neutrino flavors. We look for environments where the effect may be observed and find that supernovae are the one realistic possibility due to the necessity of both large densities and large amplitude fluctuations. In conclusion, the comparison of numerical and analytical results of neutrino propagation through a model supernova reveals that it is possible to predict the locations and strengths of the stimulated transitions that occur.}, number={5}, journal={JOURNAL OF PHYSICS G-NUCLEAR AND PARTICLE PHYSICS}, author={Kneller, J. P. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Patton, K. M.}, year={2013}, month={May} }
 @article{malkus_kneller_mclaughlin_surman_2013, title={vs and nucleosynthesis from accretion disks}, volume={1560}, ISSN={["0094-243X"]}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84890021433&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1063/1.4826787}, abstractNote={Black hole accretion disks may occur in certain core collapse supernovae or in mergers of compact objects. This environment produces a strong flux of electron neutrinos and electron antineutrinos. These neutrinos are instrumental in determining the types of elements produced in disk outflows. In this context, using the single angle approximation and a constant temperature disk, we report on calculations of neutrino flavor oscillations driven by neutrino self interactions. We comment on some impacts to element synthesis.}, journal={11TH CONFERENCE ON THE INTERSECTIONS OF PARTICLE AND NUCLEAR PHYSICS (CIPANP 2012)}, author={Malkus, A. and Kneller, J. P. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Surman, R.}, year={2013}, pages={336–340} }
 @article{mumpower_mclaughlin_surman_2012, title={Formation of the rare-earth peak: Gaining insight into late-time r-process dynamics}, volume={85}, ISSN={["1089-490X"]}, DOI={10.1103/physrevc.85.045801}, abstractNote={We study the formation and final structure of the rare-earth peak ($A\ensuremath{\sim}160$) of the $r$-process nucleosynthesis. Under high-entropy conditions ($Sg100{k}_{B}$), the rare-earth peak forms at late times in the $r$-process after neutron exhaustion (neutron-to-seed ratio $R=1$) as matter decays back to stability. Since rare-earth peak formation does not occur during $(n,\ensuremath{\gamma})\ensuremath{\rightleftarrows}(\ensuremath{\gamma},n)$ equilibrium it is sensitive to the strong interplay between late-time thermodynamic evolution and nuclear physics input. Depending on the conditions, the peak forms either because of the pattern of the neutron capture rates or because of the pattern of the separation energies. We analyze three nuclear data sets under different thermodynamic conditions. We find that the subtleties of each nuclear data set, including separation energies and neutron capture rates, influence not only the final shape of the peak but also when it forms. We identify the range of nuclei which are influential in rare-earth peak formation.}, number={4}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW C}, author={Mumpower, Matthew R. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Surman, Rebecca}, year={2012}, month={Apr} }
 @article{mumpower_mclaughlin_surman_2012, title={Influence of neutron capture rates in the rare earth region on the r-process abundance pattern}, volume={86}, ISSN={["1089-490X"]}, DOI={10.1103/physrevc.86.035803}, abstractNote={We study the sensitivity of the $r$-process abundance pattern to neutron capture rates along the rare earth region ($A\ensuremath{\sim}150$ to $A\ensuremath{\sim}180$). We introduce the concepts of large nuclear flow and flow saturation, which determine the neutron capture rates that are influential in setting the rare earth abundances. We illustrate the value of the two concepts by considering high entropy conditions favorable for rare earth peak production and identifying important neutron capture rates among the rare earth isotopes. We also show how these rates influence nuclear flow and specific sections of the abundance pattern.}, number={3}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW C}, author={Mumpower, Matthew R. and McLaughlin, Gail C. and Surman, Rebecca}, year={2012}, month={Sep} }
 @article{caballero_mclaughlin_surman_2012, title={NEUTRINO SPECTRA FROM ACCRETION DISKS: NEUTRINO GENERAL RELATIVISTIC EFFECTS AND THE CONSEQUENCES FOR NUCLEOSYNTHESIS}, volume={745}, ISSN={0004-637X 1538-4357}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/745/2/170}, DOI={10.1088/0004-637X/745/2/170}, abstractNote={Black hole (BH) accretion disks have been proposed as good candidates for a range of interesting nucleosynthesis, including the r-process. The presence of the BH influences the neutrino fluxes and affects the nucleosynthesis resulting from the interaction of the emitted neutrinos and hot outflowing material ejected from the disk. We study the impact of general relativistic effects on the neutrinos emitted from BH accretion disks. We present abundances obtained by considering null geodesics and energy shifts for two different disk models. We find that both the bending of the neutrino trajectories and the energy shifts have important consequences for the nucleosynthetic outcome.}, number={2}, journal={The Astrophysical Journal}, publisher={IOP Publishing}, author={Caballero, O. L. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Surman, R.}, year={2012}, month={Jan}, pages={170} }
 @article{malkus_kneller_mclaughlin_surman_2012, title={Neutrino oscillations above black hole accretion disks: Disks with electron-flavor emission}, volume={86}, ISSN={["1550-2368"]}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84867260598&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1103/physrevd.86.085015}, abstractNote={Department of Physics and Astronomy, Union College, Schenectady, NY 12308 USA(Dated: December 22, 2013)Black hole accretion disks can form through the collapse of rotating massive stars. These disksproduce large numbers of neutrinos and antineutrinos of electron flavor that can influence energeticsand nucleosynthesis. Neutrinos are produced in sufficient numbers that, after they are emitted, theycan undergo flavor transformation facilitated by the neutrino self interaction. We show that someof the neutrino flavor transformation phenomenology for accretion disks is similar to that of thesupernova case, but also, we find the disk geometry lends itself to different transformation behaviors.These transformations strongly influence the nucleosynthetic outcome of disk winds.}, number={8}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW D}, publisher={American Physical Society (APS)}, author={Malkus, A. and Kneller, J. P. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Surman, R.}, year={2012}, month={Oct} }
 @article{patton_engel_mclaughlin_schunck_2012, title={Neutrino-nucleus coherent scattering as a probe of neutron density distributions}, volume={86}, ISSN={["1089-490X"]}, DOI={10.1103/physrevc.86.024612}, abstractNote={Neutrino-nucleus coherent elastic scattering provides a theoretically appealing way to measure the neutron part of nuclear form factors. Using an expansion of form factors into moments, we show that neutrinos from stopped pions can probe not only the second moment of the form factor (the neutron radius) but also the fourth moment. Using simple Monte Carlo techniques for argon, germanium, and xenon detectors of 3.5 tonnes, 1.5 tonnes, and 300 kg, respectively, we show that the neutron radii can be found with an uncertainty of a few percent when near a neutrino flux of $3\times10^{7}$ neutrinos/cm$^{2}$/s. If the normalization of the neutrino flux is known independently, one can determine the moments accurately enough to discriminate among the predictions of various nuclear energy functionals.}, number={2}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW C}, author={Patton, Kelly and Engel, Jonathan and McLaughlin, Gail C. and Schunck, Nicolas}, year={2012}, month={Aug} }
 @article{mumpower_mclaughlin_surman_2012, title={The Rare Earth Peak: An Overlooked r-Process Diagnostic}, volume={752}, ISSN={0004-637X 1538-4357}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/752/2/117}, DOI={10.1088/0004-637X/752/2/117}, abstractNote={The astrophysical site or sites responsible for the r-process of nucleosynthesis still remains an enigma. Since the rare earth region is formed in the latter stages of the r-process, it provides a unique probe of the astrophysical conditions during which the r-process takes place. We use features of a successful rare earth region in the context of a high-entropy r-process (S ≳ 100kB) and discuss the types of astrophysical conditions that produce abundance patterns that best match meteoritic and observational data. Despite uncertainties in nuclear physics input, this method effectively constrains astrophysical conditions.}, number={2}, journal={The Astrophysical Journal}, publisher={IOP Publishing}, author={Mumpower, Matthew R. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Surman, Rebecca}, year={2012}, month={Jun}, pages={117} }
 @article{surman_mclaughlin_friedland_duan_2011, title={Collective oscillations and r-process nucleosynthesis}, volume={217}, ISSN={["1873-3832"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.nuclphysbps.2011.04.081}, abstractNote={Neutrinos have recently been shown to have collective phenomenon which causes them to flavor transform near the center of the supernova. These flavor transformations can potentially impact supernova nucleosynthesis, particularly for processes that occur near the core, such as the r-process. In this paper we explore the effects of collective oscillations on a supernova r-process. We find that magnitude of the effect depends senstivitely on the astrophysical conditions—in particular on the interplay between the time when nuclei begin to exist in significant numbers and the time when the collective oscillation begins. Because of this delicate balance, a more definitive understanding of the astrophysical conditions is necesssary. Here, we explore scenarios based on outflow models currently in use and discuss their implications.}, journal={NUCLEAR PHYSICS B-PROCEEDINGS SUPPLEMENTS}, author={Surman, Rebecca and McLaughlin, Gail C. and Friedland, Alexander and Duan, Huaiyu}, year={2011}, month={Aug}, pages={121–123} }
 @article{surman_mclaughlin_sabbatino_2011, title={NUCLEOSYNTHESIS OF NICKEL-56 FROM GAMMA-RAY BURST ACCRETION DISKS}, volume={743}, ISSN={["0004-637X"]}, DOI={10.1088/0004-637x/743/2/155}, abstractNote={We examine the prospects for producing nickel-56 from black hole accretion disks, by examining a range of steady-state disk models. We focus on relatively slowly accreting disks in the range of M☉ s−1 to M☉ s−1, as are thought to be appropriate for the central engines of long-duration gamma-ray bursts. We find that significant amounts of nickel-56 are produced over a wide range of parameter space. We discuss the influence of entropy, outflow timescale, and initial disk position on mass fraction of nickel-56 which is produced. We keep careful track of the weak interactions to ensure reliable calculations of the electron fraction, and discuss the role of the neutrinos.}, number={2}, journal={ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL}, author={Surman, R. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Sabbatino, N.}, year={2011}, month={Dec} }
 @article{mclaughlin_2011, title={Neutrinos from Supernovae and Gamma Ray Bursts: Nucleosynthesis and Detection}, volume={221}, ISSN={0920-5632}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nuclphysbps.2011.03.117}, DOI={10.1016/j.nuclphysbps.2011.03.117}, abstractNote={We discuss the way in which neutrino oscillations, sterile neutrinos and ambient conditions impact the nucleosynthesis in extreme astrophysical environments such as supernovae and gamma ray bursts. We focus first on r-process nucleosynthesis and supernovae and the role of neutrinos. Secondly, we discuss active sterile neutrino oscillations in this environment. We then turn to gamma ray bursts and examine the nucleosynthesis that can be produced by accretion disk winds, and the impact of the neutrinos. Finally we comment on the prospects for detecting such an accretion disk if it were to occur in the Galaxy with existing neutrino detectors.}, journal={Nuclear Physics B - Proceedings Supplements}, publisher={Elsevier BV}, author={McLaughlin, G.C.}, year={2011}, month={Dec}, pages={179–184} }
 @article{duan_friedland_mclaughlin_surman_2011, title={The influence of collective neutrino oscillations on a supernova r process}, volume={38}, ISSN={["1361-6471"]}, DOI={10.1088/0954-3899/38/3/035201}, abstractNote={Recently, it has been demonstrated that neutrinos in a supernova oscillate collectively. This process occurs much deeper than the conventional matter-induced Mikheyev–Smirnov–Wolfenstein effect and hence may have an impact on nucleosynthesis. In this paper we explore the effects of collective neutrino oscillations on the r-process, using representative late-time neutrino spectra and outflow models. We find that accurate modeling of the collective oscillations is essential for this analysis. As an illustration, the often-used 'single-angle' approximation makes grossly inaccurate predictions for the yields in our setup. With the proper multiangle treatment, the effect of the oscillations is found to be less dramatic, but still significant. Since the oscillation patterns are sensitive to the details of the emitted fluxes and the sign of the neutrino mass hierarchy, so are the r-process yields. The magnitude of the effect also depends sensitively on the astrophysical conditions—in particular on the interplay between the time when nuclei begin to exist in significant numbers and the time when the collective oscillation begins. A more definitive understanding of the astrophysical conditions, and accurate modeling of the collective oscillations for those conditions, is necessary.}, number={3}, journal={JOURNAL OF PHYSICS G-NUCLEAR AND PARTICLE PHYSICS}, author={Duan, Huaiyu and Friedland, Alexander and McLaughlin, Gail C. and Surman, Rebecca}, year={2011}, month={Mar} }
 @inbook{jachowicz_mclaughlin_2006, place={Berlin Heidelberg}, title={On the importance of low-energy beta beams for supernova neutrino physics}, ISBN={9783540328421 9783540328438}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/3-540-32843-2_5}, DOI={10.1007/3-540-32843-2_5}, booktitle={The 2nd International Conference on Nuclear Physics in Astrophysics}, publisher={Springer}, author={Jachowicz, N. and McLaughlin, G. C.}, editor={Fülöp, Z. and Gyürky, G. and Somorjai, E.Editors}, year={2006}, pages={43–48} }
 @article{kizivat_martinez-pinedo_langanke_surman_mclaughlin_2010, title={gamma-ray bursts black hole accretion disks as a site for the nu p process}, volume={81}, ISSN={["1089-490X"]}, DOI={10.1103/physrevc.81.025802}, abstractNote={We study proton-rich nucleosynthesis in windlike outflows from {gamma}-ray bursts accretion disks with the aim of determining if such outflows are a site of the nup process. The efficacy of this nup process depends on thermodynamic and hydrodynamic factors. We discuss the importance of the entropy of the material, the outflow rate, the initial ejection point, and accretion rate of the disk. In some cases, the nup process pushes the nucleosynthesis out to A{approx}100 and produces light p nuclei. However, even when these nuclei are not produced, neutrino-induced interactions can significantly alter the abundance pattern and cannot be neglected.}, number={2}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW C}, author={Kizivat, L. -T. and Martinez-Pinedo, G. and Langanke, K. and Surman, R. and McLaughlin, G. C.}, year={2010}, month={Feb} }
 @article{caballero_mclaughlin_surman_2009, title={Detecting neutrinos from black hole-neutron star mergers}, volume={80}, ISSN={["1550-2368"]}, DOI={10.1103/physrevd.80.123004}, abstractNote={While it is well known that neutrinos are emitted from standard core collapse protoneutron star supernovae, less attention has been focused on neutrinos from accretion disks. These disks occur in some supernovae (i.e. collapsars) as well as in compact object mergers, and they emit neutrinos with similar properties to those from protoneutron star supernovae. These disks and their neutrinos play an important role in our understanding of gamma ray bursts as well as the nucleosynthesis they produce. We study a disk that forms in the merger of a black hole and a neutron star and examine the neutrino fluxes, luminosities and neutrino surfaces for the disk. We also estimate the number of events that would be registered in current and proposed supernova neutrino detectors if such an event were to occur in the Galaxy.}, number={12}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW D}, author={Caballero, O. L. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Surman, R.}, year={2009}, month={Dec} }
 @article{gava_kneller_volpe_mclaughlin_2009, title={Dynamical Collective Calculation of Supernova Neutrino Signals}, volume={103}, ISSN={["1079-7114"]}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.103.071101}, DOI={10.1103/physrevlett.103.071101}, abstractNote={We present the first calculations with three flavors of collective and shock wave effects for neutrino propagation in core-collapse supernovae using hydrodynamical density profiles and the S matrix formalism. We explore the interplay between the neutrino-neutrino interaction and the effects of multiple resonances upon the time signal of positrons in supernova observatories. A specific signature is found for the inverted hierarchy and a large third neutrino mixing angle and we predict, in this case, a dearth of lower energy positrons in Cherenkov detectors midway through the neutrino signal and the simultaneous revelation of valuable information about the original fluxes. We show that this feature is also observable with current generation neutrino detectors at the level of several sigmas.}, number={7}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS}, author={Gava, Jerome and Kneller, James and Volpe, Cristina and McLaughlin, G. C.}, year={2009}, month={Aug} }
 @article{surman_beim_mclaughlin_hix_2009, title={Neutron capture rates near A=130 that effect a global change to the r-process abundance distribution}, volume={79}, ISSN={["1089-490X"]}, DOI={10.1103/physrevc.79.045809}, abstractNote={We investigate the impact of neutron capture rates near the A=130 peak on the r-process abundance pattern. We show that these capture rates can alter the abundances of individual nuclear species, not only in the region of A=130 peak but also throughout the abundance pattern. We discuss in general the nonequilibrium processes that produce these abundance changes and determine which capture rates have the most significant impact.}, number={4}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW C}, author={Surman, R. and Beim, J. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Hix, W. R.}, year={2009}, month={Apr} }
 @article{kneller_mclaughlin_department of physics_2009, title={Three flavor neutrino oscillations in matter: Flavor diagonal potentials, the adiabatic basis, and the CP phase}, volume={80}, ISSN={["1550-2368"]}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-70349782067&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1103/physrevd.80.053002}, abstractNote={We discuss the three neutrino flavor evolution problem with general, flavor-diagonal, matter potentials and a fully parametrized mixing matrix that includes $CP$ violation, and derive expressions for the eigenvalues, mixing angles, and phases. We demonstrate that, in the limit that the mu and tau potentials are equal, the eigenvalues and matter mixing angles ${\stackrel{\texttildelow{}}{\ensuremath{\theta}}}_{12}$ and ${\stackrel{\texttildelow{}}{\ensuremath{\theta}}}_{13}$ are independent of the $CP$ phase, although ${\stackrel{\texttildelow{}}{\ensuremath{\theta}}}_{23}$ does have $CP$ dependence. Since we are interested in developing a framework that can be used for $S$ matrix calculations of neutrino flavor transformation, it is useful to work in a basis that contains only off-diagonal entries in the Hamiltonian. We derive the ``nonadiabaticity'' parameters that appear in the Hamiltonian in this basis. We then introduce the neutrino $S$ matrix, derive its evolution equation and the integral solution. We find that this new Hamiltonian, and therefore the $S$ matrix, in the limit that the $\ensuremath{\mu}$ and $\ensuremath{\tau}$ neutrino potentials are the same, is independent of both ${\stackrel{\texttildelow{}}{\ensuremath{\theta}}}_{23}$ and the $CP$ violating phase. In this limit, any $CP$ violation in the flavor basis can only be introduced via the rotation matrices, and so effects which derive from the $CP$ phase are then straightforward to determine. We then show explicitly that the electron neutrino and electron antineutrino survival probability is independent of the $CP$ phase in this limit. Conversely, if the $CP$ phase is nonzero and mu and tau matter potentials are not equal, then the electron neutrino survival probability cannot be independent of the $CP$ phase.}, number={5}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW D}, author={Kneller, James P; and McLaughlin, Gail C ; and Department of Physics, North Carolina State University}, year={2009}, month={Sep} }
 @article{beun_mclaughlin_surman_hix_2008, title={Fission cycling in a supernova r process}, volume={77}, ISSN={["1089-490X"]}, DOI={10.1103/physrevc.77.035804}, abstractNote={Recent halo star abundance observations exhibit an important feature of consequence to the r process: the presence of a main r process between the second and third peaks that is consistent among halo stars. We explore fission cycling and steady {beta} flow as the driving mechanisms behind this feature. The presence of fission cycling during the r process can account for nucleosynthesis yields between the second and third peaks, whereas the presence of steady {beta} flow can account for consistent r-process patterns, robust under small variations in astrophysical conditions. We employ the neutrino-driven wind of the core-collapse supernova to examine fission cycling and steady {beta} flow in the r process. As the traditional neutrino-driven wind model does not produce the required very neutron-rich conditions for these mechanisms, we examine changes to the neutrino physics necessary for fission cycling to occur in the neutrino-driven wind environment, and we explore under what conditions steady {beta} flow is obtained.}, number={3}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW C}, author={Beun, J. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Surman, R. and Hix, W. R.}, year={2008}, month={Mar} }
 @article{beun_blackmon_hix_mclaughlin_smith_surman_2009, title={Neutron capture on Sn-130 during r-process freeze-out}, volume={36}, ISSN={["1361-6471"]}, DOI={10.1088/0954-3899/36/2/025201}, abstractNote={We examine the role of neutron capture on 130Sn during r-process freeze-out in the neutrino-driven wind environment of the core-collapse supernova. We find that the global r-process abundance pattern is sensitive to the magnitude of the neutron capture cross section of 130Sn. The changes to the abundance pattern include not only a relative decrease in the abundance of 130Sn and an increase in the abundance of 131Sn, but also a shift in the distribution of material in the rare earth and third peak regions.}, number={2}, journal={JOURNAL OF PHYSICS G-NUCLEAR AND PARTICLE PHYSICS}, author={Beun, J. and Blackmon, J. C. and Hix, W. R. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Smith, M. S. and Surman, R.}, year={2009}, month={Feb} }
 @article{amanik_mclaughlin_2009, title={Nuclear neutron form factor from neutrino-nucleus coherent elastic scattering}, volume={36}, ISSN={["0954-3899"]}, DOI={10.1088/0954-3899/36/1/015105}, abstractNote={We analyze the prospect of measuring the neutron form factor of a nucleus through the detection of neutrino-nucleus coherent elastic scattering. We predict numbers of events in a liquid noble nuclear recoil detector at a stopped pion neutrino source. We discuss the precision required to distinguish between different theoretical models for the form factor.}, number={1}, journal={JOURNAL OF PHYSICS G-NUCLEAR AND PARTICLE PHYSICS}, author={Amanik, P. S. and McLaughlin, G. C.}, year={2009}, month={Jan} }
 @inproceedings{surman_mclaughlin_sabbatino_hix_2008, title={Nucleosynthesis in Outflows from Kerr Black Hole Accretion Disks}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.2905566}, DOI={10.1063/1.2905566}, abstractNote={Observational evidence suggests long‐duration, collapsar‐type gamma‐ray bursts (GRBs) may have been more common in the early universe. These events are thought to be powered by accretion disks around black holes (AD‐BHs). While GRBs require AD‐BHs, not all AD‐BHs will power bursts and therefore their formation will be more common than GRBs themselves. Outflows from AD‐BHs may therefore be important contributors to the nuclear abundances in the oldest stars, particularly for rare species or those not uniformly observed. Here we consider the nucleosynthesis in this environment starting with relativistic disk models of Kerr black holes and following the element synthesis in a parameterized outflow. We present nucleosynthesis results from a range of AD‐BH models.}, publisher={American Institute of Physics}, author={Surman, R. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Sabbatino, N. and Hix, W. R.}, year={2008} }
 @article{kneller_mclaughlin_brockman_department of physics_2008, title={Oscillation effects and time variation of the supernova neutrino signal}, volume={77}, ISSN={["1550-2368"]}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-41049093044&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1103/physrevd.77.045023}, abstractNote={The neutrinos detected from the next galactic core-collapse supernova will contain valuable information on the internal dynamics of the explosion. One mechanism leading to a temporal evolution of the neutrino signal is the variation of the induced neutrino flavor mixing driven by changes in the density profile. With one and two-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations we identify the behavior and properties of prominent features of the explosion. Using these results we demonstrate the time variation of the neutrino crossing probabilities due to changes in the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein (MSW) neutrino transformations as the star explodes by using the S-matrix--Monte Carlo--approach to neutrino propagation. After adopting spectra for the neutrinos emitted from the proto-neutron star we calculate for a galactic supernova the evolution of the positron spectra within a water Cerenkov detector and find that this signal allows us to probe of a number of explosion features.}, number={4}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW D}, author={Kneller, James P; and McLaughlin, Gail C; and Brockman, Justin ; and Department of Physics, North Carolina State University}, year={2008}, month={Feb} }
 @article{jachowicz_mclaughlin_volpe_2008, title={Untangling supernova-neutrino oscillations with beta-beam data}, volume={77}, ISSN={["1089-490X"]}, DOI={10.1103/physrevc.77.055501}, abstractNote={Recently, we suggested that low-energy {beta}-beam neutrinos can be very useful for the study of supernova-neutrino interactions. In this article, we examine the use of a such experiment for the analysis of a supernova-neutrino signal. Because supernova neutrinos are oscillating, it is very likely that the terrestrial spectrum of supernova neutrinos of a given flavor will not be the same as the energy distribution with which these neutrinos were first emitted. We demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method for untangling multiple neutrino spectra. This is an essential feature of any model aiming at gaining information about the supernova mechanism, probing proto-neutron star physics, and understanding supernova nucleosynthesis, such as the neutrino process and the r-process. We also consider the efficacy of different experimental approaches including measurements at multiple beam energies and detector configurations.}, number={5}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW C}, author={Jachowicz, N. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Volpe, C.}, year={2008}, month={May} }
 @article{surman_mclaughlin_ruffert_janka_hix_2008, title={r-process nucleosynthesis in hot accretion disk flows from black hole-neutron star mergers}, volume={679}, DOI={10.1086/589507}, abstractNote={We consider hot accretion disk outflows from black hole-neutron star mergers in the context of the nucleosynthesis they produce. We begin with a three-dimensional numerical model of a black hole-neutron star merger and calculate the neutrino and antineutrino fluxes emitted from the resulting accretion disk. We then follow the element synthesis in material outflowing the disk along parameterized trajectories. We find that at least a weak r-process is produced, and in some cases a main r-process as well. The neutron-rich conditions required for this production of r-process nuclei stem directly from the interactions of the neutrinos emitted by the disk with the free neutrons and protons in the outflow.}, number={2}, journal={Astrophysical Journal Letters}, author={Surman, R. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Ruffert, M. and Janka, H. T. and Hix, W. R.}, year={2008}, pages={L117–120} }
 @article{amanik_mclaughlin_2007, title={Manipulating a neutrino spectrum to maximize the physics potential from a low-energy beta beam}, volume={75}, ISSN={["1089-490X"]}, DOI={10.1103/physrevc.75.065502}, abstractNote={Proposed low-energy {beta}-beam facilities would be capable of producing intense beams of neutrinos (antineutrinos) with well-defined spectra. We present analytic expressions and numerical results that accurately show how the total neutrino flux reaching the detector depends on the geometry of the source and the detector. Several authors have proposed measurements which require using different flux shapes. We show that detectors of different sizes and shapes will receive neutrino fluxes with different spectral shapes and that the spectral shape will also be different in different regions of the same detector. Our findings also show that for certain measurements, systematic uncertainties and run time can be reduced.}, number={6}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW C}, author={Amanik, Philip S. and McLaughlin, Gail C.}, year={2007}, month={Jun} }
 @article{mclaughlin_surman_2007, title={Supernova neutrinos: The accretion disk scenario}, volume={75}, ISSN={["1550-2368"]}, DOI={10.1103/physrevd.75.023005}, abstractNote={Neutrinos from core collapse supernovae can be emitted from a rapidly accreting disk surrounding a black hole, instead of the canonical protoneutron star. For galactic events, detector count rates are considerable and in fact can be in the thousands for Super-Kamiokande. The rate of occurrence of these accreting disks in the Galaxy is predicted to be on the order of $\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}5}\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{yr}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$, yet there is little observational evidence to provide an upper limit on their formation rate. It would therefore be useful to discriminate between neutrinos which have been produced in a protoneutron star and those which have been produced accretion disks. In order to distinguish between the two scenarios, either the time profile of the neutrino luminosity, total energetics, or the relative fluxes of different neutrino flavors may be considered. The flavor content would clearly point to one scenario or the other.}, number={2}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW D}, author={McLaughlin, G. C. and Surman, R.}, year={2007}, month={Jan} }
 @article{surman_beun_mclaughlin_kane_hix_2008, title={The role of neutrinos in r-process nucleosynthesis in supernovae and gamma-ray bursts}, volume={35}, ISSN={["1361-6471"]}, DOI={10.1088/0954-3899/35/1/014059}, abstractNote={The exact astrophysical site of the r-process is uncertain, but the likely candidates—supernovae and compact merger events—are environments with high neutrino fluxes. Here we examine the role of neutrinos in r-process nucleosynthesis under two separate scenarios. In the first, we consider the consequences of a reduction in the electron neutrino flux in a core-collapse supernova environment. We show that such a reduction results in a vigorous r-process with a robust abundance signature due to fission cycling. In the second, we examine the production of r-process nuclei in the outflows from a black hole accretion disk as thought to accompany a merger-type gamma-ray burst (GRB). We use a parameterized outflow model and find the neutrino fluxes emitted from the GRB accretion disk facilitate the synthesis of light r-process nuclei over a broad region of the parameter space explored.}, number={1}, journal={JOURNAL OF PHYSICS G-NUCLEAR AND PARTICLE PHYSICS}, author={Surman, R. and Beun, J. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Kane, S. and Hix, W. R.}, year={2008}, month={Jan} }
 @article{kneller_school of physics and astronomy_mclaughlin_2006, title={Monte Carlo neutrino oscillations}, volume={73}, ISSN={["1550-2368"]}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-33645470067&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1103/physrevd.73.056003}, abstractNote={We demonstrate that the effects of matter upon neutrino propagation may be recast as the scattering of the initial neutrino wave function. Exchanging the differential, Schrodinger equation for an integral equation for the scattering matrix S permits a Monte Carlo method for the computation of S that removes many of the numerical difficulties associated with direct integration techniques.}, number={5}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW D}, author={Kneller, James P ; and School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota and McLaughlin, Gail C}, year={2006}, month={Mar} }
 @article{kneller_mclaughlin_surman_2006, title={Neutrino scattering, absorption and annihilation above the accretion discs of gamma ray bursts}, volume={32}, ISSN={["1361-6471"]}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0954-3899/32/4/004}, DOI={10.1088/0954-3899/32/4/004}, abstractNote={The central engine that drives gamma ray burst (GRB) explosions may derive from the ability of electrons/positrons and nucleons to tap into the momentum and energy from the large neutrino luminosity emitted by an accretion disc surrounding a black hole. This transfer of momentum and energy occurs due to neutrino absorption, scattering and annihilation, and the non-spherical geometry of the source both increases the annihilation efficiency and, close to the black hole, directs the momentum transfer toward the disc axis. We focus on the micro-physical aspects of this system and present annihilation efficiencies and the momentum/energy transfers for a number of accretion disc models. Models in which the neutrinos and antineutrinos become trapped within the disc have noticeably different momentum and energy deposition structure compared to thin disc models that may lead to significant differences in the explosion dynamics. Using these results we make estimates for the critical densities of infalling material below which the transfer of neutrino momentum/energy will lead to an explosion.}, number={4}, journal={JOURNAL OF PHYSICS G-NUCLEAR AND PARTICLE PHYSICS}, author={Kneller, JP and McLaughlin, GC and Surman, RA}, year={2006}, month={Apr}, pages={443–462} }
 @article{surman_mclaughlin_hix_2006, title={Nucleosynthesis in the outflow from gamma-ray burst accretion disks}, volume={643}, ISSN={["1538-4357"]}, DOI={10.1086/501116}, abstractNote={We examine the nucleosynthesis products that are produced in the outflow from rapidly accreting disks. We find that the type of element synthesis varies dramatically with the degree of neutrino trapping in the disk and therefore the accretion rate of the disk. Disks with relatively high accretion rates such as Ṁ = 10 M☉ s-1 can produce very neutron-rich nuclei that are found in the r-process. Disks with more moderate accretion rates can produce copious amounts of nickel, as well as the light elements such as lithium and boron. Disks with lower accretion rates such as Ṁ = 1 M☉ s-1 produce large amounts of nickel, as well as some unusual nuclei such as 49Ti, 45Sc, 64Zn, and 92Mo. This wide array of potential nucleosynthesis products is due to the varying influence of electron neutrinos and antineutrinos emitted from the disk on the neutron-to-proton ratio in the outflow. We use a parameterization for the outflow and discuss our results in terms of entropy and outflow acceleration.}, number={2}, journal={ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL}, author={Surman, R. and McLaughlin, G. C. and Hix, W. R.}, year={2006}, month={Jun}, pages={1057–1064} }
 @article{jachowicz_mclaughlin_2006, title={Reconstructing supernova-neutrino spectra using low-energy beta beams}, volume={96}, ISSN={["0031-9007"]}, DOI={10.1103/physrevlett.96.172301}, abstractNote={Neutrinos are the principal messengers reaching us from the center of a supernova. Terrestrial neutrino telescopes can provide precious information about the processes in the core of the star. But the information that a neutrino detector can supply is restricted by the fact that little experimental data on the neutrino-nucleus cross sections exist and by the uncertainties in theoretical calculations. In this Letter, we propose a novel procedure that determines the response of a target nucleus in a supernova-neutrino detector, by using low-energy beta beams. We show that fitting "synthetic" spectra, constructed by taking linear combinations of beta-beam spectra, to the original supernova-neutrino spectra reproduces the folded differential cross sections very accurately. Comparing the response in a detector to these synthetic responses provides a direct way to determine the main parameters of the supernova-neutrino energy distribution.}, number={17}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS}, author={Jachowicz, N and McLaughlin, GC}, year={2006}, month={May} }
 @article{jachowicz_mclaughlin_2006, title={Understanding supernova-neutrino physics using low-energy beta-beams}, volume={57}, ISSN={0146-6410}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ppnp.2005.11.013}, DOI={10.1016/j.ppnp.2005.11.013}, abstractNote={We show that fitting linear combinations of low-energy beta-beam spectra to supernova-neutrino energy distributions reconstructs the response of a nuclear target to a supernova flux in a very accurate way. This allows one to make direct predictions about the supernova-neutrino signal in a terrestrial neutrino detector.}, number={1}, journal={Progress in Particle and Nuclear Physics}, publisher={Elsevier BV}, author={Jachowicz, N. and McLaughlin, G.C.}, year={2006}, month={Jul}, pages={350–352} }
 @article{mclaughlin_2005, title={Feature Articles: Exploding Stars, Neutrinos, and Nucleosynthesis}, volume={15}, ISSN={1061-9127 1931-7336}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10506890500454840}, DOI={10.1080/10506890500454840}, abstractNote={Supernovae are some of the most violent, energetic events that occur in the universe. The most recent known supernova in our galaxy was Cassiopeia A, which occurred about 1680. This supernova was the explosion that ended the life of a massive star, also called a core collapse supernovae. Observationally, supernovae are divided into two main types, Type I and II, where the classification is based on their spectral features. Type I supernovae do not have hydrogen lines in their spectra whereas Type II supernovae do. Type II supernovae are always core collapse supernovae, but only some of Type I supernovae are.}, number={3}, journal={Nuclear Physics News}, publisher={Informa UK Limited}, author={McLaughlin, Gail}, year={2005}, month={Jul}, pages={17–20} }
 @article{mclaughlin_surman_2005, title={Prospects for obtaining an r process from gamma ray burst disk winds}, volume={758}, ISSN={["0375-9474"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2005.05.036}, abstractNote={We discuss the possibility that r-process nucleosynthesis may occur in the winds from gamma ray burst accretion disks. This can happen if the temperature of the disk is sufficiently high that electron antineutrinos are trapped as well as neutrinos. This implies accretion disks with greater than a solar mass per second accretion rate, although lower accretion rates with higher black hole spin parameters may provide viable environments as well. Additionally, the outflow from the disk must either have relatively low entropy s∼10 or the initial acceleration of the wind must be slow enough that it is neutrino and antineutrino capture as opposed to electron and positron capture that set the electron fraction.}, journal={NUCLEAR PHYSICS A}, author={McLaughlin, GC and Surman, R}, year={2005}, month={Jul}, pages={189C–196C} }
 @article{kneller_mclaughlin_2004, title={Effect of bound dineutrons upon big bang nucleosynthesis}, volume={70}, ISSN={["1550-2368"]}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-42749099171&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1103/physrevd.70.043512}, abstractNote={We have examined the effects of a bound dineutron, n2, upon big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) as a function of its binding energy B_n2. We find a weakly bound dineutron has little impact but as B_n2 increases its presence begins to alter the flow of free nucleons to helium-4. Due to this disruption, and in the absence of changes to other binding energies or fundamental constants, BBN sets a reliable upper limit of B_n2 <~ 2.5 MeV in order to maintain the agreement with the observations of the primordial helium-4 mass fraction and D/H abundance.}, number={4}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW D}, author={Kneller, JP and McLaughlin, GC}, year={2004}, month={Aug} }
 @article{surman_mclaughlin_2005, title={Neutrino interactions in the outflow from gamma-ray burst accretion disks}, volume={618}, ISSN={["1538-4357"]}, DOI={10.1086/425901}, abstractNote={We examine the composition of matter as it flows away from gamma-ray burst (GRB) accretion disks in order to determine what sort of nucleosynthesis may occur. Since there is a large flux of neutrinos leaving the surface of the disk, the electron fraction of the outflowing material will change because of charged-current neutrino interactions. We calculate the electron fraction in the wind using detailed neutrino fluxes from every point on the disk and study a range of trajectories and outflow conditions for several different accretion disk models. We find that low electron fractions, conducive to making r-process elements, only appear in outflows from disks with high accretion rates that have significant regions both of trapped neutrinos and of antineutrinos. Disks with lower accretion rates that have only a significant region of trapped neutrinos can have outflows with very high electron fractions, whereas the lowest accretion rate disks with little trapping have outflow electrons fractions of closer to 1/2.}, number={1}, journal={ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL}, author={Surman, R and McLaughlin, GC}, year={2005}, month={Jan}, pages={397–402} }
 @article{mclaughlin_2004, title={Neutrino-lead cross section measurements using stopped pions and low energy beta beams}, volume={70}, ISSN={["1089-490X"]}, DOI={10.1103/physrevc.70.045804}, abstractNote={Two new facilities have recently been proposed to measure low energy neutrino-nucleus cross sections, the {nu}-Spallation Neutron Source and low energy beta beams. The former produces neutrinos by muon decay at rest from stopped pions, while the latter produces neutrinos from the beta decays of accelerated ions. These facilities can be used to measure cross sections for neutrino energies in the range of tens of mega-electron-volts, which are of interest for supernova studies. In this energy range there are many different components to the nuclear response and this makes the theoretical interpretation of the results of such an experiment complex. We examine the case of lead and suggest that the response can be disentangled by breaking the electron spectrum down into the parts produced in coincidence with one or two neutrons, running a beta beam at more than one energy, comparing the spectra produced with pions, and a beta beam or any combination of these.}, number={4}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW C}, author={McLaughlin, GC}, year={2004}, month={Oct} }
 @article{surman_mclaughlin_2004, title={Neutrinos and nucleosynthesis in gamma-ray burst accretion disks}, volume={603}, ISSN={["0004-637X"]}, DOI={10.1086/381672}, abstractNote={We calculate the nuclear composition of matter in accretion disks surrounding stellar mass black holes as are thought to accompany gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). We follow a mass element in the accretion disk starting at the point of nuclear dissociation and calculate the evolution of the electron fraction due to electron, positron, electron neutrino, and electron antineutrino captures. We find that the neutronization of the disk material by electron capture can be reversed by neutrino interactions in the inner regions of disks with accretion rates of 1 M☉ s-1 and higher. For these cases the inner disk regions are optically thick to neutrinos, and so to estimate the emitted neutrino fluxes, we find the surface of last scattering for the neutrinos (the equivalent of the proto-neutron star neutrinosphere) for each optically thick disk model. We also estimate the influence of neutrino interactions on the neutron-to-proton ratio in outflows from GRB accretion disks and find that it can be significant even when the disk is optically thin to neutrinos.}, number={2}, journal={ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL}, author={Surman, R and McLaughlin, GC}, year={2004}, month={Mar}, pages={611–623} }
 @article{pruet_surman_mclaughlin_2004, title={On the contribution of gamma-ray bursts to the Galactic inventory of some intermediate-mass nuclei}, volume={602}, ISSN={["0004-637X"]}, DOI={10.1086/382730}, abstractNote={Light curves from a growing number of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) indicate that GRBs copiously produce radioactive Ni moving outward at fractions of the speed of light. We calculate nuclear abundances of elements accompanying the outflowing Ni under the assumption that this Ni originates from a wind blown off of a viscous accretion disk. We also show that GRBs likely contribute appreciably to the Galactic inventory of 42Ca, 45Sc, 46Ti, 49Ti, and 63Cu, and may be an important site for the production of 64Zn.}, number={2}, journal={ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL}, author={Pruet, J and Surman, R and McLaughlin, GC}, year={2004}, month={Feb}, pages={L101–L104} }
 @article{mclaughlin_volpe_2004, title={Prospects for detecting a neutrino magnetic moment with a tritium source and beta-beams}, volume={591}, ISSN={["1873-2445"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.physletb.2004.02.073}, abstractNote={We compare the prospects for detecting a neutrino magnetic moment by the measurement of neutrinos from a tritium source, reactors and low-energy beta-beams. In all cases the neutrinos or antineutrinos are detected by scattering of electrons. We find that a large (20 MCurie) tritium source could improve the limit on the neutrino magnetic moment significantly, down to the level of a few ×10−12 in units of Bohr magnetons μB while low-energy beta-beams with sufficiently rapid production of ions could improve the limits to the level of a few ×10−11μB. The latter would require ion production at the rate of at least 1015 s−1.}, number={3-4}, journal={PHYSICS LETTERS B}, author={McLaughlin, GC and Volpe, C}, year={2004}, month={Jul}, pages={229–234} }
 @article{fetter_mclaughlin_balantekin_fuller_2003, title={Active-sterile neutrino conversion: consequences for the r-process and supernova neutrino detection}, volume={18}, ISSN={["1873-2852"]}, DOI={10.1016/S0927-6505(02)00156-1}, abstractNote={We examine active-sterile neutrino conversion in the late time post-core-bounce supernova environment. By including the effect of feedback on the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein (MSW) conversion potential, we obtain a large range of neutrino mixing parameters which produce a favorable environment for the r-process. We look at the signature of this effect in the current generation of neutrino detectors now coming on line. We also investigate the impact of the neutrino-neutrino forward scattering-induced potential on the MSW conversion.}, number={5}, journal={ASTROPARTICLE PHYSICS}, author={Fetter, J and McLaughlin, GC and Balantekin, AB and Fuller, GM}, year={2003}, month={Feb}, pages={433–448} }
 @article{kneller_mclaughlin_2003, title={Big bang nucleosynthesis and Lambda(QCD)}, volume={68}, ISSN={["2470-0029"]}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85038990077&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1103/physrevd.68.103508}, abstractNote={Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) has increasingly become the tool of choice for investigating the permitted variation of fundamental constants during the earliest epochs of the Universe. Here we present a BBN calculation that has been modified to permit changes in the QCD scale, Λ QCD . The primary effects of changing the QCD scale upon BBN are through the deuteron binding energy, B D , and the neutron-proton mass difference, δm np , which both play crucial roles in determining the primordial abundances. In this paper, we show how a simplified BBN calculation allows us to restrict the nuclear data we need to just B D and δm np yet still gives useful results so that any variation in Λ QCD may be constrained via the corresponding shifts in B D and δm np by using the current estimates of the primordial deuterium abundance and helium mass fraction. The simplification predicts the helium-4 and deuterium abundances to within 1% and 50% respectively when compared with the results of a standard BBN code. But Λ QCD also affects much of remaining required nuclear input so this method introduces a systematic error into the calculation and we find a degeneracy between B D and δm np . We show how increased understanding of the relationship of the pion mass and/or B D to other nuclear parameters, such as the binding energy of tritium and the cross section of T + D → 4 He + n , would yield constraints upon any change in B D and δm np at the 10% level.}, number={10}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW D}, author={Kneller, JP and McLaughlin, GC}, year={2003}, month={Nov} }
 @article{boyd_mclaughlin_murphy_smith_2003, title={Science from detection of neutrinos from supernovae}, volume={29}, ISSN={["1361-6471"]}, DOI={10.1088/0954-3899/29/11/009}, abstractNote={The neutrinos emitted from supernovae contain information about the physics of stellar collapse and of the nature of the neutrinos themselves. Several large detectors exist that will be capable of observing some subset of those neutrinos. In addition, we have designed OMNIS, the Observatory for Multiflavour NeutrInos from Supernovae. OMNIS will detect the neutrinos from (a) neutral-current interactions from ?e, ??, , ?? and , and (b) charged-current interactions from high-momentum ?e, with lead nuclei. It will utilize two types of detectors: (1) lead slabs alternating with vertical planes of neutron detectors, in which neutrons produced by neutrino?lead interactions will be detected, and (2) lead perchlorate, in which both the resulting neutrons and Cerenkov light will be detected. OMNIS will measure neutrino masses below 100 eV, provide new information on MSW or vacuum oscillations from ??/?? to ?e, especially to ?13, and possibly diagnose the process of collapse to a black hole. It will observe the late-time evolution of the neutrino distributions, and possibly see predicted late-time effects, e.g. a phase transition from neutron-star matter to kaon-condensed matter or quark matter. OMNIS is also sensitive to some modes of nucleon decay that should make it possible to improve significantly on present limits for those modes. Of crucial importance to OMNIS is an experiment, using neutrinos from a stopped pion beam, to determine the flavour and energy-dependent response of lead to neutrinos. This will provide important input into cross section calculations for which few data currently exist. We plan to perform this experiment using one of the lead perchlorate detector modules from OMNIS.}, number={11}, journal={JOURNAL OF PHYSICS G-NUCLEAR AND PARTICLE PHYSICS}, author={Boyd, RN and McLaughlin, GC and Murphy, AS and Smith, PF}, year={2003}, month={Nov}, pages={2543–2567} }
 @article{engel_mclaughlin_volpe_2003, title={What can be learned with a lead-based supernova-neutrino detector?}, volume={67}, ISSN={["1550-2368"]}, DOI={10.1103/physrevd.67.013005}, abstractNote={We examine the prospects for using lead as a supernova-neutrino detector by considering the spectrum of electrons produced, and the number of one- and two-neutron events. We show that the electron energy spectrum from charged-current reactions could be used to extract information about the high-temperature component of the neutrino spectrum. Some degree of electron neutrino oscillation is expected in the supernova envelope. We examine the prospects for untangling the signatures of various oscillation scenarios, including, e.g., normal or inverted hierarchies, and different values for the small mixing angle u 13 .}, number={1}, journal={PHYSICAL REVIEW D}, author={Engel, J and McLaughlin, GC and Volpe, C}, year={2003}, month={Jan} }
 @article{mclaughlin_wijers_2002, title={Delayed nickel decay in gamma-ray bursts}, volume={580}, ISSN={["1538-4357"]}, DOI={10.1086/343858}, abstractNote={Recently observed emission lines in the X-ray afterglow of γ-ray bursts suggest that iron-group elements are either produced in the γ-ray burst or are present nearby. If this material is the product of a thermonuclear burn, then such material would be expected to be rich in nickel-56. If the nickel remains partially ionized, this prevents the electron capture reaction normally associated with the decay of nickel-56, dramatically increasing the decay timescale. Here we examine the consequences of rapid ejection of a fraction of a solar mass of iron-group material from the center of a collapsar/hypernova. The exact rate of decay then depends on the details of the ionization and, therefore, the ejection process. Future observations of iron, nickel, and cobalt lines can be used to diagnose the origin of these elements and to better understand the astrophysical site of γ-ray bursts. In this model, the X-ray lines of these iron-group elements could be detected in suspected hypernovae that did not produce an observable γ-ray burst due to beaming.}, number={2}, journal={ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL}, author={McLaughlin, GC and Wijers, RAMJ}, year={2002}, month={Dec}, pages={1017–1023} }