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arXiv · 1902.02915

Catching Element Formation In The Act

Chris L. Fryer·Frank Timmes·Aimee L. Hungerford·Aaron Couture·Fred Adams·Wako Aoki·Almudena Arcones·David Arnett·Katie Auchettl·Melina Avila·Carles Badenes·Eddie Baron·Andreas Bauswein·John Beacom·Jeff Blackmon·Stephane Blondin·Peter Bloser·Steve Boggs·Alan Boss·Terri Brandt·Eduardo Bravo·Ed Brown·Peter Brown·Steve Bruenn. Carl Budtz-Jorgensen·Eric Burns·Alan Calder·Regina Caputo·Art Champagne·Roger Chevalier·Alessandro Chieffi·Kelly Chipps·David Cinabro·Ondrea Clarkson·Don Clayton·Alain Coc·Devin Connolly·Charlie Conroy·Benoit Cote·Sean Couch·Nicolas Dauphas·Richard James deBoer·Catherine Deibel·Pavel Denisenkov·Steve Desch·Luc Dessart·Roland Diehl·Carolyn Doherty·Inma Dominguez·Subo Dong·Vikram Dwarkadas·Doreen Fan·Brian Fields·Carl Fields·Alex Filippenko·Robert Fisher·Francois Foucart·Claes Fransson·Carla Frohlich·George Fuller·Brad Gibson·Viktoriya Giryanskaya·Joachim Gorres·Stephane Goriely·Sergei Grebenev·Brian Grefenstette·Evan Grohs·James Guillochon·Alice Harpole·Chelsea Harris·J. Austin Harris·Fiona Harrison·Dieter Hartmann·Masa-aki Hashimoto·Alexander Heger·Margarita Hernanz·Falk Herwig·Raphael Hirschi·Raphael William Hix·Peter Hoflich·Robert Hoffman·Cole Holcomb·Eric Hsiao·Christian Iliadis·Agnieszka Janiuk·Thomas Janka·Anders Jerkstrand·Lucas Johns·Samuel Jones·Jordi Jose·Toshitaka Kajino·Amanda Karakas·Platon Karpov·Dan Kasen·Carolyn Kierans·Marc Kippen·Oleg Korobkin·Chiaki Kobayashi·Cecilia Kozma·Saha Krot·Pawan Kumar
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Abstract

Gamma-ray astronomy explores the most energetic photons in nature to address some of the most pressing puzzles in contemporary astrophysics. It encompasses a wide range of objects and phenomena: stars, supernovae, novae, neutron stars, stellar-mass black holes, nucleosynthesis, the interstellar medium, cosmic rays and relativistic-particle acceleration, and the evolution of galaxies. MeV gamma-rays provide a unique probe of nuclear processes in astronomy, directly measuring radioactive decay, nuclear de-excitation, and positron annihilation. The substantial information carried by gamma-ray photons allows us to see deeper into these objects, the bulk of the power is often emitted at gamma-ray energies, and radioactivity provides a natural physical clock that adds unique information. New science will be driven by time-domain population studies at gamma-ray energies. This science is enabled by next-generation gamma-ray instruments with one to two orders of magnitude better sensitivity, larger sky coverage, and faster cadence than all previous gamma-ray instruments. This transformative capability permits: (a) the accurate identification of the gamma-ray emitting objects and correlations with observations taken at other wavelengths and with other messengers; (b) construction of new gamma-ray maps of the Milky Way and other nearby galaxies where extended regions are distinguished from point sources; and (c) considerable serendipitous science of scarce events -- nearby neutron star mergers, for example. Advances in technology push the performance of new gamma-ray instruments to address a wide set of astrophysical questions.

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Chris L. Fryer, Frank Timmes, Aimee L. Hungerford, Aaron Couture, Fred Adams, Wako Aoki, Almudena Arcones, David Arnett, Katie Auchettl, Melina Avila, Carles Badenes, Eddie Baron, Andreas Bauswein, John Beacom, Jeff Blackmon, Stephane Blondin, Peter Bloser, Steve Boggs, Alan Boss, Terri Brandt, Eduardo Bravo, Ed Brown, Peter Brown, Steve Bruenn. Carl Budtz-Jorgensen, Eric Burns, Alan Calder, Regina Caputo, Art Champagne, Roger Chevalier, Alessandro Chieffi, Kelly Chipps, David Cinabro, Ondrea Clarkson, Don Clayton, Alain Coc, Devin Connolly, Charlie Conroy, Benoit Cote, Sean Couch, Nicolas Dauphas, Richard James deBoer, Catherine Deibel, Pavel Denisenkov, Steve Desch, Luc Dessart, Roland Diehl, Carolyn Doherty, Inma Dominguez, Subo Dong, Vikram Dwarkadas, Doreen Fan, Brian Fields, Carl Fields, Alex Filippenko, Robert Fisher, Francois Foucart, Claes Fransson, Carla Frohlich, George Fuller, Brad Gibson, Viktoriya Giryanskaya, Joachim Gorres, Stephane Goriely, Sergei Grebenev, Brian Grefenstette, Evan Grohs, James Guillochon, Alice Harpole, Chelsea Harris, J. Austin Harris, Fiona Harrison, Dieter Hartmann, Masa-aki Hashimoto, Alexander Heger, Margarita Hernanz, Falk Herwig, Raphael Hirschi, Raphael William Hix, Peter Hoflich, Robert Hoffman, Cole Holcomb, Eric Hsiao, Christian Iliadis, Agnieszka Janiuk, Thomas Janka, Anders Jerkstrand, Lucas Johns, Samuel Jones, Jordi Jose, Toshitaka Kajino, Amanda Karakas, Platon Karpov, Dan Kasen, Carolyn Kierans, Marc Kippen, Oleg Korobkin, Chiaki Kobayashi, Cecilia Kozma, Saha Krot, Pawan Kumar. 2019-02-08. Catching Element Formation In The Act. https://arxiv.org/abs/1902.02915

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