Equation 2 · Nucleosynthesis Is Descent With Modification
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the mean waiting time between successive neutron captures on a given nucleus. Read the equation part by part below; each part has a contextual explanation and a link to its mathematical background.
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Symbol tau_n
the mean waiting time between successive neutron captures on a given nucleus.
subscript
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where is the mean waiting time between successive neutron captures on a given nucleus and is that nucleus’s beta-decay half-life. Because the s-process obeys this inequality, its reaction path never strays far from the valley of nuclear stability: a nucleus captures a neutron, and if the product is unstable it decays back toward stability long before it can capture another neutron and be pushed further away [ 7 ] .
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