Constraining the ⁷⁵Zn neutron capture reaction via the β-Oslo method for the weak r-process

Many questions remain about the neutron capture processes responsible for creating the majority of the neutron-rich heavy elements. The i-process and the weak r-process are two lesser understood neutron capture processes whose resulting abundance patterns and required astrophysical environments deviate from those traditionally ascribed to the r-process. Because of a lack of nuclear data in this region due to the difficulty in creating both neutron and exotic radioactive ion beams and targets, the weak r-process is not yet fully understood. To constrain the nuclear properties in this region, we turn to novel techniques. One of these indirect methods is the β-Oslo method, which uses β decay to populate highly-excited nuclear states in the compound nucleus of interest. The decay of these states is then used to extract the nuclear level densities (NLD) and γ-ray strength functions (γSF). By implementing these experimentally-determined statistical properties in the calculation of theoretical neutron-capture cross-section, uncertainties in the reaction rates can be greatly reduced. Here I will present results from the β decay of ⁷⁶Cu in the calculation of the ⁷⁵Zn(n, γ)⁷⁶Zn reaction, in which the uncertainty in the reaction rate has been reduced from over an order of magnitude to a factor of just 2.5. The reaction rate will be presented, as well as its impact on the modeling of weak r-process abundances in the A ∼ 80 region