Determination of the neutron-capture rate of 17C for r-process nucleosynthesis

With the (RB)-B-3-LAND setup at GSI we have measured exclusive relative-energy spectra of the Coulomb dissociation of C-18 at a projectile energy around 425A MeV on a lead target, which are needed to determine the radiative neutron-capture cross sections of C-17 into the ground state of C-18. Those data have been used to constrain theoretical calculations for transitions populating excited states in C-18. This allowed to derive the astrophysical cross section sigma(n gamma)*. accounting for the thermal population of C-17 target states in astrophysical scenarios. The experimentally verified capture rate is significantly lower than those of previously obtained Hauser-Feshbach estimations at temperatures T-9 <= 1 GK. Network simulations with updated neutron-capture rates and hydrodynamics according to the neutrino-driven wind model as well as the neutron-star merger scenario reveal no pronounced influence of neutron capture of C-17 on the production of second-and third-peak elements in contrast to earlier sensitivity studies.