Weak interaction rates of neutron-rich nuclei and the r-process nucleosynthesis -: art. no. 035501

Weak interaction rates for very short-lived neutron-rich nuclides involved in the r process are mostly beyond the experimental reach at the present time. Accurate theoretical predictions demand a coherent extrapolation of different nuclear properties away from the experimentally known regions. The beta-decay and neutrino-capture rates are estimated within the extended Thomas-Fermi plus Strutinsky integral method and the continuum quasiparticle random phase approximation. This approximation on the self-consistent calculation of the ground-state and beta-decay properties is described. The large-scale calculations of the beta-strength function for stable and short-lived nuclei are performed to estimate, simultaneously, the beta-decay and electron neutrino capture rates for nuclides of relevance to the r-process nucleosynthesis. A comparison of the results with existing experimental data, global calculations, and self-consistent microscopic predictions is presented.