The Origin and Evolution of the Elements: Data-Driven Nuclear Forensics

by Prof. Yong-Zhong Qian, University of Minnesota

Wednesday 27 May 2026, 16:15 → 18:15 Europe/Berlin

Abbeanum/1-HS2 - Straubel-HS (TPI, FSU Jena)

I will review the processes of making the elements in various astrophysical environments, emphasizing the role of fundamental
physics and observational evidence. I then discuss how to understand
chemical evolution from both the ab initio and the data-driven
approaches, contrasting the respective central issues. To illustrate
the latter approach, I show how the average patterns of heavy element
production via rapid neutron capture, the r-process, can be inferred
from the data on old stars in the Milky Way and how they can inform us
about the conditions of the underlying astrophysical sources and the
nuclear systematics governing the r-process.