Orbital Electron Capture in Extreme Astrophysical Environments

In an attempt to better understand the effects of astrophysical environments on the stability of atoms in our universe, intense thermal ionization can be investigated based on previous experiments under terrestrial conditions. Using all known evaluated atomic and nuclear data from NIST and Brookhaven National Laboratory (NNDC database), these studies can be performed without the need for complex theoretical nuclear structure estimates. By accounting for the changing decay energies and loss of electron capture as an accessible radioactive decay mode, the number of stable isotopes that result in these hot astrophysical environments nearly doubles, thus changing the nuclear reaction paths for heavy element creation in our universe. This work presents the progress of manipulating large amounts of nuclear data to provide precision studies on electroweak decay modes under these extreme environments.