Probing Nuclear Uncertainties in Kilonova Modeling: Beta Decay Rates

The rapid neutron capture (r-process) is one of the main mechanisms whereby elements heavier than iron are synthesized, and is responsible for the creation of the heaviest isotopes of the actinides. Kilonova emissions are modeled as being largely powered by the radioactive decay of species synthesized via the r-process and in principle, observations of these offer insight into nucleosynthetic processes that occur in the merger. Given that the r-process occurs far from nuclear stability, nucleosynthesis calculations are subject to large uncertainties from unmeasured quantities. We highlight the impact of theoretical global beta decay calculations in contributing to these uncertainties. We also incorporate a variety of different theoretical nuclear physics inputs, including mass models, decay rates, and fission yields, into nucleosynthesis calculations. We show the range of uncertainty these can generate and show the impact on key isotope production for nuclear heating, light curve evolution and nuclear cosmochronometry.