IPUSS · The initial 244Pu abundance of the Solar System
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2017-10-01 → 2019-09-30
- EU contribution
- €146,239
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-ST
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
The initial 244Pu abundance of the Solar System
The increasing knowledge of the short-lived radioactive isotope systems allows us to decipher the nature and timing of chemical variation during the first few hundred million years following the formation of the Solar System and even to constrain the pre-solar history of the Solar System matter. However, to obtain a consistent picture of the earliest processes, the abundance of each short lived radionuclide at the time of the formation of the Sun has to be inferred with very high accuracy. Plutonium-244 (244Pu) is one of the short-lived radionuclides (with a half-life of 80 million years) that is produced by the rapid neutron-capture process (the r process) within neutron star mergers and rare supernovae. The goal of the IPUSS 753276 project was to obtain the best estimate of the initial 244Pu content of the Solar System. In addition, the project proposed to use the initial abundance estimate to constrain the time of the last stellar event that added r-process nuclides to the pre-solar nebula. In principle, the 244Pu-Xe system can also be used as chronometer to date early volatile loss events in Solar System solids. IPUSS proposed to evaluate this chronometer using the new uncertainties of the improved estimate. The main objective regarding transfer of knowledge was to bridge the gap between cosmochemistry and the theoretical astrophysics field of galactic chemical evolution. Pető connected the local team at the Konkoly Observatory to the European community of cosmochemistry. The supervisor Maria Lugaro, who is a leading scientist in stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis, connected Pető's research to already existing research directions on short-lived radioactive nuclei at the institute and integrated Pető within the local scientific community in Hungary.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
The proposed project is a crossroad of noble gas cosmochemistry, geochemical modelling and astrophysics. We will obtain a best estimate of the initial 244 Plutonium content of the Solar System at the time when the first condensed mineral assemblages formed in the hot solar nebula. We will apply this value to model the volatile depletion history of the silicate Earth and to produce the first self-consistent estimate on the timing of the last addition of matter produced in rapid neutron capture processes (r process) to the Solar System. 244 Pu is an r-process- only short lived radionuclide that goes through spontaneous fission to produce Xenon isotopes and in principle the 244 Pu-Xe system can be used as chronometer to date early volatile loss events in Solar System solids. We propose a comprehensive experimental approach to study noble gases in combination with Nd (similarly volatile to Pu) and U (more volatile than Pu) abundances on a complementary set of samples that is adequate to explain the possible variation in the initial Pu/U ratio in different meteorites and early condensed mineral assemblages and to evaluate the applicability of the chronometer. While the Experienced Researcher is an expert in noble gas geochemistry and has experience in geochemical modelling, she will gain the knowledge on cosmochemistry and stellar nucleosynthesis required to interpret and discuss the new results produced in this project. The individual fellowship will help her start her early career as a postdoc and provide a crucial mobility to build a network in Europe and do research with high impact.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- HUN-REN CSILLAGASZATI ES FOLDTUDOMANYI KUTATOKOZPONT · BUDAPESTCoordinatorHungary
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union