-decay half-lives of 110 neutron-rich nuclei across the =82 shell gap; Implications for the mechanism and universality of the astrophysical process

Lorusso, G.*; Nishimura, Shunji*; Xu, Z. Y.*; Jungclaus, A.*; Shimizu, Y.*; Simpson, G. S.*; Sderstrm, P.-A.*; Watanabe, H.*; Browne, F.*; Doornenbal, P.*; Gey, G.*; Jung, H. S.*; Meyer, B.*; Sumikama, Toshiyuki*; Taprogge, J.*; Vajta, Zs.*; Wu, J.*; Baba, Hidetada*; Benzoni, G.*; Chae, K. Y.*; Crespi, F. C. L.*; Fukuda, N.*; Gernhuser, R.*; Inabe, Naoto*; Isobe, T.*; Kajino, Toshitaka*; Kameda, Daisuke*; Kim, G. D.*; Kim, Y.-K.*; Kojouharov, I.*; Kondev, F. G.*; Kubo, Toshiyuki*; Kurz, N.*; Kwon, Y. K.*; Lane, G.*; Li, Z.*; Montaner-Piz, A.*; Moschner, K.*; Naqvi, F.*; Niikura, Megumi*; Nishibata, Hiroki*; Odahara, Atsuko*; Orlandi, R.  ; Patel, Z.*; Podolyk, Zs.*; Sakurai, Hiroyoshi*; Schaffner, H.*; Schury, P.*; Shibagaki, S.*; Steiger, K.*; Suzuki, H.*; Takeda, H.*; Wendt, A.*; Yagi, A.*; Yoshinaga, Kenta*

The -decay half-lives of 110 neutron-rich isotopes of the elements from Rb to Sn were measured at the RIBF Facility at RIKEN, Japan. The new data demonstrate the persistence of shell structure far from stability and have direct implications for the -process calculations. In particular, the new half-lives have a global impact on the calculated -process elemental abundances, and alleviate the underproduction of isotopes just above and below the A=130 peak, which in the past required the introduction of shell structure modifications. Reaction-network calculations based on the new data reinforce the notion that the r-process abundance pattern may result from the freeze-out of a (n,)(,n) equilibrium.