THE JINA REACLIB DATABASE: ITS RECENT UPDATES AND IMPACT ON TYPE-I X-RAY BURSTS

TLDR

The study presents updated thermonuclear reaction rates from the JINA REACLIB project and offers a benchmark X‑ray burst model for future comparisons and sensitivity studies. The authors maintain a continuously updated, version‑controlled library of thermonuclear reaction rates that is publicly available through a web interface. The updated reaction rates produce modest but significant changes in one‑dimensional X‑ray burst models, notably altering late‑time light‑curve behavior and potentially resolving prior discrepancies with observations.

Abstract

We present results from the JINA REACLIB project, an ongoing effort to maintain a current and accurate library of thermonuclear reaction rates for astrophysical applications. Ongoing updates are transparently documented and version tracked, and any set of rates is publicly available and can be downloaded via a Web interface at http://groups.nscl.msu.edu/jina/reaclib/db/. We discuss here our library V1.0, a snapshot of recommended rates for stable and explosive hydrogen and helium burning. We show that the updated reaction rates lead to modest but significant changes in full network, one-dimensional X-ray burst model calculations, compared with calculations with previously used reaction rate sets. The late time behavior of X-ray burst light curves shows significant changes, suggesting that the previously found small discrepancies between model calculations and observations may be solved with a better understanding of the nuclear input. Our X-ray burst model calculations are intended to serve as a benchmark for future model comparisons and sensitivity studies, as the complete underlying nuclear physics is fully documented and publicly available.