11th Week: The s,r and p-Process

Production of elements heavier than iron

As the nuclear charge increases, the transmission probability decreases drastically. This in turn makes the charged cross sections to be very small and therefore at moderate stellar temperatures it is very difficult to form heavy elements. However, the elements heavier than $A=60$ are observed which requires explanation. Below we explain the main possible processes that might have occured in stellar nucleosynthesis.