Microscopic Calculations of Weak Interaction Rates Original Research Article

Progress in nuclear structure calculations have allowed for detailed calculations of weak interaction rates for astrophysical environments, including electron capture rates and neutrino-nucleus scattering cross sections. The theoretical models can be validated using high resolution charge-exchange reactions for the calculation of electron capture rates, and electron-scattering data for the calculation of neutrino scattering cross sections. We show that electron capture rates on nuclei with A > 60 are large enough that, in contrast to previous assumptions, electron capture on nuclei dominates over capture on free protons.