Remarks concerning the s-process

Abstract

The abundances of Fe-58 and Co-59 are far too large to be compatible with an s-process acting on Fe-56 as the only essential seed material unless a sharp lower cut-off is introduced ad hoc into the flux distribution. This cut-off leads to a maximum in the abundance times cross-section curve around A = 60 for which there is evidence but which can naturally be explained as an image of the iron peak shifted by an almost uniform neutron flux. Further evidence supports the conclusion of Peters et al. that the iron peak must have been considerably smaller for the seed of the s-process than for the solar system matter.