Kilonova ejecta opacity inferred from new large-scale HFR atomic calculations in all elements between Ca (Z = 20) and Lr (Z = 103) (2412.16688v1)

Abstract: In the context of kilonova (KN) modeling, the present work focusses on large-scale atomic data and opacity computations for all heavy elements from Ca to Lr, with a special effort on lanthanides and actinides, for a grid of typical KN ejecta conditions between one day and one week after the merger (corresponding to the LTE photosphere phase of the KN ejecta). In order to do so, we used the pseudo-relativistic Hartree-Fock (HFR) method, in which the choice of the interaction configuration model is of crucial importance. In this paper, HFR atomic data and opacities for all elements between Ca (Z = 20) and Lr (Z = 103) are presented, with a special focus on lanthanides and actinides. Besides, we also discuss the contribution of every single element to the total KN ejecta opacity for a given neutron star merger model, depending on their Planck mean opacities and elemental abundances. An important result is that lanthanides are found to not be the dominant sources of opacity, at least on average. The impact on KN light curves of considering such atomic-physics based opacity data instead of typical crude approximation formulae is also evaluated. In addition, the importance of taking the ejecta composition into account directly in the expansion opacity determination (instead of estimating single-element opacities) is highlighted. A database containing all the relevant atomic data and opacity tables has also been created and published online along with this work.