Mass measurements of neutron rich isotopes in the Fe region and electron capture processes in neutron star crusts

Experimental knowledge of nuclear masses of exotic nuclei is important for understanding nuclear structure far from the valley of β -stability, and as a direct input into astrophysical models. Electron capture processes in the crust of accreting neutron stars have been proposed as a heat source that can affect the thermal structure of the star. Nuclear masses of very neutron-rich nuclides are necessary inputs to model the electron capture process. The time-of-flight (TOF) mass measurement technique allows measurements on very short-lived nuclei. It has been effectively applied using the fast fragment beams produced at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Lab (NSCL) to reach masses very far from stability. Measurements were performed for neutron-rich isotopes in the region of the N=32 and N=40 subshells, which coincides with the mass range of carbon superburst ashes. We discuss reaction network calculations performed to investigate the impact of our new measurements and to compare the effect of using different global mass models in the calculations. It is observed that the process is sensitive to the differences in the odd-even mass staggering predicted by the mass models, and our new result for ⁶⁶Mn has a significant impact on the distribution of heat sources in the crust.