Work

Do we owe our existence to gravitational waves?

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Two heavy elements essential to human biology are thought to have been produced by the astrophysical r -process, which occurs in neutron-rich environments: iodine is a constituent of thyroid hormones that affect many physiological processes including growth and development, body temperature and heart rate, and bromine is essential for tissue development and architecture. Collisions of neutron stars (kilonovae) have been identified as sources of r -process elements including tellurium, which is adjacent to iodine in the periodic table, and lanthanides. Neutron-star collisions arise from energy loss due to gravitational-wave emission from binary systems, leading us to suggest that gravitational waves have played a key role in enabling human life by producing iodine and bromine. We propose probing this proposal by searching in lunar material for live 129 I deposited by a recent nearby kilonova explosion.

Source: Physics Letters B

DOI: 10.1016/j.physletb.2024.139028

Authors: John Ellis, Brian D. Fields, Rebecca Surman

Institutions: King's College London, European Organization for Nuclear Research, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Notre Dame

Language: English

Topic: Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae

Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: diamond

Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Science and Technology Facilities Council