arXiv:2402.03593astro-ph.HE
Do we Owe our Existence to Gravitational Waves?
Early discovery. Linked by one identifiable commenter. This paper is outside the main ranking; a mention is not an endorsement.
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.
The paper seems to say that gravitational waves cause neutron stars to collide. Isn’t it the other way around? (A collision emits gravitational waves)? https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.03593
ano-therView on HNParent context