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Chemical Evolution Of The Neutron-Rich Iron-Group Isotopes And Implications For The Formation Of Fun Cais, Tianhong Yu

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Calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) are millimeter-sized refractory objects found in primitive meteorites. CAIs are considered as some of the first solids to form in the solar system, because they are refractory. FUN CAIs, those with Fractionated and Unknown Nuclear effects, are a small subset of CAIs. These FUN CAIs show correlated excesses and deficits in the neutron-rich iron-group isotopes such as ⁴⁸ Ca and ⁵⁰ Ti which regular CAIs do not. Interestingly, these isotopes are most likely produced infrequently but in huge quantities in a rare class of thermonuclear (Type Ia) supernovae. I propose that the isotopic effects in the neutron-rich …