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    Gamma-ray signatures of r-process radioactivity from the collapse of magnetized white dwarfs

    Tetyana Pitik1,*, Yong-Zhong Qian2, David Radice3,4,5, and Daniel Kasen1,6,7

    • *Contact author: tetyana.pitik@berkeley.edu

    Phys. Rev. D 113, 103018 – Published 12 May, 2026

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/kr9p-vfmm

    Abstract

    We predict the gamma-ray line emission from r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta of the accretion-induced collapse (AIC) of a magnetized, rapidly rotating white dwarf. Using ejecta from a two-dimensional general-relativistic neutrino-magnetohydrodynamic simulation, further evolved with a radiation-hydrodynamics code coupled to an in situ nuclear reaction network, we construct angle-dependent gamma-ray spectra in the 0.01–10 MeV band via composition-dependent ray tracing through the ejecta. The emission between ∼1 and 10 d is dominated by I132 (t1/2=2.3  h), continuously replenished by the decay of its parent Te132 (t1/2=3.2  d), with additional contributions from I131, Xe133, and Te132. At t≳20  d, Co56 (from Ni56 decay) becomes the primary emitter. The simultaneous presence of r process and iron-peak gamma-ray lines is distinctive of AIC ejecta and absent in binary neutron star mergers, where iron-peak nuclei are generally not synthesized. Comparing with the 3σ continuum sensitivities of planned MeV gamma-ray telescopes (COSI, AMEGO-X, e-ASTROGAM, GRAMS, GammaTPC), we find the brightest r-process lines detectable to ∼10  Mpc by GammaTPC and GRAMS, with the signal approaching their sensitivity threshold at 30 Mpc. The r-process spectral features survive time integration over ∼30 d exposures, demonstrating robustness against the long observation times required by gamma-ray detectors.

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