Microscopic Calculations of Weak Interaction Rates

Progress in nuclear structure calculations have allowed for detailed calculations of weak interaction rates for astrophysical environments, including electron capture rates and neutrino-nucleus scattering cross sections. The theoretical models can be validated using high resolution charge-exchange reactions for the calculation of electron capture rates, and electron-scattering data for the calculation of neutrino scattering cross sections. We show that electron capture rates on nuclei with A > 60 are large enough that, in contrast to previous assumptions, electron capture on nuclei dominates over capture on free protons.