{
  "abstract": "Nuclear cosmochronology provides an independent method for determining the ages of astrophysical objects without relying on Galactic chemical evolution models. Long-lived radioactive actinides synthesized via the rapid neutron-capture process ($r$-process) particularly thorium and uranium serve as ideal chronometric nuclei. However, predicting the initial abundances of these nuclei and their subsequent long-term evolution remains a major source of uncertainty in nuclear cosmochronology. In this work, we investigate the impact of decay-chain feeding from long-lived progenitor nuclei on nuclear cosmochronology and estimate the corresponding age corrections. We develop a self-consistent radioactive decay network that includes all relevant decay pathways and couple it to $r$-process nucleosynthesis calculations. By tracking the long-term evolution of $r$-process nucleosynthesis based on neutron star merger trajectories, the dominant long-lived nuclei shaping the evolution of the chronometric elements Th and U are identified as $^{232}$Th, $^{235}$U, $^{236}$U, $^{238}$U, and $^{244}$Pu. It is found that delayed feeding substantially modifies the long-term evolution of actinides particularly for $^{232}$Th, which receives significant late-time contributions from heavier progenitor nuclei such as $^{244}$Pu and $^{236}$U. As a consequence, the U/Th and Th/X chronometers exhibit significant sensitivity to delayed feeding from the progenitor nuclei $^{244}$Pu and $^{236}$U, with age corrections reaching $\\sim5$~Gyr. These results suggest that decay-chain feeding from long-lived progenitor nuclei plays a crucial role in nuclear cosmochronology and should be properly accounted for in age determinations based on actinide chronometers.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2610.14526",
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Qiu-Hong Chen"
    },
    {
      "name": "Meng-Hua Chen"
    },
    {
      "name": "Xianlin Yang"
    },
    {
      "name": "En-Wei Liang"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/42wse1gygcr40.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2610.14526",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "42wse1gygcr40",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.14526",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "astro-ph.HE"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2610.14526",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-10",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/42wse1gygcr40.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:29:06Z",
      "native_id": "2610.14526",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.14526"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "arxiv:astro-ph.HE",
      "subfield": "high-energy-astrophysics"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Impact of Decay-Chain Feeding by Long-Lived Heavy Nuclei on Nuclear Cosmochronology",
  "title_text": "Impact of Decay-Chain Feeding by Long-Lived Heavy Nuclei on Nuclear Cosmochronology",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:29:06Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/42wse1gygcr40",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}