scholarly journals Insights into the s-process and r-process as revealed by globular clusters

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S265) ◽  
pp. 54-56
Author(s):  
D. Yong ◽  
A. I. Karakas ◽  
D. L. Lambert ◽  
A. Chieffi ◽  
M. Limongi

AbstractWe present abundance measurements for a large number of neutron-capture elements in giant stars of the globular clusters M4, M5, and M13. The relative abundance ratios differ between all three clusters. For all clusters, we find that the mean abundances for the elements from Ba to Hf can be well explained by scaled versions of the solar s- and r-process abundances, albeit with different mixtures of s- and r-process material for each clusters.

2018 ◽  
Vol 611 ◽  
pp. A30 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Spite ◽  
M. Spite ◽  
B. Barbuy ◽  
P. Bonifacio ◽  
E. Caffau ◽  
...  

Aims. The abundance patterns of the neutron-capture elements in metal-poor stars provide a unique record of the nucleosynthesis products of the earlier massive primitive objects. Methods. We measured new abundances of so-called light neutron-capture of first peak elements using local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) 1D analysis; this analysis resulted in a sample of 11 very metal-poor stars, from [Fe/H] = –2.5 to [Fe/H] = –3.4, and one carbon-rich star, CS 22949-037 with [Fe/H] = –4.0. The abundances were compared to those observed in two classical metal-poor stars: the typical r-rich star CS 31082-001 ([Eu/Fe] > +1.0) and the r-poor star HD 122563 ([Eu/Fe] < 0.0), which are known to present a strong enrichment of the first peak neutron-capture elements relative to the second peak. Results. Within the first peak, the abundances are well correlated in analogy to the well-known correlation inside the abundances of the second-peak elements. In contrast, there is no correlation between any first peak element with any second peak element. We show that the scatter of the ratio of the first peak abundance over second peak abundance increases when the mean abundance of the second peak elements decreases from r-rich to r-poor stars. We found two new r-poor stars that are very similar to HD 122563. A third r-poor star, CS 22897-008, is even more extreme; this star shows the most extreme example of first peak elements enrichment to date. On the contrary, another r-poor star (BD–18 5550) has a pattern of first peak elements that is similar to the typical r-rich stars CS 31082-001, however this star has some Mo enrichment. Conclusions. The distribution of the neutron-capture elements in our very metal-poor stars can be understood as the combination of at least two mechanisms: one that enriches the forming stars cloud homogeneously through the main r-process and leads to an element pattern similar to the r-rich stars, such as CS 31082-001; and another that forms mainly lighter, first peak elements.


2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S265) ◽  
pp. 61-62
Author(s):  
Wako Aoki ◽  
Satoshi Honda

AbstractWe have been determining abundances of Th, Pb and other neutron-capture elements in metal-deficient cool giant stars to constrain the enrichment of heavy elements by the r- and s-processes. Our current sample covers the metallicity range between [Fe/H] = −2.5 and −1.0. (1) The abundance ratios of Pb/Fe and Pb/Eu of most of our stars are approximately constant, and no increase of these ratios with increasing metallicity is found. This result suggests that the Pb abundances of our sample are determined by the r-process with no or little contribution of the s-process. (2) The Th/Eu abundance ratios of our sample show no significant scatter, and the average is lower by 0.2 dex in the logarithmic scale than the solar-system value. This result indicates that the actinides production by the r-process does not show large dispersion, even though r-process models suggest high sensitivity of the actinides production to the nucleosynthesis environment.


2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (S317) ◽  
pp. 310-311
Author(s):  
M. N. Ishigaki ◽  
T. Tsujimoto ◽  
T. Shigeyama ◽  
W. Aoki

AbstractA dominant astrophysical site for r-process, which is responsible for producing heavy neutron-capture elements, is unknown. Dwarf spheroidal galaxies around the Milky Way halo provide ideal laboratories to investigate the origin and evolution of r-process elements. We carried out high-resolution spectroscopic observations of three giant stars in the Draco dwarf spheroidal galaxy to estimate their europium abundances. We found that the upper-limits of [Eu/H] are very low in the range [Fe/H] < −2, while this ratio is nearly constant at higher metallicities. This trend is not well reproduced with models which assume that Eu is produced together with Fe by SNe, and may suggest the contribution from other objects such as neutron-star mergers.


Author(s):  
Jorge Peñarrubia

Abstract This paper uses statistical and N-body methods to explore a new mechanism to form binary stars with extremely large separations (≳ 0.1 pc), whose origin is poorly understood. Here, ultra-wide binaries arise via chance entrapment of unrelated stars in tidal streams of disrupting clusters. It is shown that (i) the formation of ultra-wide binaries is not limited to the lifetime of a cluster, but continues after the progenitor is fully disrupted, (ii) the formation rate is proportional to the local phase-space density of the tidal tails, (iii) the semimajor axis distribution scales as p(a)da ∼ a1/2da at a ≪ D, where D is the mean interstellar distance, and (vi) the eccentricity distribution is close to thermal, p(e)de = 2ede. Owing to their low binding energies, ultra-wide binaries can be disrupted by both the smooth tidal field and passing substructures. The time-scale on which tidal fluctuations dominate over the mean field is inversely proportional to the local density of compact substructures. Monte-Carlo experiments show that binaries subject to tidal evaporation follow p(a)da ∼ a−1da at a ≳ apeak, known as Öpik’s law, with a peak semi-major axis that contracts with time as apeak ∼ t−3/4. In contrast, a smooth Galactic potential introduces a sharp truncation at the tidal radius, p(a) ∼ 0 at a ≳ rt. The scaling relations of young clusters suggest that most ultra-wide binaries arise from the disruption of low-mass systems. Streams of globular clusters may be the birthplace of hundreds of ultra-wide binaries, making them ideal laboratories to probe clumpiness in the Galactic halo.


Author(s):  
Stephan Rosswog

Compact object mergers eject neutron-rich matter in a number of ways: by the dynamical ejection mediated by gravitational torques, as neutrino-driven winds, and probably also a good fraction of the resulting accretion disc finally becomes unbound by a combination of viscous and nuclear processes. If compact binary mergers indeed produce gamma-ray bursts, there should also be an interaction region where an ultra-relativistic outflow interacts with the neutrino-driven wind and produces moderately relativistic ejecta. Each type of ejecta has different physical properties, and therefore plays a different role for nucleosynthesis and for the electromagnetic (EM) transients that go along with compact object encounters. Here, we focus on the dynamic ejecta and present results for over 30 hydrodynamical simulations of both gravitational wave-driven mergers and parabolic encounters as they may occur in globular clusters. We find that mergers eject approximately 1 per cent of a Solar mass of extremely neutron-rich material. The exact amount, as well as the ejection velocity, depends on the involved masses with asymmetric systems ejecting more material at higher velocities. This material undergoes a robust r-process and both ejecta amount and abundance pattern are consistent with neutron star mergers being a major source of the ‘heavy’ ( A >130) r-process isotopes. Parabolic collisions, especially those between neutron stars and black holes, eject substantially larger amounts of mass, and therefore cannot occur frequently without overproducing gala- ctic r-process matter. We also discuss the EM transients that are powered by radioactive decays within the ejecta (‘macronovae’), and the radio flares that emerge when the ejecta dissipate their large kinetic energies in the ambient medium.


2018 ◽  
Vol 478 (2) ◽  
pp. 1994-2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paz Beniamini ◽  
Irina Dvorkin ◽  
Joe Silk

2015 ◽  
Vol 68 ◽  
pp. 367-372
Author(s):  
M.M. Davidson ◽  
B.G. Howlett ◽  
R.C. Butler ◽  
N.M. Taylor ◽  
M.K. Walker

Shelterbelts of Pinus radiata and Cupressus macrocarpa are common landscape features on arable farmland in New Zealand This study aimed to determine whether such shelterbelts could influence the relative abundance and diversity of beneficial and pest invertebrates commonly found in arable crops Window intercept yellow sticky and pitfall traps were placed next to shelterbelts or post and wire fences and also 50 m from these borders into adjacent crops on two arable farms in Canterbury and one in Wairarapa over 12 weeks in summer 2012 and autumn 2013 The abundance of given species/taxa varied considerably depending on farm location season and field border type However the mean number of beneficial insect species/taxa per trap did not vary markedly between field border types or adjacent crops while traps at shelterbelts or their adjacent crops caught more of some pest species/taxa than traps beside fences The pine/macrocarpa shelterbelts did not markedly increase relative abundance or diversity of beneficial insects


Science ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 372 (6543) ◽  
pp. 742-745
Author(s):  
A. Wallner ◽  
M. B. Froehlich ◽  
M. A. C. Hotchkis ◽  
N. Kinoshita ◽  
M. Paul ◽  
...  

Half of the chemical elements heavier than iron are produced by the rapid neutron capture process (r-process). The sites and yields of this process are disputed, with candidates including some types of supernovae (SNe) and mergers of neutron stars. We search for two isotopic signatures in a sample of Pacific Ocean crust—iron-60 (60Fe) (half-life, 2.6 million years), which is predominantly produced in massive stars and ejected in supernova explosions, and plutonium-244 (244Pu) (half-life, 80.6 million years), which is produced solely in r-process events. We detect two distinct influxes of 60Fe to Earth in the last 10 million years and accompanying lower quantities of 244Pu. The 244Pu/60Fe influx ratios are similar for both events. The 244Pu influx is lower than expected if SNe dominate r-process nucleosynthesis, which implies some contribution from other sources.


2020 ◽  
Vol 498 (3) ◽  
pp. 3549-3559
Author(s):  
Aldo Mura-Guzmán ◽  
D Yong ◽  
C Abate ◽  
A Karakas ◽  
C Kobayashi ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We present new fluorine abundance estimations in two carbon enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars, HE 1429−0551 and HE 1305+0007. HE 1429−0551 is also enriched in slow neutron-capture process (s-process) elements, a CEMP-s, and HE 1305+0007 is enhanced in both, slow and rapid neutron-capture process elements, a CEMP-s/r. The F abundances estimates are derived from the vibration–rotation transition of the HF molecule at 23358.6 Å  using high-resolution infrared spectra obtained with the Immersion Grating Infrared Spectrometer (IGRINS) at the 4-m class Lowell Discovery Telescope. Our results include an F abundance measurement in HE 1429−0551 of A(F) = +3.93 ([F/Fe] = +1.90) at [Fe/H] = −2.53, and an F upper limit in HE 1305+0007 of A(F) &lt; +3.28 ([F/Fe] &lt; +1.00) at [Fe/H] = −2.28. Our new derived F abundance in HE 1429−0551 makes this object the most metal-poor star where F has been detected. We carefully compare these results with literature values and state-of-the-art CEMP-s model predictions including detailed asymptotic giant branch (AGB) nucleosynthesis and binary evolution. The modelled fluorine abundance for HE 1429−0551 is within reasonable agreement with our observed abundance, although is slightly higher than our observed value. For HE 1429−0551, our findings support the scenario via mass transfer by a primary companion during its thermally pulsing phase. Our estimated upper limit in HE 1305+0007, along with data from the literature, shows large discrepancies compared with AGB models. The discrepancy is principally due to the simultaneous s- and r-process element enhancements which the model struggles to reproduce.


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