1,598 research outputs found
Abundances of Baade's Window Giants from Keck/HIRES Spectra: II. The Alpha- and Light Odd Elements
We report detailed chemical abundance analysis of 27 RGB stars towards the
Galactic bulge in Baade's Window for elements produced by massive stars: O, Na,
Mg, Al, Si, Ca and Ti. All of these elements are overabundant in the bulge
relative to the disk, especially Mg, indicating that the bulge is enhanced in
Type~II supernova ejecta and most likely formed more rapidly than the disk. We
attribute a rapid decline of [O/Fe] to metallicity-dependent yields of oxygen
in massive stars, perhaps connected to the Wolf-Reyet phenomenon. he explosive
nucleosynthesis alphas, Si, Ca and Ti, possess identical trends with [Fe/H],
consistent with their putative common origin. We note that different behaviors
of hydrostatic and explosive alpha elements can be seen in the stellar
abundances of stars in Local Group dwarf galaxies. We also attribute the
decline of Si,Ca and Ti relative to Mg, to metallicity- dependent yields for
the explosive alpha elements from Type~II supernovae. The starkly smaller
scatter of [/Fe] with [Fe/H] in the bulge, as compared to the halo, is
consistent with expected efficient mixing for the bulge. The metal-poor bulge
[/Fe] ratios are higher than ~80% of the halo. If the bulge formed from
halo gas, the event occured before ~80% of the present-day halo was formed. The
lack of overlap between the thick and thin disk composition with the bulge does
not support the idea that the bulge was built by a thickening of the disk
driven by the bar. The trend of [Al/Fe] is very sensitive to the chemical
evolution environment. A comparison of the bulge, disk and Sgr dSph galaxy
shows a range of ~0.7 dex in [Al/Fe] at a given [Fe/H], presumably due to a
range of Type~II/Type~Ia supernova ratios in these systems.Comment: 51 pages, 6 tables, 27 figures, submitte
Structure Formation Inside Triaxial Dark Matter Halos: Galactic Disks, Bulges and Bars
We investigate the formation and evolution of galactic disks immersed in
assembling live DM halos. Disk/halo components have been evolved from the
cosmological initial conditions and represent the collapse of an isolated
density perturbation. The baryons include gas (which participates in star
formation [SF]) and stars. The feedback from the stellar energy release onto
the ISM has been implemented. We find that (1) The growing triaxial halo figure
tumbling is insignificant and the angular momentum (J) is channeled into the
internal circulation; (2) Density response of the disk is out of phase with the
DM, thus diluting the inner halo flatness and washing out its prolateness; (3)
The total J is neathly conserved, even in models accounting for feedback; (4)
The specific J for the DM is nearly constant, while that for baryons is
decreasing; (5) Early stage of disk formation resembles the cat's cradle -- a
small amorphous disk fueled via radial string patterns; (6) The initially
puffed up gas component in the disk thins when the SF rate drops below ~5
Mo/yr; (7) About 40%-60% of the baryons remain outside the SF region; (8)
Rotation curves appear to be flat and account for the observed disk/halo
contributions; (9) A range of bulge-dominated to bulgeless disks was obtained;
Lower density threshold for SF leads to a smaller, thicker disk; Gravitational
softening in the gas has a substantial effect on various aspects of galaxy
evolution and mimics a number of intrinsic processes within the ISM; (10) The
models are characterized by an extensive bar-forming activity; (11) Nuclear
bars, dynamically coupled and decoupled form in response to the gas inflow
along the primary bars.Comment: 18 pages, 16 figures, accepted by the Astrophysical Journal. Minor
revisions. The high-resolution figures can be found at
http://www.pa.uky.edu/~shlosman/research/galdyn/figs07a
High Energy neutrino signals from the Epoch of Reionization
We perform a new estimate of the high energy neutrinos expected from GRBs
associated with the first generation of stars in light of new models and
constraints on the epoch of reionization and a more detailed evaluation of the
neutrino emission yields. We also compare the diffuse high energy neutrino
background from Population III stars with the one from "ordinary stars"
(Population II), as estimated consistently within the same cosmological and
astrophysical assumptions. In disagreement with previous literature, we find
that high energy neutrinos from Population III stars will not be observable
with current or near future neutrino telescopes, falling below both IceCube
sensitivity and atmospheric neutrino background under the most extreme
assumptions for the GRB rate. This rules them out as a viable diagnostic tool
for these still elusive metal-free stars.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures
Massive star evolution in close binaries:conditions for homogeneous chemical evolution
We investigate the impact of tidal interactions, before any mass transfer, on
various properties of the stellar models. We study the conditions for obtaining
homogeneous evolution triggered by tidal interactions, and for avoiding any
Roche lobe overflow during the Main-Sequence phase. We consider the case of
rotating stars computed with a strong coupling mediated by an interior magnetic
field. In models without any tidal interaction (single stars and wide
binaries), homogeneous evolution in solid body rotating models is obtained when
two conditions are realized: the initial rotation must be high enough, the loss
of angular momentum by stellar winds should be modest. This last point favors
metal-poor fast rotating stars. In models with tidal interactions, homogeneous
evolution is obtained when rotation imposed by synchronization is high enough
(typically a time-averaged surface velocities during the Main-Sequence phase
above 250 km s), whatever the mass losses. In close binaries, mixing is
stronger at higher than at lower metallicities. Homogeneous evolution is thus
favored at higher metallicities. Roche lobe overflow avoidance is favored at
lower metallicities due to the fact that stars with less metals remain more
compact. We study also the impact of different processes for the angular
momentum transport on the surface abundances and velocities in single and close
binaries. In models where strong internal coupling is assumed, strong surface
enrichments are always associated to high surface velocities in binary or
single star models. In contrast, models computed with mild coupling may produce
strong surface enrichments associated to low surface velocities. Close binary
models may be of interest for explaining homogeneous massive stars, fast
rotating Wolf-Rayet stars, and progenitors of long soft gamma ray bursts, even
at high metallicities.Comment: 21 pages, 13 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in Astronomy
and Astrophysic
Stellar Evolution in the Early Universe
Massive stars played a key role in the early evolution of the Universe. They
formed with the first halos and started the re-ionisation. It is therefore very
important to understand their evolution. In this paper, we describe the strong
impact of rotation induced mixing and mass loss at very low . The strong
mixing leads to a significant production of primary nitrogen 14, carbon 13 and
neon 22. Mass loss during the red supergiant stage allows the production of
Wolf-Rayet stars, type Ib,c supernovae and possibly gamma-ray bursts (GRBs)
down to almost Z=0 for stars more massive than 60 solar masses. Galactic
chemical evolution models calculated with models of rotating stars better
reproduce the early evolution of N/O, C/O and C12/C13. We calculated the weak
s-process production induced by the primary neon 22 and obtain overproduction
factors (relative to the initial composition, Z=1.e-6) between 100-1000 in the
mass range 60-90.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, proceedings of IAU Symposium 255,
"Low-Metallicity Star Formation: From the First stars to Dwarf Galaxies",
L.K. Hunt, S. Madden & R. Schneider, ed
The impact of stellar rotation on the CNO abundance patterns in the Milky Way at low metallicities
We investigate the effect of new stellar models, which take rotation into
account, computed for very low metallicities on the chemical evolution of the
earliest phases of the Milky Way. We check the impact of these new stellar
yields on a model for the halo of the Milky Way that can reproduce the observed
halo metallicity distribution. In this way we try to better constrain the ISM
enrichment timescale, which was not done in our previous work. The stellar
models adopted in this work were computed under the assumption that the ratio
of the initial rotation velocity to the critical velocity of stars is roughly
constant with metallicity. This naturally leads to faster rotation at lower
metallicity, as metal poor stars are more compact than metal rich ones. We find
that the new Z = 10-8 stellar yields computed for large rotational velocities
have a tremendous impact on the interstellar medium nitrogen enrichment for
log(O/H)+12 < 7 (or [Fe/H]< -3). We show that upon the inclusion of the new
stellar calculations in a chemical evolution model for the galactic halo with
infall and outflow, both high N/O and C/O ratios are obtained in the very-metal
poor metallicity range in agreement with observations. Our results give further
support to the idea that stars at very low metallicities could have initial
rotational velocities of the order of 600-800kms-1. An important contribution
to N from AGB stars is still needed in order to explain the observations at
intermediate metallicities. One possibility is that AGB stars at very low
metallicities also rotate fast. This could be tested in the future, once
stellar evolution models for fast rotating AGB stars will be available.Comment: Contribution to Nuclei in the Cosmos IX (Proceedings of Science - 9
pages, 4 figs., accepted) - Version 2: one reference added in the caption of
Fig.
Pregalactic LiBeB Production by Supernova Cosmic Rays
I calculate the evolution of Be and B abundances produced by cosmic rays
generated by massive stars in the pregalactic phase of the universe. The inputs
for calculation, i.e. the star formation rate and the nuclear abundances of
cosmic rays, which I assume to be the same as those of the ISM, are taken from
the results of a detailed cosmic chemical evolution model with its parameters
best fitted from several items of observational information including an early
reionization of the IGM by . I found that when the Li plateau
abundance observed in metal-poor halo stars originated in the pregalactic
cosmological cosmic ray nucleosynthesis, Be and B simultaneously produced with
Li amount to the lowest levels ever detected in metal-poor halo stars. It
is desirable to observe Be and B abundances in metal-poor halo stars with
[Fe/H] in order to elucidate the possibility of early LiBeB
production by pregalactic supernova cosmic ray nucleosynthesis.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, ApJ accepte
Mixing of CNO-cycled matter in massive stars
Aims: We test predictions of evolution models on mixing of CNO-cycled
products in massive stars from a fundamental perspective. Relative changes
within the theoretical C:N:O abundance ratios and the buildup of helium are
compared with observational results. Methods: A sample of well-studied Galactic
massive stars is presented. High-quality optical spectra are carefully analysed
using improved NLTE line-formation and comprehensive analysis strategies. The
results are put in the context of the existing literature data. Results: A
tight trend in the observed N/C vs. N/O ratios and the buildup of helium is
found from the self-consistent analysis of main-sequence to supergiant stars
for the first time. The catalytic nature of the CNO-cycles is confirmed
quantitatively, though further investigations are required to derive a fully
consistent picture. Our observational results support the case of strong
mixing, as predicted e.g. by evolution models that consider magnetic fields or
by models that have gone through the first dredge-up in the case of many
supergiants.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures. A&A, in pres
Close binary evolution I. The tidally induced shear mixing in rotating binaries
We study how tides in a binary system induce some specific internal shear
mixing, able to substantially modify the evolution of close binaries prior to
mass transfer. We construct numerical models accounting for tidal interactions,
meridional circulation, transport of angular momentum, shears and horizontal
turbulence and consider a variety of orbital periods and initial rotation
velocities. Depending on orbital periods and rotation velocities, tidal effects
may spin down (spin down Case) or spin up (spin up Case) the axial rotation. In
both cases, tides may induce a large internal differential rotation. The
resulting tidally induced shear mixing (TISM) is so efficient that the internal
distributions of angular velocity and chemical elements are greatly influenced.
The evolutionary tracks are modified, and in both cases of spin down and spin
up, large amounts of nitrogen can be transported to the stellar surfaces before
any binary mass transfer. Meridional circulation, when properly treated as an
advection, always tends to counteract the tidal interaction, tending to spin up
the surface when it is braked down and vice versa. As a consequence, the times
needed for the axial angular velocity to become equal to the orbital angular
velocity may be larger than given by typical synchronization timescales. Also,
due to meridional circulation some differential rotation remains in tidally
locked binary systems.Comment: 10 pages, 18 figures, Accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
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