423 research outputs found
The Chemical Evolution of Helium in Globular Clusters: Implications for the Self-Pollution Scenario
We investigate the suggestion that there are stellar populations in some
globular clusters with enhanced helium (Y from 0.28 to 0.40) compared to the
primordial value. We assume that a previous generation of massive Asymptotic
Giant Branch (AGB) stars have polluted the cluster. Two independent sets of AGB
yields are used to follow the evolution of helium and CNO using a Salpeter
initial mass function (IMF) and two top-heavy IMFs. In no case are we able to
produce the postulated large Y ~ 0.35 without violating the observational
constraint that the CNO content is nearly constant.Comment: accepted for publication in Ap
Evolution and CNO yields of Z=10^-5 stars and possible effects on CEMP production
Our main goals are to get a deeper insight into the evolution and final fates
of intermediate-mass, extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars. We also aim to
investigate their C, N, and O yields. Using the Monash University Stellar
Evolution code we computed and analysed the evolution of stars of metallicity Z
= 10^-5 and masses between 4 and 9 M_sun, from their main sequence until the
late thermally pulsing (super) asymptotic giant branch, TP-(S)AGB phase. Our
model stars experience a strong C, N, and O envelope enrichment either due to
the second dredge-up, the dredge-out phenomenon, or the third dredge-up early
during the TP-(S)AGB phase. Their late evolution is therefore similar to that
of higher metallicity objects. When using a standard prescription for the mass
loss rates during the TP-(S)AGB phase, the computed stars lose most of their
envelopes before their cores reach the Chandrasekhar mass, so our standard
models do not predict the occurrence of SNI1/2 for Z = 10^-5 stars. However, we
find that the reduction of only one order of magnitude in the mass-loss rates,
which are particularly uncertain at this metallicity, would prevent the
complete ejection of the envelope, allowing the stars to either explode as an
SNI1/2 or become an electron-capture SN. Our calculations stop due to an
instability near the base of the convective envelope that hampers further
convergence and leaves remnant envelope masses between 0.25 M_sun for our 4
M_sun model and 1.5 M_sun for our 9 M_sun model. We present two sets of C, N,
and O yields derived from our full calculations and computed under two
different assumptions, namely, that the instability causes a practically
instant loss of the remnant envelope or that the stars recover and proceed with
further thermal pulses. Our results have implications for the early chemical
evolution of the Universe.Comment: 12 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in A&
MONTAGE: AGB nucleosynthesis with full s-process calculations
We present MONTAGE, a post-processing nucleosynthesis code that combines a
traditional network for isotopes lighter than calcium with a rapid algorithm
for calculating the s-process nucleosynthesis of the heavier isotopes. The
separation of those parts of the network where only neutron-capture and
beta-decay reactions are significant provides a substantial advantage in
computational efficiency. We present the yields for a complete set of s-process
isotopes for a 3 Mo, Z = 0.02 stellar model, as a demonstration of the utility
of the approach. Future work will include a large grid of models suitable for
use in calculations of Galactic chemical evolution.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures. Accepted by PAS
Magnetohydrodynamics of Cloud Collisions in a Multi-phase Interstellar Medium
We extend previous studies of the physics of interstellar cloud collisions by
beginning investigation of the role of magnetic fields through 2D
magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) numerical simulations. We study head-on collisions
between equal mass, mildly supersonic diffuse clouds. We include a moderate
magnetic field and two limiting field geometries, with the field lines parallel
(aligned) and perpendicular (transverse) to the colliding cloud motion. We
explore both adiabatic and radiative cases, as well as symmetric and asymmetric
ones. We also compute collisions between clouds evolved through prior motion in
the intercloud medium and compare with unevolved cases.
We find that: In the (i) aligned case, adiabatic collisions, like their HD
counterparts, are very disruptive, independent of the cloud symmetry. However,
when radiative processes are taken into account, partial coalescence takes
place even in the asymmetric case, unlike the HD calculations. In the (ii)
transverse case, collisions between initially adjacent unevolved clouds are
almost unaffected by magnetic fields. However, the interaction with the
magnetized intercloud gas during the pre-collision evolution produces a region
of very high magnetic energy in front of the cloud. In collisions between
evolved clouds with transverse field geometry, this region acts like a
``bumper'', preventing direct contact between the clouds, and eventually
reverses their motion. The ``elasticity'', defined as the ratio of the final to
the initial kinetic energy of each cloud, is about 0.5-0.6 in the cases we
considered. This behavior is found both in adiabatic and radiative cases.Comment: 40 pages in AAS LaTeX v4.0, 13 figures (in degraded jpeg format).
Full resolution images as well as mpeg animations are available at
http://www.msi.umn.edu:80/Projects/twj/mhd-cc/ . Accepted for publication in
The Astrophysical Journa
AGB subpopulations in the nearby globular cluster NGC 6397
It has been well established that Galactic Globular clusters (GCs) harbour
more than one stellar population, distinguishable by the anti-correlations of
light element abundances (C-N, Na-O, and Mg-Al). These studies have been
extended recently to the asymptotic giant branch (AGB). Here we investigate the
AGB of NGC 6397 for the first time. We have performed an abundance analysis of
high-resolution spectra of 47 RGB and 8 AGB stars, deriving Fe, Na, O, Mg and
Al abundances. We find that NGC 6397 shows no evidence of a deficit in Na-rich
AGB stars, as reported for some other GCs - the subpopulation ratios of the AGB
and RGB in NGC 6397 are identical, within uncertainties. This agrees with
expectations from stellar theory. This GC acts as a control for our earlier
work on the AGB of M 4 (with contrasting results), since the same tools and
methods were used.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, 8 tables (2 online-only). Accepted for
publication in MNRA
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Compulsory Deep Mixing of 3He and CNO Isotopes on the First Giant Branch
We have found a deep-mixing process which occurs during First Giant Branch (FGB) evolution. It begins at the point in evolution where the surface convection zone (SCZ), having previously grown in size, starts to shrink, and it is driven by a local minimum that develops in the mean molecular weight as a result of the burning of {sup 3}He. This mixing can solve two important observational problems. One is why the interstellar medium (ISM) has not been considerably enriched in {sup 3}He since the Big Bang. The other is why products of nucleosynthesis such as {sup 13}C are progressively enriched on the upper FGB, when classical stellar modeling says that no further enrichment should take beyond the First Dredge-Up (FDU) episode, somewhat below the middle of the FGB
Nucleosynthetic yields of Z= intermediate-mass stars
Abridged: Observed abundances of extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars in the Halo
hold clues for the understanding of the ancient universe. Interpreting these
clues requires theoretical stellar models at the low-Z regime. We provide the
nucleosynthetic yields of intermediate-mass Z= stars between 3 and 7.5
, and quantify the effects of the uncertain wind rates. We expect
these yields can be eventually used to assess the contribution to the chemical
inventory of the early universe, and to help interpret abundances of selected
C-enhanced EMP stars. By comparing our models and other existing in the
literature, we explore evolutionary and nucleosynthetic trends with wind
prescriptions and with initial metallicity. We compare our results to
observations of CEMP-s stars belonging to the Halo. The yields of
intermediate-mass EMP stars reflect the effects of very deep second dredge-up
(for the most massive models), superimposed with the combined signatures of
hot-bottom burning and third dredge-up. We confirm the reported trend that
models with initial metallicity Z <= 0.001 give positive yields of
, and . The , and
yields, which were reported to be negative at Z = 0.0001, become
positive for Z=. The results using two different prescriptions for
mass-loss rates differ widely in terms of the duration of the thermally-pulsing
(Super) AGB phase, overall efficiency of the third dredge-up episode, and
nucleosynthetic yields. The most efficient of the standard wind rates
frequently used in the literature seems to favour agreement between our yield
results and observational data. Regardless of the wind prescription, all our
models become N-enhanced EMP stars.Comment: 18 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
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