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Circumstellar effects on the Rb abundances in O-rich AGB stars
For the first time we explore the circumstellar effects on the Rb (and Zr)
abundance determination in O-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars by
considering the presence of a gaseous circumstellar envelope with a radial
wind. A modified version of the spectral synthesis code Turbospectrum was used
to deal with extended atmosphere models and velocity fields. The Rb and Zr
abundances were determined from the resonant 7800A Rb I line and the 6474A ZrO
bandhead, respectively, in five representative O-rich AGB stars with different
expansion velocity and metallicity. By using our new dynamical models, the Rb I
line profile (photospheric and circumstellar components) is very well
reproduced. Interestingly, the derived Rb abundances are much lower (by 1-2
dex) in those O-rich AGB stars showing the higher circumstellar expansion
velocities. The Zr abundances, however, remain close to the solar values. The
Rb abundances and Rb/Zr ratios derived here significantly alleviate the problem
of the present mismatch between the observations of intermediate-mass (4-8
solar masses) Rb-rich AGB stars and the AGB nucleosynthesis theoretical
predictions.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics Letters (7
pages, 5 figures, and 2 tables); final version (language corrected
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