BBN and the Primordial Abundances

The relic abundances of the light elements synthesized during the first few minutes of the evolution of the Universe provide unique probes of cosmology and the building blocks for stellar and galactic chemical evolution, while also enabling constraints on the baryon (nucleon) density and on models of particle physics beyond the standard model. Recent WMAP analyses of the CBR temperature fluctuation spectrum, combined with other, relevant, observational data, has yielded very tight constraints on the baryon density, permitting a detailed, quantitative confrontation of the predictions of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis with the post-BBN abundances inferred from observational data. The current status of this comparison is presented, with an emphasis on the challenges to astronomy, astrophysics, particle physics, and cosmology it identifies.Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of the ESO/Arcetri Workshop on "Chemical Abundances and Mixing in Stars in the Milky Way and its Satellites", eds., L. Pasquini and S. Randich (Springer-Verlag Series, "ESO Astrophysics Symposia"

Seismic Test of Solar Models, Solar Neutrinos and Implications for Metal-Rich Accretion

The Sun is believed to have been the recipient of a substantial amount of metal-rich material over the course of its evolution, particularly in the early stages of the Solar System. With a long diffusion timescale, the majority of this accreted matter should still exist in the solar convection zone, enhancing its observed surface abundance, and implying a lower-abundance core. While helioseismology rules out solar models with near-zero metallicity cores, some solar models with enhanced metallicity in the convection zone might be viable, as small perturbations to the standard model. Because of the reduced interior opacity and core temperature, the neutrino flux predicted for such models is lower than that predicted by the standard solar model. This paper examines how compatible inhomogeneous solar models of this kind are with the observed low and intermediate degree p-mode oscillation data, and with the solar neutrino data from the SNO Collaboration. We set an upper limit on how much metal-rich accretion took place during the early evolution of the Sun at about 2 Earth masses of iron (or about 40 Earth masses of meteoric material).Comment: Revision: 23 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables, to be published in ApJ, Sept 2002. Used newer neutrino cross sections, modified text accordingly, other minor revisions as wel

Sensitive Observations of Radio Recombination Lines in Orion and W51: The Data and Detection of Systematic Recombination Line Blueshifts Proportional to Impact Broadening

Sensitive spectral observations made in two frequency bands near 6.0 and 17.6 GHz are described for Orion and W51. Using frequency switching we were able to achieve a dynamic range in excess of 10,000 without fitting sinusoidal or polynomial baselines. This enabled us to detect lines as weak as T$_{A} ~1mK in these strong continuum sources. Hydrogen recombination lines with$\Delta n$ as high as 25 have been detected in Orion. In the Orion data, where the lines are stronger, we have also detected a systematic shift in the line center frequencies proportional to linewidth that cannot be explained by normal optical depth effects.Comment: 22 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Scienc

Multiwavelength photometry in the Globular Cluster M2

We present a multiwavelength photometric analysis of the globular cluster M2. The data-set has been obtained by combining high-resolution (HST/WFPC2 and ACS) and wide-field (GALEX) space observations and ground based (MEGACAM-CFHT, EMMI-NTT) images. The photometric sample covers the entire cluster extension from the very central regions up to the tidal radius and beyond. It allows an accurate determination of the cluster center of gravity and other structural parameters derived from the star count density profile. Moreover we study the BSS population and its radial distribution. A total of 123 BSS has been selected, and their radial distribution has been found to be bimodal (highly peaked in the center, decreasing at intermediate radii and rising outward), as already found in a number of other clusters. The radial position of the minimum of the BSS distribution is consistent with the radius of avoidance caused by the dynamical friction of massive objects over the cluster age. We also searched for gradients in the red giant branch (RGB) and the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) populations. At the $2\sigma$ level we found an overabundance of AGB stars within the core radius and confirmed the result of Sohn et al.(1996) that the central region of M2 is bluer than the outer part. We show that the latter is due to a deficit of very luminous RGB stars in the central region.Comment: 35 pages, 18 figures; Accepted for publication by ApJ

Horizontal Branch Stars: The Interplay between Observations and Theory, and Insights into the Formation of the Galaxy

We review HB stars in a broad astrophysical context, including both variable and non-variable stars. A reassessment of the Oosterhoff dichotomy is presented, which provides unprecedented detail regarding its origin and systematics. We show that the Oosterhoff dichotomy and the distribution of globular clusters (GCs) in the HB morphology-metallicity plane both exclude, with high statistical significance, the possibility that the Galactic halo may have formed from the accretion of dwarf galaxies resembling present-day Milky Way satellites such as Fornax, Sagittarius, and the LMC. A rediscussion of the second-parameter problem is presented. A technique is proposed to estimate the HB types of extragalactic GCs on the basis of integrated far-UV photometry. The relationship between the absolute V magnitude of the HB at the RR Lyrae level and metallicity, as obtained on the basis of trigonometric parallax measurements for the star RR Lyrae, is also revisited, giving a distance modulus to the LMC of (m-M)_0 = 18.44+/-0.11. RR Lyrae period change rates are studied. Finally, the conductive opacities used in evolutionary calculations of low-mass stars are investigated. [ABRIDGED]Comment: 56 pages, 22 figures. Invited review, to appear in Astrophysics and Space Scienc

The blue straggler star population in NGC 6229

We have used a combination of high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 and wide-field ground-based observations in ultraviolet and optical bands to study the blue straggler star (BSS) population of the outer halo globular cluster NGC 6229 over its entire radial extent. A total of 64 bright BSS (with m 255 64 21.30, corresponding to m 555 64 20.75) has been identified. The BSS-projected radial distribution is found to be bimodal, with a high central peak, a well-defined minimum at intermediate radii (r 3c 40arcsec) and an upturn in the outskirts. From detailed star counts even in the very inner region, we compute the centre of gravity of the cluster and the most accurate and extended radial density profile ever published for this system. The profile is reasonably well reproduced by a standard King model with an extended core (r c 43 9.5arcsec) and a modest value of the concentration parameter (c 43 1.49). However, a deviation from the model is noted in the most external region of the cluster (at r > 250arcsec from the centre). This feature needs to be further investigated in order to assess the possible presence of a tidal tail in this cluster