Lithium as a probe of stellar and galactic physics
Abstract
Lithium plays a unique role in astrophysics, as it is a powerful diagnostic for the physics and evolution of low-mass stars, Galactic archaeology, and cosmology. We review the Li observations in stars at different phases of their evolution, the strengths and the limitations of the current theoretical stellar models to explain the Li abundance data, our understanding of the Li sources and of the evolution of Li through- out the Galactic history. Key takeaways from the current state of the research in the field are: 1) Stellar evolution models accounting for fundamental transport processes of chemical species and angular momentum hold the promise of providing a common stellar Li depletion explanation to the Li abundance patterns observed in all Galactic stellar populations, including the dip and the plateau(s). 2) Novae are most probably the main source of Li in the Galaxy, on observational (but not yet theoretically established) grounds. 3) Radial migration of stars in the Galactic disk holds the key to understand many aspects of the Li evolution in the Milky Way.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2602.17470,
title = {Lithium as a probe of stellar and galactic physics},
author = {C. Charbonnel and N. Prantzos},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.17470},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
Manuscript submitted to Annual Reviews of Astronomy and Astrophysics for Volume 64. This is the authors version, which includes more references than the final version that will only become available from ARAA webpage. This version also contains the supplementary material that will be only available on line