Related papers: Evolution and nucleosynthesis in low mass Asymptot…
With the exception of the Big Bang, responsible for 1,2H, 3,4He, and 7Li, stars act as sources for the composition of the interstellar medium. Cosmic rays are related to the latter and very probably due to acceleration of the mixed…
The chemical composition of stars with extremely low metal contents (taking ``metals'' to mean all elements other than hydrogen and helium) provides us with information on the masses of the stars that produced the first metals. Such a…
To reach a deeper understanding of the origin of elements in the periodic table, we construct Galactic chemical evolution (GCE) models for all stable elements from C (A=12) to U (A=238) from first principles, i.e., using theoretical…
Review of the history of solar system elemental abundances with a new assessment of elemental and isotopic abundances from CI-chondrites and solar data. Solar elemental abundances, or solar system elemental abundances refer to the…
Understanding where elements were formed has been a key goal in astrophysics for nearly a century, with answers involving cosmology, stellar burning, and cosmic explosions. Since 1957, the origin of the heaviest elements (formed via the…
The late stages of stellar evolution from asymptotic giant branch stars to planetary nebulae are now known to be an active phase of molecular synthesis. Over 80 gas-phase molecules have been detected through rotational transitions in the…
The first massive stars triggered the onset of chemical evolution by releasing the first metals (elements heavier than helium) in the Universe. The nature of these stars and how the early chemical enrichment took place is still largely…
Dust is essential to the evolution of galaxies and drives the formation of planetary systems. The challenge of inferring the origin of different presolar dust grains from meteoritic samples motivates forward modelling to understand the…
Understanding the origin of the elements has been a decades long pursuit, with many open questions still remaining. Old stars found in the Milky Way and its dwarf satellite galaxies can provide answers because they preserve clean elemental…
The first generation of stars was formed from primordial gas. Numerical simulations suggest that the first stars were predominantly very massive, with typical masses M > 100 Mo. These stars were responsible for the reionization of the…
Metals -- heavy elements synthesized during various phases of stellar evolution or during supernova explosions -- play a fundamental role in shaping galaxy evolution. In fact, their relative abundances, spatial distribution, and scaling…
The circumgalactic medium (CGM) is fed by galaxy outflows and accretion of intergalactic gas, but its mass, heavy element enrichment, and relation to galaxy properties are poorly constrained by observations. In a survey of the outskirts of…
The vast majority (>=90%) of presolar SiC grains identified in primitive meteorites are relics of ancient asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, whose ejecta were incorporated into the Solar System during its formation. Detailed…
Abundance observations indicate the presence of often surprisingly large amounts of neutron capture (i.e., s- and r-process) elements in old Galactic halo and globular cluster stars. These observations provide insight into the nature of the…
Metal-poor stars provide the fossil record of Galactic chemical evolution and the nucleosynthesis processes that took place at the earliest times in the history of our Galaxy. From detailed abundance studies of low mass, extremely…
We present stellar evolutionary tracks and nucleosynthetic predictions for a grid of stellar models of low- and intermediate-mass asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars at $Z=0.001$ ([Fe/H]$=-1.2$). The models cover an initial mass range from…
The main component of the s process is produced by low mass stars (between 1.5 and 3 Mo), when they climb for the second time the red giant branch and experience a series of He shell flashes called thermal pulses. During the relatively long…
The chemical composition of the most metal-deficient stars reflects the composition of the gas from which they formed. These old stars provide crucial clues to the star formation history and the synthesis of chemical elements in the early…
The evolution and explosion of metal-free stars with masses 10--100 solar masses are followed, and their nucleosynthetic yields, light curves, and remnant masses determined. When the supernova yields are integrated over a Salpeter initial…
The nucleosynthesis of light elements, from helium up to silicon, mainly occurs in Red Giant and Asymptotic Giant Branch stars and Novae. The relative abundances of the synthesized nuclides critically depend on the rates of the nuclear…