Related papers: On the need of the Light Elements Primary Process …
Radioactive nuclei with lifetimes on the order of millions of years can reveal the formation history of the Sun and active nucleosynthesis occurring at the time and place of its birth. Among such nuclei whose decay signatures are found in…
The physical processes driving chemical evolution in the Milky Way can be probed using the distribution of abundances in low-mass FGK type stars in space phase at different times. During their final stages of evolution stars experience…
[abridged] We study the s-process in AGB stars using three different stellar evolutionary models computed for a 3Msun and solar metallicity star. First we investigate the formation and the efficiency of the main neutron source. We…
Rapidly accreting white dwarfs (RAWDs) have been proposed as contributors to the chemical evolution of heavy elements in the Galaxy. Here, we test this scenario for the first time and determine the contribution of RAWDs to the solar…
We examine the consequences and implications of the possibility that the best-fit $m$=4/3 line of the silicon isotopic ratios measured in mainstream SiC grains is identical or parallel to to the mean ISM evolution line of the silicon…
The damped Lyman alpha systems seen in the spectra of high redshift QSOs offer the means to determine element abundances in galaxies observed while still at an early stage of evolution. Such measurements, which have only recently come…
The Sun is the most constrained and well-studied of all stars. As a consequence, the physical ingredients entering solar models are used as a reference to study all other stars observed in the Universe. However, our understanding of the…
The predictions of the abundances of D and \he3 from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) and recent observations of these two isotopes suggest the need to develop new chemical evolution models. In particular, we examine the role of an early…
Sulphur is an important, volatile alpha element but its role in the Galactic chemical evolution is still uncertain. We derive the S abundances in RGB stars in three Galactic globular clusters (GC) that cover a wide metallicity range…
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…
We present numerical simulations to describe the evolution of pre-Galactic clouds in a model which is motivated by cold dark matter simulations of hierarchical galaxy formation. We adopt a SN-induced star-formation mechanism within a model…
Gravitational lensing and stellar dynamics provide two complementary, nearly orthogonal, constraints on the mass distribution of early-type lens galaxies. This allows the luminous and dark-matter distribution in higher-redshift (z>0.1)…
We provide an overview of the Spitzer Legacy Program ``Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems" (FEPS) which was proposed in 2000, begun in 2001, and executed aboard the Spitzer Space Telescope between 2003 and 2006. This program…
The production of the elements heavier than iron via slow neutron captures (the s process) is a main feature of the contribution of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars of low mass (< 5 Msun) to the chemistry of the cosmos. However, our…
The core mass-luminosity (Mc-L) relation of TP-AGB stars is a key ingredient in synthetic calculations of their evolution. Recently, Herwig et al. (1998) have presented full calculations of TP-AGB models with strong dredge-up occurring…
The behavior of lithium (Li) in Population I main sequence stars challenges standard stellar theory. Two phenomena stand out: the solar Li problem which extends to Li depletion in solar analogs and the Li dip observed in mid-F stars within…
Since the discovery of the first extra-solar planets, we are confronted with the puzzling diversity of planetary systems. Processes like planet radial migration in gas-disks and planetary orbital instabilities, often invoked to explain the…
Short-lived radioisotopes, in particular 26-Al and 60-Fe, are thought to contribute to the internal heating of the Earth, but are significantly more abundant in the Solar System compared to the Interstellar Medium. The presence of their…
The rapid neutron-capture process, creating about half of the heaviest elements in the Solar System was believed to be unique. Many recent studies have shown that this does not include the formation of lighter elements (in particular 38 < Z…
A LiBeB evolution model including Galactic Cosmic Ray nucleosynthesis, the $\nu$-process, novae, AGB and C-stars is presented. We have included Galactic Cosmic Ray Nucleosynthesis (GCRN) in a complete Chemical Evolution Model that takes…