Related papers: Learning about the intermediate neutron-capture pr…

The production of about half of the heavy elements found in nature is assigned to a specific astrophysical nucleosynthesis process: the rapid neutron capture process (r-process). Although this idea has been postulated more than six decades…

We present the abundance analyses for the neutron-capture elements, and discuss the observed abundance distributions in very metal-poor stars with excesses of r-process elements. As has been found by previous abundance studies, the…

S stars are transition objects between M-type giants and carbon stars on the asymptotic giant branch (AGB). They are characterized by overabundances of s-process elements. Roughly half of them are enhanced in technetium (Tc), an s-process…

New elemental abundances for the neutron-capture elements Sr, Nb, Mo, Ru, La, Sm, and Eu are presented for a large sample of 180 barium (Ba) giant stars, a class of chemically peculiar objects that exhibit in their spectra enhancements of…

We follow the Galactic enrichment of three easily observed light n-capture elements Sr,Y,and Zr.Input stellar yields have been first separated into their respective main and weak s-process,and r-process components.The s-process yields from…

Lithium and zirconium abundances (the latter taken as representative for s-process enrichment) are determined for a large sample of massive Galactic O-rich AGB stars, for which high resolution optical spectroscopy has been obtained…

We have made a parametric study of s-process nucleosynthesis in the metal poor ([Fe/H]=-2.7) stars LP625-44 and LP706-7. We find that a high neutron exposure and a small overlap factor are necessary to fit the abundance pattern observed in…

The enrichment of Pb in the Galaxy is followed in the framework of a detailed model of Galactic chemical evolution that already proved adequate to reproduce the chemical enrichment of O and of the elements from Ba to Eu. The stellar yields…

Several stars at the low-metallicity extreme of the Galactic halo show large spreads of [Pb/hs]. Theoretically, a s-process pattern should be obtained from an AGB star with fixed metallicity and initial mass. For the third dredge-up and the…

We investigate both the systematic and statistical uncertainties associated with theoretical nuclear reaction rates of relevance during the i-process and explore their impact on the i-process elemental production, and subsequently on the…

The envelope of thermally pulsing AGB stars undergoing periodic third dredge-up episodes is enriched in both light and heavy elements, the ashes of a complex internal nucleosynthesis involving p, alpha and n captures over hundreds of stable…

We report a new mechanism for the \textsl{s} in rotating massive metal-poor stars. Our models show that above a critical rotation speed, such stars evolve in a quasi-chemically-homogeneous fashion, which gives rise to a prolific…

We review the observed properties of extremely hot hydrogen-deficient post-AGB stars of spectral type [WC] and PG1159. Their H-deficiency is probably caused by a (very) late helium-shell flash or a AGB final thermal pulse, laying bare…

The hydrogen-deficiency in extremely hot post-AGB stars of spectral class PG1159 is probably caused by a (very) late helium-shell flash or a AGB final thermal pulse that consumes the hydrogen envelope, exposing the usually-hidden intershell…

To better understand the mixing and mass loss experienced by low-mass stars as they ascend the asymptotic giant branch (AGB), I have gathered from the literature the abundances of CNO and s-process elements in post-AGB stars in Galactic…

Carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars are ancient stars enriched in carbon and heavy elements. Some of these stars exhibit enhanced s-process and/or r-process elements, hence are classified as CEMP-s, CEMP-rs, or CEMP-r. This…

This research forms part of an investigation into heavy element abundances in Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars in various stellar environments. Seven giant stars in the southern globular cluster 47 Tuc have been observed using the…

During the last several decades, there have been a number of advances in understanding the rapid neutron-capture process (i.e., the r-process). These advances include large quantities of high-resolution spectroscopic abundance data of…

Asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars with low initial mass (1 - 3 Msun) are responsible for the production of neutron-capture elements through the main s-process (main slow neutron capture process). The major neutron source is 13C(alpha,…

The astrophysical origin of the rapid neutron-capture process (r-process), which produces about half of the elements heavier than iron, remains uncertain. The oldest, most metal-poor stars preserve the chemical signatures of early…