Related papers: A Simple Model for r-Process Scatter and Halo Evol…
Binary mergers (NSMs) of double neutron star (and black hole-neutron star) systems are suggested to be major sites of r-process elements in the Galaxy by recent hydrodynamical and nucleosynthesis studies. It has been pointed out, however,…
The member stars in globular cluster M15 show a substantial spread in the abundances of r-process elements. We argue that a rare and prolific r-process event enriched the natal cloud of M15 in an inhomogeneous manner. To critically examine…
We have performed r-process calculations for matter ejected dynamically in neutron star mergers based on a complete set of trajectories from a three-dimensional relativistic smoothed particle hydrodynamic simulation. Our calculations…
An overview of the sources for heavy elements in the early Galaxy is given. It is shown that observations of abundances in metal-poor stars can be used along with a basic understanding of stellar models to guide the search for the source of…
Dispersion among the light elements is common in globular clusters (GCs), while dispersion among heavier elements is less common. We present detection of r-process dispersion relative to Fe in 19 red giants of the metal-poor GC M92. Using…
We present new Hubble Space Telescope (HST) abundance observations of the neutron-capture elements Ge, Zr, Os and Pt in a group of 11 Galactic halo stars, including the well studied r-process rich CS 22892-052 and the r-process poor, bright…
At present none of Galactic chemical evolution (GCE) models provides a self-consistent description of observed trends for all iron-peak elements with metallicity simultaneously. The question is whether the discrepancy is due to deficiencies…
While the origin of r-process nuclei remains a long-standing mystery, recent spectroscopic studies of extremely metal-poor stars in the Galactic halo strongly suggest that it is associated with core-collapse supernovae. In this article, an…
Recent halo star abundance observations exhibit an important feature of consequence to the r-process: the presence of a main r-process between the second and third peaks which is consistent among halo stars. We explore fission cycling and…
I show that recent observations of r-process abundances in metal-poor stars are difficult to explain if neutron star mergers (NSMs) are the major r-process sources. In contrast, such observations and meteoritic data on Hf182 and I129 in the…
We test the hypothesis that the observed first-peak (Sr, Y, Zr) and second-peak (Ba) s-process elemental abundances in low-metallicity Milky Way stars, and the abundances of the elements Mo and Ru, can be explained by a pervasive r-process…
Theoretical studies of the nucleosynthesis origin of the heavy elements in our Solar System (S.S.) by the rapid neutron-capture process (r-process) still face the entwined uncertainties in the possible astrophysical scenarios and the…
We present our chemical abundance investigation of the metal-poor ([Fe/H]=-1.60 dex), r-process-enriched ([Eu/Fe]=0.73 dex) halo star HD 20 using novel and archival high-resolution spectra at outstanding signal-to-noise ratios. By combining…
There has been significant progress in the understanding of the r-process over the last ten years. The conditions required for this process have been examined in terms of the parameters for adiabatic expansion from high temperature and…
Carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars in the Galactic Halo display enrichments in heavy elements associated with either the s (slow) or the r (rapid) neutron-capture process (e.g., barium and europium respectively), and in some cases they…
We study here the formation of heavy r-process nuclei in the high-entropy environment of rapidly expanding neutrino-driven winds from compact objects. In particular, we explore the sensitivity of the element creation in the A>130 region to…
The synthesis of $r$-process elements is known to involve extremely energetic explosions. At the same time, recent observations find significant $r$-process enrichment even in extremely small ultra-faint dwarf (UFD) galaxies. This raises…
The astrophysical nature of r-process sites is a long standing mystery and many probable sources have been suggested in the past, among them lower-mass core-collapse supernovae (in the range 8 - 10 Msol), higher-mass core-collapse…
We investigate the chemical enrichment of r-process elements in the early evolutionary stages of the Milky Way halo within the framework of hierarchical galaxy formation using a semi-analytic merger tree. In this paper, we focus on heavy…
Fully cosmological, high resolution N-Body + SPH simulations are used to investigate the chemical abundance trends of stars in simulated stellar halos as a function of their origin. These simulations employ a physically motivated supernova…