Related papers: The G-dwarf problem in the Galactic spheroid
Using modern published data on velocities and spectroscopic definitions of chemical elements in stellar objects of the Galaxy, we investigated the relationship of chemical composition with the kinematics of different populations. The paper…
The distribution of cosmic rays in the Galaxy at energies above few TeVs is still uncertain and this affects the expectations for the diffuse gamma flux produced by hadronic interactions of cosmic rays with the interstellar gas. We show…
The distribution of galaxies on the mass-size plane as a function of redshift or environment is a powerful test for galaxy formation models. Here we use integral-field stellar kinematics to interpret the variation of the mass-size…
[ABRIDGED] We have determined carbon abundances for 51 dwarf stars and manganese abundances for 95 dwarf stars in two distinct and well defined stellar populations - the Galactic thin and thick disks. As these two populations have different…
Recent work has produced a wealth of data concerning the chemical evolution of the galactic bulge, both for stars and nebulae. Present theoretical models generally adopt a limited range of such constraints, frequently using a single…
The abundance ratio N/O is a useful tool to study the interplay of galactic processes, e.g. star formation efficiency, time-scale of infall and outflow loading factor We aim to trace log(N/O) versus [Fe/H] in the Milky Way and to compare it…
Observational evidence has suggested the possibility of a Galactic halo which is dominated by white dwarfs (WDs). While debate continues concerning the interpretation of this evidence, it is clear that an initial mass function (IMF) biased…
We performed an uniform spectroscopic analysis of 1111 FGK dwarfs observed as part of the HARPS GTO planet search program. We applied a purely chemical approach, based on [alpha/Fe] ratio, to distinguish the various stellar components in…
I review the uncertainties in two observational constraints of the Galactic disc chemical evolution: the metallicity distribution (MD) of long-lived dwarfs and the age-metallicity relation (AMR). It is shown first that the observed MD,…
A new scenario --early disc accretion-- has been recently proposed to explain the discovery of multiple stellar populations in Galactic globular clusters. According to this model, the existence of well defined (anti)-correlations amongst…
The correlation between [Mg/Fe] and galaxy mass found in elliptical galaxies sets a strong constraint on the duration of star formation. Furthermore, the colour-magnitude relation restricts the range of ages and metallicities of the stellar…
Stellar chemical element ratios have well-defined systematic trends as a function of abundance, with an excellent correlation of these trends with stellar populations defined kinematically. This is remarkable, and has significant…
Due to their low gravitational energies, dwarf galaxies are greatly exposed to energetical influences from internal and external sources. By means of chemodynamical models we show that their star formation is inherently self-regulated, that…
Observations and modeling suggest that the dust abundance (gas-to-dust ratio, G/D) depends on (surface) density. The variations of the G/D provide constraints on the timescales for the different processes involved in the lifecycle of metals…
In the present paper, we introduce a two-component model of the Galactic disk to investigate its chemical evolution. The formation of the thick and thin disks occur in two main accretion episodes with both infall rates to be Gaussian. Both…
The mean alpha-to-iron abundance ratio ([$\alpha$/Fe]) of galaxies is sensitive to the chemical evolution processes at early time, and it is an indicator of star formation timescale ($\tau_{{\rm SF}}$). Although the physical reason remains…
Stellar abundances and ages afford the means to link chemical enrichment to galactic formation. In the Milky Way, individual element abundances show tight correlations with age, which vary in slope across ([Fe/H]-[$\alpha$/Fe]). Here, we…
(Abridged) Recent spectroscopic surveys have begun to explore the Galactic disk system outside the solar neighborhood on the basis of large data samples. In this way, they provide valuable information for testing spatial and temporal…
We present a determination of the thick disk iron abundance distribution obtained from an in situ sample of F/G stars. These stars are faint, $15 \simlt V \simlt 18$, selected on the basis of color, being a subset of the larger survey of…
The last decade has seen apparent dramatic progress in large spectroscopic datasets aimed at the study of the Galactic bulge. We consider remaining problems that appear to be intractable with the existing data, including important issues…