Related papers: Helium preenrichment in the star-forming regions
We investigate the possible impact of diffusion on the abundance of helium and other primordial elements during formation of the first structures in the early Universe. We consider the primary collapse of a perturbation and subsequent…
We consider the role of diffusion in the redistribution of elements in the hot interstellar medium (ISM) of early-type galaxies. It is well known that gravitational sedimentation can affect significantly the abundances of helium and heavy…
The age of globular clusters inferred from observations depends sensitively on assumptions such as the initial helium abundance and the mass loss rate. A high helium abundance (e.g., $Y\approx$0.28), as well as an inclusion of helium…
The element diffusion, described by Michaud (1970), is now recognized to occur in all kinds of stars. We attempt to give evidence of signatures of helium diffusion below the convective zone by the way of asteroseismology.
A homogeneous spectroscopic analysis of unevolved and evolved stars in the metal-poor globular cluster NGC 6397 with FLAMES-UVES reveals systematic trends of stellar surface abundances that are likely caused by atomic diffusion. This…
We discuss how helium sedimentation in galaxy clusters can affect the history of star formation in the central cluster galaxy. As helium sediments, the gas density in the inner regions of the cluster increases and there is also a…
The measurement of the cosmic microwave background has strongly constrained the cosmological parameters of the Universe. When the measured density of baryons (ordinary matter) is combined with standard Big Bang nucleosynthesis calculations,…
Diffusion of elements in the atmosphere and envelope of a star can drastically alter its surface composition, leading to extreme chemical peculiarities. We consider the case of hot subdwarfs, where surface helium abundances range from…
Most globular clusters in the local group show multiple stellar populations, a pattern defined by variations of several light elements, with some also displaying dispersions in heavy elements. Since helium is the most immediate product of…
We revisit the process of gravitational sedimentation of helium and heavy elements in the intra-cluster medium. We find that helium applies an inward drag force on heavy elements, boosting their sedimentation speed to nearly half its own.…
The observed abundance variations in globular cluster red giants indicate that these stars may be mixing helium from the hydrogen shell outward into the envelope, presumably as a result of internal rotation. We have investigated the…
Depending on the topology of the magnetic field and characteristics of turbulent motions, diffusion can significantly affect the distribution of elements, in particular helium, in the intracluster medium (ICM). As has been noted previously,…
For the purpose of deriving the helium abundances in chemically peculiar stars, the importance of assuming a correct helium abundance has been investigated for determining the effective temperature and gravity of main sequence B-type stars,…
Element diffusion is expected to occur in all kinds of stars : according to the relative effect of gravitation and radiative acceleration, they can fall or be pushed up in the atmospheres. Helium sinks in all cases, thereby creating a…
It is shown for the first time that the stripped helium stars with masses 2 to 7 solar mass which are formed in close binary systems in the so-called case B of mass-exchange and retained low-mass hydrogen-helium envelopes, experience…
I summarize the results of 15 years of research on the surface abundances of stars in globular clusters. Globular-cluster stars afford a unique view of the physical processes that shape the surface abundances of stars on and beyond the…
Helium abundances and atmospheric parameters have been determined from high resolution spectra for a new sample of 46 bright hot subdwarf B (sdB) stars. The helium abundances have been measured with high accuracy. We confirm the correlation…
Stellar evolution models which include the effect of helium and heavy element diffusion have been calculated for initial iron abundances of [Fe/H] = -2.3, -2.1, -1.9 and -1.7. These models were calculated for a large variety of masses and…
We incorporate a semi-analytic formula for the main sequence lifetime of helium-rich stars in N-body simulations of multiple population globular clusters to investigate how the enriched helium stars impact the dynamics of globular clusters.…
The majority of the inhomogeneities in the chemical composition of Globular Cluster (GC) stars appear due to primordial enrichment by hot-CNO cycled material processed in stars belonging to a first stellar generation. Either massive AGB…