Related papers: Nucleosynthesis in evolved stars with the NACRE co…
We study the production of Na and Al around the hydrogen shell of two red-giant sequences of different metallicity in order to explain the abundance variations seen in globular cluster stars in a mixing scenario. Using detailed stellar…
Preliminary results of a new set of stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis calculations for massive stars are presented. These results were obtained with an extended reaction network up to Bi. The discussion focuses on the importance of…
We present the results of s-process nucleosynthesis calculations for AGB stars of different metallicities and initial masses. The computations were based on previously published stellar evolutionary models that account for the III dredge up…
High dispersion near-infrared spectra have been taken of seven highly-evolved, variable, intermediate-mass (4-6 Msun) AGB stars in the LMC and SMC in order to look for C, N and O variations that are expected to arise from third dredge-up…
The determination of heavy element abundances from planetary nebula (PN) spectra provides an exciting opportunity to study the nucleosynthesis occurring in the progenitor asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star. We perform post-processing…
We explore modifications to the current scenario for the slow neutron capture process in asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars to account for the Pb deficiency observed in post-AGB stars of low metallicity ([Fe/H] ~ -1.2) and low initial mass…
Abundance observations indicate the presence of often surprisingly large amounts of neutron capture (i.e., s- and r-process) elements in old Galactic halo and globular cluster stars. These observations provide insight into the nature of the…
The nucleosynthesis in the first massive stars may be constrained by observing the surface composition of long-lived very iron-poor stars born around 10 billion years ago from material enriched by their ejecta. Many interesting clues on…
Metal-poor stars in the Galactic halo often show strong enhancements in carbon and/or neutron-capture elements. However, the Galactic bulge is notable for its paucity of carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) and/or CH-stars, with only two such…
We use the Cambridge stellar evolution code STARS to model the evolution of 5-7 solar mass zero-metallicity stars. With enhanced resolution at the hydrogen and helium burning shell in the AGB phases, we are able to model the entire…
We have extended our published set of low mass AGB stellar models to lower metallicity. Different mass loss rates have been explored. Interpolation formulae for luminosity, effective temperature, core mass, mass of dredge up material and…
Spectral analysis by means of Non-LTE model-atmosphere techniques has arrived at a high level of sophistication: fully line-blanketed model atmospheres which consider opacities of all elements from H to Ni allow the reliable determination…
We discuss the synthesis of some short-lived isotopes and of 23Na in thermally pulsing AGB stars with initial mass of 2 Msun and two different metallicities (Z=1.5e-2, corresponding to the metal amount in the Sun, and Z=1e-4),…
For stars between 0.8-8.0 solar masses, nucleosynthesis enters its final phase during the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stage. During this evolutionary period, grain condensation occurs in the stellar atmosphere, and the star experiences…
A popular self--enrichment scenario for the formation of globular clusters assumes that the abundance anomalies shown by the stars in many clusters are due to a second stage of star formation occurring from the matter lost by the winds of…
Type I planetary nebulae (PNe) have high He/H and N/O ratios and are thought to be descendants of stars with initial masses of ~3-8Msun. These characteristics indicate that the progenitor stars experienced proton-capture nucleosynthesis at…
This thesis is aimed at clarifying one of the least studied phases of stellar evolution: the asymptotic giant branch (AGB). Recent results obtained for Galactic globular clusters (GCs) suggest that the AGB stage may contain crucial…
The synthesis of nuclei in diverse cosmic scenarios is reviewed, with a summary of the basic concepts involved before a discussion of the current status in each case is made. We review the physics of the early universe, the proton to…
Atomic nuclei are transformed into each other in the cosmos by nuclear reactions inside stars: -- the process of nucleosynthesis. The basic concepts of determining nuclear reaction rates inside stars and how they manage to burn their fuel…
Energy in stars is provided by nuclear reactions, which, in many cases, produce radioactive nuclei. When stable nuclei are irradiated by a flux of protons or neutrons, capture reactions push stable matter out of stability into the regime of…