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Register a new userThe 13C-Pocket Structure in AGB Models: Constraints from Zirconium Isotope Abundances in Single Mainstream SiC Grains
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We present postprocess AGB nucleosynthesis models with different $^{13}$C-pocket internal structures to better explain zirconium isotope measurements in mainstream presolar SiC grains by Nicolussi et al. (1997) and Barzyk et al. (2007). We show that higher-than-solar $^{92}$Zr/$^{94}$Zr ratios can be predicted by adopting a $^{13}$C-pocket with a flat $^{13}$C profile, instead of the previous decreasing-with-depth $^{13}$C profile. The improved agreement between grain data for zirconium isotopes and AGB models provides additional support for a recent proposal of a flat $^{13}$C profile based on barium isotopes in mainstream SiC grains by Liu et al. (2014).
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We identify three isotopic tracers that can be used to constrain the $^{13}C$-pocket and show the correlated isotopic ratios of Sr and Ba in single mainstream presolar SiC grains. These newly measured data can be explained by postprocess AGB model calculations with large $^{13}C$-pockets with a range of relatively low $^{13}C$ concentrations, which may suggest that multiple mixing processes contributed to the $^{13}C$-pocket formation in parent AGB stars.
It is well known that thermally pulsing Asymptotic Giant Branch stars with low mass play a relevant role in the chemical evolution. They have synthesized about 30% of the galactic carbon and provide an important contribution to the nucleosynthesis of heavy elements (A>80). The relevant nucleosynthesis site is the He-rich intermediate zone (less than 10^{-2} Msun), where alpha(2alpha,gamma)12C reactions and slow neutron captures on seed nuclei essentially iron) take place. A key ingredient is the interplay between nuclear processes and convective mixing. It is the partial overlap of internal and external convective zones that allows the dredge-up of the material enriched in C and heavy elements. We review the progresses made in the last 50 years in the comprehension of the s process in AGB stars, with special attention to the identification of the main neutron sources and to the particular physical conditions allowing this important nucleosynthesis.
We study the s-process abundances (A > 90) at the epoch of the solar-system formation. AGB yields are computed with an updated neutron capture network and updated initial solar abundances. We confirm our previous results obtained with a Galactic Chemical Evolution (GCE) model: (i) as suggested by the s-process spread observed in disk stars and in presolar meteoritic SiC grains, a weighted average of s-process strengths is needed to reproduce the solar s-distribution of isotopes with A > 130; (ii) an additional contribution (of about 25%) is required in order to represent the solar s-process abundances of isotopes from A = 90 to 130. Furthermore, we investigate the effect of different internal structures of the 13C-pocket, which may affect the efficiency of the 13C(a, n)16O reaction, the major neutron source of the s-process. First, keeping the same 13C profile adopted so far, we modify by a factor of two the mass involved in the pocket; second, we assume a flat 13C profile in the pocket, and we test again the effects of the variation of the mass of the pocket. We find that GCE s-predictions at the epoch of the solar-system formation marginally depend on the size and shape of the 13C-pocket once a different weighted range of 13C-pocket strengths is assumed. We ascertain that, independently of the internal structure of the 13C-pocket, the missing solar-system s-process contribution in the range from A = 90 to 130 remains essentially the same.
Isotope ratios can be measured in presolar SiC grains from ancient Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars at permil-level (0.1%) precision. Such precise grain data permit derivation of more stringent constraints and calibrations on mixing efficiency in AGB models than traditional spectroscopic observations. In this paper we compare SiC heavy-element isotope ratios to a new series of FRUITY models that include the effects of mixing triggered by magnetic fields. Based on 2D and 3D simulations available in the literature, we propose a new formulation, upon which the general features of mixing induced by magnetic fields can be derived. The efficiency of such a mixing, on the other hand, relies on physical quantities whose values are poorly constrained. We present here our calibration by comparing our model results with the heavy-element isotope data of presolar SiC grains from AGB stars. We demonstrate that the isotopic compositions of all measured elements (Ni, Sr, Zr, Mo, Ba) can be simultaneously fitted by adopting a single magnetic field configuration in our new FRUITY models.
Stardust grains that originated in ancient stars and supernovae are recovered from meteorites and carry the detailed composition of their astronomical sites of origin. We present evidence that the majority of large ($mu$m-sized) meteoritic silicon carbide (SiC) grains formed in C-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars that were more metal-rich than the Sun. In the framework of the slow neutron-captures (the s process) that occurs in AGB stars the lower-than-solar 88Sr/86Sr isotopic ratios measured in the large SiC grains can only be accompanied by Ce/Y elemental ratios that are also lower than solar, and predominately observed in metal-rich barium stars - the binary companions of AGB stars. Such an origin suggests that these large grains represent the material from high-metallicity AGB stars needed to explain the s-process nucleosynthesis variations observed in bulk meteorites (Ek et al. 2020). In the outflows of metal-rich, C-rich AGB stars SiC grains are predicted to be small ($simeq$ 0.2 $mu$m-sized); large ($simeq$ $mu$m-sized) SiC grains can grow if the number of dust seeds is two to three orders of magnitude lower than the standard value of $10^{-13}$ times the number of H atoms. We therefore predict that with increasing metallicity the number of dust seeds might decrease, resulting in the production of larger SiC grains.
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