No Arabic abstract
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 ($text{[Fe/H]} lesssim -0.5$), and the abundances of the intervening elements Mo and Ru, can be explained by a pervasive r-process contribution that originates in neutrino-driven winds from highly-magnetic and rapidly rotating proto-neutron stars (proto-NSs). To this end, we construct chemical evolution models that incorporate recent calculations of proto-NS yields in addition to contributions from AGB stars, Type Ia supernovae, and two alternative sets of yields for massive star winds and core collapse supernovae. For non-rotating massive star yields from either set, models without proto-NS winds underpredict the observed s-process peak abundances by $0.3$-$1,text{dex}$ at low metallicity, and they severely underpredict Mo and Ru at all metallicities. Models that include the additional wind yields predicted for proto-NSs with spin periods $P sim 2$-$5,text{ms}$ fit the observed trends for all these elements well. Alternatively, models that omit proto-NS winds but adopt yields of rapidly rotating massive stars, with $v_{rm rot}$ between $150$ and $300,text{km},text{s}^{-1}$, can explain the observed abundance levels reasonably well for $text{[Fe/H]}<-2$. These models overpredict [Sr/Fe] and [Mo/Fe] at higher metallicities, but with a tuned dependence of $v_{rm rot}$ on stellar metallicity they might achieve an acceptable fit at all [Fe/H]. If many proto-NSs are born with strong magnetic fields and short spin periods, then their neutrino-driven winds provide a natural source for Sr, Y, Zr, Mo, Ru, and Ba in low metallicity stellar populations. Spherical winds from unmagnetized proto-NSs, on the other hand, overproduce the observed Sr, Y, and Zr abundances by a large factor.
We perform general relativistic one-dimensional supernova (SN) simulations to identify observable signatures of enhanced axion emission from the pion induced reaction $pi^- + p rightarrow n + a$ inside a newly born proto-neutron star (PNS). We focus on the early evolution after the onset of the supernova explosion to predict the temporal and spectral features of the neutrino and axion emission during the first 10 seconds. Pions are included as explicit new degrees of freedom in hot and dense matter. Their thermal population and their role in axion production are both determined consistently to include effects due to their interactions with nucleons. For a wide range of ambient conditions encountered inside a PNS we find that the pion induced axion production dominates over nucleon-nucleon bremsstrahlung processes. By consistently including the role of pions on the dense matter equation of state and on the energy loss, our simulations predict robust discernible features of neutrino and axion emission from a galactic supernova that can be observed in terrestrial detectors. For axion couplings that are compatible with current bounds, we find a significant suppression with time of the neutrino luminosity during the first 10 seconds. This suggests that current bounds derived from the neutrino signal from SN 1987A can be improved, and that future galactic supernovae may provide significantly more stringent constraints.
We calculate Galactic Chemical Evolution (GCE) of Mo and Ru by taking into account the contribution from $ u p$-process nucleosynthesis. We estimate yields of $p$-nuclei such as $^{92,94}mathrm{Mo}$ and $^{96,98}mathrm{Ru}$ through the $ u p$-process in various supernova (SN) progenitors based upon recent models. In particular, the $ u p$-process in energetic hypernovae produces a large amount of $p$-nuclei compared to the yield in ordinary core-collapse SNe. Because of this the abundances of $^{92,94}mathrm{Mo}$ and $^{96,98}mathrm{Ru}$ in the Galaxy are significantly enhanced at [Fe/H]=0 by the $ u p$-process. We find that the $ u p$-process in hypernovae is the main contributor to the elemental abundance of $^{92}$Mo at low metallicity [Fe/H$]<-2$. Our theoretical prediction of the elemental abundances in metal-poor stars becomes more consistent with observational data when the $ u p$-process in hypernovae is taken into account.
We use covariant density functional theory to obtain the equation of state (EoS) of matter in compact stars at non-zero temperature, including the full baryon octet as well as the $Delta(1232)$ resonance states. Global properties of hot $Delta$-admixed hypernuclear stars are computed for fixed values of entropy per baryon ($S/A$) and lepton fraction ($Y_L$). Universal relations between the moment of inertia, quadrupole moment, tidal deformability, and compactness of compact stars are established for fixed values of $S/A$ and $Y_L$ that are analogous to those known for cold catalyzed compact stars. We also verify that the $I$-Love-$Q$ relations hold at finite temperature for constant values of $S/A$ and $Y_L$.
Elemental abundances of stars are the result of the complex enrichment history of their galaxy. Interpretation of observed abundances requires flexible modeling tools to explore and quantify the information about Galactic chemical evolution (GCE) stored in such data. Here we present Chempy, a newly developed code for GCE modeling, representing a parametrized open one-zone model within a Bayesian framework. A Chempy model is specified by a set of 5-10 parameters that describe the effective galaxy evolution along with the stellar and star-formation physics: e.g. the star-formation history, the feedback efficiency, the stellar initial mass function (IMF) and the incidence of supernova type Ia (SN Ia). Unlike established approaches, Chempy can sample the posterior probability distribution in the full model parameter space and test data-model matches for different nucleosynthetic yield sets. We extend Chempy to a multi-zone scheme. As an illustrative application, we show that interesting parameter constraints result from only the ages and elemental abundances of Sun, Arcturus and the present-day interstellar medium (ISM). For the first time, we use such information to infer IMF parameter via GCE modeling, where we properly marginalize over nuisance parameters and account for different yield sets. We find that of the IMF $11.6_{-1.6}^{+2.1}$ % explodes as core-collapse SN, compatible with Salpeter 1955. We also constrain the incidence of SN Ia per 10^3 Msun to 0.5-1.4. At the same time, this Chempy application shows persistent discrepancies between predicted and observed abundances for some elements, irrespective of the chosen yield set. These cannot be remedied by any variations of Chempys parameters and could be an indication for missing nucleosynthetic channels. Chempy should be a powerful tool to confront predictions from stellar nucleosynthesis with far more complex abundance data sets.
The minimal cooling paradigm for neutron star cooling assumes that enhanced cooling due to neutrino emission from any direct Urca process, due either to nucleons or to exotica such as hyperons, Bose condensates, or deconfined quarks, does not occur. This scenario was developed to replace and extend the so-called standard cooling scenario to include neutrino emission from the Cooper pair breaking and formation processes that occur near the critical temperature for superfluid/superconductor pairing. Recently, it has been found that Cooper-pair neutrino emission from the vector channel is suppressed by a large factor compared to the original estimates that violated vector current conservation. We show that Cooper-pair neutrino emission remains, nevertheless, an efficient cooling mechanism through the axial channel. As a result, the elimination of neutrino emission from Cooper-paired nucleons through the vector channel has only minor effects on the long-term cooling of neutron stars within the minimal cooling paradigm. We further quantify precisely the effect of the size of the neutron 3P2 gap and demonstrate that consistency between observations and the minimal cooling paradigm requires that the critical temperature T_c for this gap covers a range of values between T_c^min < 0.2 x 10^9 K up to T_c^max > 0.5 times 10^9 K in the core of the star. In addition, it is required that young neutron stars have heterogenous envelope compositions: some must have light-element compositions and others must have heavy-element compositions. Unless these two conditions are fulfilled, about half of the observed young cooling neutron stars are inconsistent with the minimal cooling paradigm and provide evidence for the existence of enhanced cooling.