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Register a new userAbundance Ratios in the Galactic Bulge and Super Metal-Rich Type II Nucle osynthesis
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Jon P. Fulbright
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We present abundance results from our Keck/HIRES observations of giants in the Galactic Bulge. We confirm that the metallicity distribution of giants in the low-reddening bulge field Baades Window can be well-fit by a closed-box enrichment model. We also confirm previous observations that find enhanced [Mg/Fe], [Si/Fe] and [Ca/Fe] for all bulge giants, including those at super-solar metallicities. However, we find that the [O/Fe] ratios of metal-rich bulge dwarfs decrease with increasing metallicity, contrary to what is expected if the enhancements of the other $alpha$-elements is due to Type II supernovae enrichment. We suggest that the decrease in oxygen production may be due to mass loss in the pre-supernova evolution of metal-rich progenitors.
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A stochastic model of the chemical enrichment of metal-poor systems by core-collapse supernovae is used to study the scatter in stellar abundance ratios. The resulting scatter in abundance ratios, e.g. as functions of the overall metallicity, is demonstrated to be crucially dependent on the as yet uncertain supernovae yields. The observed abundance ratios and their scatters therefore have diagnostic power as regards the yields. The relatively small star-to-star scatter observed in many chemical abundance ratios, e.g. by Cayrel et al. (2004) for stars down to [Fe/H] = -4, is tentatively explained by the averaging of a large number of contributing supernovae and by the cosmic selection effects favoring contributions from supernovae in a certain mass range for the most metal-poor stars. The scatter in observed abundances of alpha-elements is understood in terms of observational errors only, while additional spread in yields or sites of nucleosynthesis may affect the odd-even elements Na and Al. For the iron-group elements we find systematically too high predicted Cr/Fe and Cr/Mg ratios, as well as differences between the different sets of yields, both in terms of predicted abundance ratios and scatter. The semi-empirical yields recently suggested by Francois et al. (2004) are found to lead to scatter in abundance ratios significantly greater than observed, when applied in the inhomogeneous models. Spurs, very narrow sequences in abundance-ratio diagrams, may disclose a single-supernova origin of the elements of the stars on the sequence. Verification of the existence of such features, called single supernova sequences (SSSs), is challenging. This will require samples of several hundred stars with abundance ratios observed to accuracies of 0.05 dex or better.
We provide detailed abundance analyses of 8 candidate super-metal-rich stars. Five of them are confirmed to have [Fe/H] > 0.2 dex, the generally-accepted limit for super-metal-richness. Furthermore, we derive abundances of several elements and find that the stars follow trends seen in previous studies of metal-rich stars. Ages are estimated from isochrones and velocities calculated. We find that there do exist very metal-rich stars that are older than 10 Gyr. This is contrary to what is found in several recent studies of the galactic age-metallicity relation. This is tentative evidence that there might not exist a one-to-one relation between age and metallicity for all stars. This is not surprising considering the current models of the independent evolution of the different galactic components. We also find that one star, HD 182572, could with ~ 75 % chance be a thick disk star with, for the thick disk, an extremely high metallicity at 0.34 dex. This star is, intriguingly, also somewhat enhanced in the alpha-elements.
We discuss oxygen and iron abundance patterns in K and M red-giant members of the Galactic bulge and in the young and massive M-type stars inhabiting the very center of the Milky Way. The abundance results from the different bulge studies in the literature, both in the optical and the infrared, indicate that the [O/Fe]-[Fe/H] relation in the bulge does not follow the disk relation, with [O/Fe] values falling above those of the disk. Based on these elevated values of [O/Fe] extending to large Fe abundances, it is suggested that the bulge underwent a rapid chemical enrichment with perhaps a top-heavy initial mass function. The Galactic Center stars reveal a nearly uniform and slightly elevated (relative to solar) iron abundance for a studied sample which is composed of 10 red giants and supergiants. Perhaps of more significance is the fact that the young Galactic Center M-type stars show abundance patterns that are reminiscent of those observed for the bulge population and contain enhanced abundance ratios of alpha-elements relative to either the Sun or Milky Way disk at near-solar metallicities.
We report the detection of a large sample of high-$alpha$-metal-rich stars on the low giant branch with $2.6<logg<3.3$ dex in the LAMOST-MRS survey. This special group corresponds to an intermediate-age population of $5-9$ Gyr based on the $[Fe/H]$-$[C/N]$ diagram and age-$[C/N]$ calibration. A comparison group is selected to have solar $alpha$ ratio at super metallicity, which is young and has a narrow age range around 3 Gyr. Both groups have thin-disk like kinematics but the former shows slightly large velocity dispersions. The special group shows a larger extension in vertical distance toward 1.2 kpc, a second peak at smaller Galactic radius and a larger fraction of super metal rich stars with $[Fe/H]>0.2$ than the comparison group. These properties strongly indicate its connection with the outer bar/bulge region at $R=3-5$ kpc. A tentative interpretation of this special group is that its stars were formed in the X-shaped bar/bulge region, close to its corotation radius, where radial migration is the most intense, and brings them to present locations at 9 kpc and beyond. Low eccentricities and slightly outward radial excursions of its stars are consistent with this scenario. Its kinematics (cold) and chemistry ($[alpha/Fe]$ $sim 0.1$) further support the formation of the instability-driven X-shaped bar/bulge from the thin disk.
Both the Fe II UV emission in the 2000- 3000 A region [Fe II (UV)] and resonance emission line complex of Mg II at 2800 A are prominent features in quasar spectra. The observed Fe II UV/ Mg II emission ratios have been proposed as means to measure the buildup of the Fe abundance relative to that of the alpha-elements C, N, O, Ne and Mg as a function of redshift. The current observed ratios show large scatter and no obvious dependence on redshift. Thus, it remains unresolved whether a dependence on redshift exists and whether the observed Fe II UV/ Mg II ratios represent a real nucleosynthesis diagnostic. We have used our new 830-level model atom for Fe+ in photoionization calculations, reproducing the physical conditions in the broad line regions of quasars. This modeling reveals that interpretations of high values of Fe II UV/ Mg II are sensitive not only to Fe and Mg abundance, but also to other factors such as microturbulence, density, and properties of the radiation field. We find that the Fe II UV/ Mg II ratio combined with Fe II (UV)/ Fe II (Optical) emission ratio, where Fe II (Optical) denotes Fe II emission in 4000 - 6000 A can be used as a reliable nucleosynthesis diagnostic for the Fe/Mg abundance ratios for the physical conditions relevant to the broad-line regions (BLRs) of quasars. This has extreme importance for quasar observations with the Hubble Space Telescope and also with the future James Webb Space Telescope.
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