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Register a new userNew Atomic Data for Trans-Iron Elements and Their Application to Abundance Determinations in Planetary Nebulae
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[Abridged] Investigations of neutron(n)-capture element nucleosynthesis and chemical evolution have largely been based on stellar spectroscopy. However, the recent detection of these elements in several planetary nebulae (PNe) indicates that nebular spectroscopy is a promising new tool for such studies. In PNe, n-capture element abundance determinations reveal details of s-process nucleosynthesis and convective mixing in evolved low-mass stars, as well as the chemical evolution of elements that cannot be detected in stellar spectra. Only one or two ions of a given trans-iron element can typically be detected in individual nebulae. Elemental abundance determinations thus require corrections for the abundances of unobserved ions. Such corrections rely on the availability of atomic data for processes that control the ionization equilibrium of nebulae. Until recently, these data were unknown for virtually all n-capture element ions. For the first five ions of Se, Kr, and Xe -- the three most widely detected n-capture elements in PNe -- we are calculating photoionization cross sections and radiative and dielectronic recombination rate coefficients using the multi-configuration Breit-Pauli atomic structure code AUTOSTRUCTURE. Charge transfer rate coefficients are being determined with a multichannel Landau-Zener code. To calibrate these calculations, we have measured absolute photoionization cross sections of Se and Xe ions at the Advanced Light Source synchrotron radiation facility. These atomic data can be incorporated into photoionization codes, which we will use to derive ionization corrections (hence abundances) for Se, Kr, and Xe in ionized nebulae. These results are critical for honing nebular spectroscopy into a more effective tool for investigating the production and chemical evolution of trans-iron elements in the Universe.
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We constrain the iron abundance in a sample of 33 low-ionization Galactic planetary nebulae (PNe) using [Fe III] lines and correcting for the contribution of higher ionization states with ionization correction factors (ICFs) that take into account uncertainties in the atomic data. We find very low iron abundances in all the objects, suggesting that more than 90% of their iron atoms are condensed onto dust grains. This number is based on the solar iron abundance and implies a lower limit on the dust-to-gas mass ratio, due solely to iron, of M_dust/M_gas>1.3x10^{-3} for our sample. The depletion factors of different PNe cover about two orders of magnitude, probably reflecting differences in the formation, growth, or destruction of their dust grains. However, we do not find any systematic difference between the gaseous iron abundances calculated for C-rich and O-rich PNe, suggesting similar iron depletion efficiencies in both environments. The iron abundances of our sample PNe are similar to those derived following the same procedure for a group of 10 Galactic H II regions. These high depletion factors argue for high depletion efficiencies of refractory elements onto dust grains both in molecular clouds and AGB stars, and low dust destruction efficiencies both in interstellar and circumstellar ionized gas.
Neutron(n)-capture elements (atomic number Z>30), which can be produced in planetary nebula (PN) progenitor stars via s-process nucleosynthesis, have been detected in nearly 100 PNe. This demonstrates that nebular spectroscopy is a potentially powerful tool for studying the production and chemical evolution of trans-iron elements. However, significant challenges must be addressed before this goal can be achieved. One of the most substantial hurdles is the lack of atomic data for n-capture elements, particularly that needed to solve for their ionization equilibrium (and hence to convert ionic abundances to elemental abundances). To address this need, we have computed photoionization cross sections and radiative and dielectronic recombination rate coefficients for the first six ions of Se and Kr. The calculations were benchmarked against experimental photoionization cross section measurements. In addition, we computed charge transfer (CT) rate coefficients for ions of six n-capture elements. These efforts will enable the accurate determination of nebular Se and Kr abundances, allowing robust investigations of s-process enrichments in PNe.
Atomic data are an important source of systematic uncertainty in our determinations of nebular chemical abundances. However, we do not have good estimates of these uncertainties since it is very difficult to assess the accuracy of the atomic data involved in the calculations. We explore here the size of these uncertainties by using 52 different sets of transition probabilities and collision strengths, and all their possible combinations, to calculate the physical conditions and the total abundances of O, N, S, Ne, Cl, and Ar for a sample of planetary nebulae and H II regions. We find that atomic data variations introduce differences in the derived abundance ratios as low as 0.1$-$0.2 dex at low density, but that reach or surpass 0.6$-$0.8 dex at densities above 10$^{4}$ cm$^{-3}$ in several abundance ratios, like O/H and N/O. Removing from the 52 datasets the four datasets that introduce the largest differences, the total uncertainties are reduced, but high density objects still reach uncertainty factors of four for their values of O/H and N/O. We identify the atomic data that introduce most of the uncertainty, which involves the ions used to determine density, namely, the transition probabilities of the S$^{+}$, O$^{+}$, Cl$^{++}$, and Ar$^{+3}$ density diagnostic lines, and the collision strengths of Ar$^{+3}$. Improved calculations of these data will be needed in order to derive more reliable values of chemical abundances in high density nebulae. In the meantime, our results can be used to estimate the uncertainties introduced by atomic data in nebular abundance determinations.
We study the density structures of planetary nebulae implied by four diagnostics that sample different regions within the nebulae: [S II] $lambda6716/lambda6731$, [O II] $lambda3726/lambda3729$, [Cl III] $lambda5518/lambda5538$, and [Ar IV] $lambda4711/lambda4740$. We use a sample of 46 objects with deep spectra that allow the calculation of the electron density from these four diagnostics, and explore the impact that different atomic data have on the results. We compare the observational results with those obtained from photoionization models characterized by three different density structures. We conclude that the atomic data used in the calculations of electron density fully determine the density structures that are derived for the objects. We illustrate this by selecting three combinations of atomic data that lead to observational results that are compatible with each of the three different density structures explored with the models.
We study the dust present in 56 Galactic planetary nebulae (PNe) through their iron depletion factors, their C/O abundance ratios (in 51 objects), and the dust features that appear in their infrared spectra (for 33 objects). Our sample objects have deep optical spectra of good quality, and most of them also have ultraviolet observations. We use these observations to derive the iron abundances and the C/O abundance ratios in a homogeneous way for all the objects. We compile detections of infrared dust features from the literature and we analyze the available Spitzer/IRS spectra. Most of the PNe have C/O ratios below one and show crystalline silicates in their infrared spectra. The PNe with silicates have C/O < 1, with the exception of Cn 1-5. Most of the PNe with dust features related to C-rich environments (SiC or the 30 {mu}m feature usually associated to MgS) have C/O $gtrsim$ 0.8. PAHs are detected over the full range of C/O values, including 6 objects that also show silicates. Iron abundances are low in all the objects, implying that more than 90% of their iron atoms are deposited into dust grains. The range of iron depletions in the sample covers about two orders of magnitude, and we find that the highest depletion factors are found in C-rich objects with SiC or the 30 {mu}m feature in their infrared spectra, whereas some of the O-rich objects with silicates show the lowest depletion factors.
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