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New Abundances for Old Stars - Atomic Diffusion at Work in NGC 6397

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 نشر من قبل Andreas Korn
 تاريخ النشر 2006
  مجال البحث فيزياء
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 تأليف A.J. Korn




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A homogeneous spectroscopic analysis of unevolved and evolved stars in the metal-poor globular cluster NGC 6397 with FLAMES-UVES reveals systematic trends of stellar surface abundances that are likely caused by atomic diffusion. This finding helps to understand, among other issues, why the lithium abundances of old halo stars are significantly lower than the abundance found to be produced shortly after the Big Bang.



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We have previously reported on chemical abundance trends with evolutionary state in the globular cluster NGC 6397 discovered in analyses of spectra taken with FLAMES at the VLT. Here, we reinvestigate the FLAMES-UVES sample of 18 stars, ranging from just above the turnoff point (TOP) to the red giant branch below the bump. Inspired by new calibrations of the infrared flux method, we adopt a set of hotter temperature scales. Chemical abundances are determined for six elements (Li, Mg, Ca, Ti, Cr, and Fe). Signatures of cluster-internal pollution are identified and corrected for in the analysis of Mg. On the modified temperature scales, evolutionary trends in the abundances of Mg and Fe are found to be significant at the 2{sigma} and 3{sigma} levels, respectively. The detailed evolution of abundances for all six elements agrees with theoretical isochrones, calculated with effects of atomic diffusion and a weak to moderately strong efficiency of turbulent mixing. The age of these models is compatible with the external determination from the white dwarf cooling sequence. We find that the abundance analysis cannot be reconciled with the strong turbulent-mixing efficiency inferred elsewhere for halo field stars. A weak mixing efficiency reproduces observations best, indicating a diffusion-corrected primordial lithium abundance of log {epsilon}(Li) = 2.57 +- 0.10. At 1.2{sigma}, this value agrees well with WMAP-calibrated Big-Bang nucleosynthesis predictions.
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