Galaxies (Dec 2024)

From the <i>s</i>-Process to the <i>i</i>-Process: A New Perspective on the Chemical Enrichment of Extrinsic Stars

  • Sophie Van Eck,
  • Riano Giribaldi,
  • Thibault Merle,
  • Adrian Lambotte,
  • Drisya Karinkuzhi,
  • Stéphane Goriely,
  • Arthur Choplin,
  • Nicholas Storm,
  • Jeffrey Gerber,
  • Lionel Siess,
  • Maria Bergemann,
  • Alain Jorissen

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/galaxies12060089
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 6
p. 89

Abstract

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Separating stars enriched in the s- and r-processes of nucleosynthesis is usually achieved by analyzing the element ratios of s-process elements (like Ba or La) to r-process elements (like Eu). The situation becomes more complex when analyzing CEMP-rs stars, which are carbon-enriched metal-poor objects enriched in a mixture of s- and r-elements. These objects, possibly resulting from the i-process of nucleosynthesis, are notoriously difficult to classify based on elemental ratios. Recent theoretical studies have outlined, however, that the s-, i-, and r-processes produce distinct isotopic mixtures. Here, we propose to analyze a sample of stars known to be enriched in s, r, or r + s elements and to determine the odd-to-even isotopic ratio measured on atomic lines of barium, in order to validate or disprove their assignation.

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