From Nuclei to the Cosmos: Tracing Heavy-Element Production with the Oldest Stars
From Nuclei to the Cosmos: Tracing Heavy-Element Production with the Oldest Stars
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DOI：
10.1146/annurev-nucl-101917-021141
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发表时间：
2018-06
影响因子：
12.4
通讯作者：
A. Frebel
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
A. Frebel
了解元素的起源是一个长达数十年的追求，还有许多悬而未决的问题。在银河系及其矮卫星星系中发现的老恒星可以提供答案，因为它们保留了大约130亿年前核合成过程的干净元素丰度模式，从而能够重建元素的化学演化。这篇评论的重点是在老恒星的s-，i-和r-过程中发现的重中子捕获元素的天体物理特征。其中一个亮点是最近发现的r-过程星系网状物II，它是由中子星星合并而富集的。这些结果表明，矮星系中的老恒星提供了一种新的手段来限制r过程的天体物理学位置，在这个重大的悬而未决的问题上迎来了急需的进展。这项核天体物理学研究补充了许多实验和理论核物理学对重元素形成的研究，也与中子星星合并的引力波特征的结果一致。
Understanding the origin of the elements has been a decades-long pursuit, with many open questions remaining. Old stars found in the Milky Way and its dwarf satellite galaxies can provide answers because they preserve clean element abundance patterns of the nucleosynthesis processes that operated some 13 billion years ago, enabling reconstruction of the chemical evolution of the elements. This review focuses on the astrophysical signatures of heavy neutron-capture elements made in the s-, i-, and r-processes found in old stars. A highlight is the recently discovered r-process galaxy Reticulum II, which was enriched by a neutron star merger. These results show that old stars in dwarf galaxies provide a novel means to constrain the astrophysical site of the r-process, ushering in much-needed progress on this major outstanding question. This nuclear astrophysics research complements the many experimental and theoretical nuclear physics efforts into heavy-element formation, and also aligns with results on the gravitational-wave signature of neutron star mergers.