Stellar Spectroscopy and Nucleosynthesis

从恒星的高分辨率光谱中确定恒星的丰度是理解恒星如何在其生命周期中进化的最基本的观测基础。首席研究员（PI）将继续他之前由国家科学基金会支持的工作，以确定内部核反应在多大程度上负责重元素的产生，重元素随后通过恒星质量损失改变星际气体的化学成分，并影响未来几代恒星的演化。PI的新工作将集中在我们银河系和南半球麦哲伦星云中恒星的化学成分上。除了专注于某些重元素（Ge， Rb和Mo）的产生，PI还将专注于13C，大质量恒星中的轻金属丰度，太阳型恒星中的Li丰度，以及化学上特殊的A星（被称为“lambda牧夫座”星）中明显的化学异常。除了阐明重元素核反应网络在恒星核心中的作用外，这项研究还有望帮助我们理解在“主序”上许多恒星的包层中对流混合和辐射扩散的可能作用。

The determination of the abundances of stars from their high resolution spectra forms the most fundamental observational basis for understanding how stars evolve through their life cycles. The Principal Investigator (PI) will continue his previous NSF- supported work to determine to what extent interior nuclear reactions are responsible for the creation of heavy elements, which subsequently alter the chemical composition of interstellar gas via stellar mass loss and influence the evolution of future generations of stars. The PI's new work will focus both on the chemical composition of stars in our own Galaxy and in those of the Magellanic Clouds in the Southern hemisphere. In addition to concentrating on the production of certain heavy elements (Ge, Rb, and Mo), the PI will concentrate on 13C, the light-metals abundances in massive stars, Li abundance in solar-type stars, and the apparent chemical anomalies in chemically peculiar A stars known as "lambda Bootis" stars. In addition to clarifying the role of networks of heavy-element nuclear reactions in stellar cores, this research is expected to help our understanding of the possible roles of convective mixing and radiative diffusion in the envelopes of many stars on the "main sequence."