Trans-iron Ge, As, Se, and heavier elements in the dwarf metal-poor stars, HD~19445, HD~84937, HD~94028, HD~140283, and HD~160617

Abstract

Spectra of unevolved metal-poor halo stars uniquely reflect the elemental abundances incorporated during the earliest Galactic epoch. Their heavy-element content is well understood as the products of neutron capture on iron-peak elements. However, the lightest elements just past the iron peak, with atomic number 30<Z<52, show striking abundance patterns open to several interpretations. Understanding their nature may illuminate the diverse halo, thick disk, or extragalactic origins of metal-poor stars. For five metal-poor dwarfs, we analyzed high-resolution echelle UV spectra from the Hubble Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, as well as archival optical echelle spectra. The goal was to derive reliable halo dwarf abundances and uncertainties for six trans-iron elements from UV spectra, and optical abundances for four additional trans-Fe elements and two well-understood heavier elements. Our two independent analyses showed that the largest source of discrepancy is UV continuum placement. Once rectified, the internal results agree to 0.2 dex for moderately-unblended, moderately strong lines. Our results similarly agree with previous work, except where new data and unidentified Fe I lines are important. We show that these heavily congregate blueward of 2000A and redward of 2600A. Our exclusion of trans-Fe lines blended by such lines proved critical for arsenic. A metallicity-dependent odd-even effect is uncovered among trans-Fe elements: an odd-Z element abundance is depressed relative to those of adjacent even-Z elements, especially at low metallicity. This is supported by previous studies of Sr-Y-Zr, and also appears in some theoretical calculations. To date, no calculations predict the high Mo/Ge ratio, independent of Mo/Fe, that we find in all five stars.

Accepted by A&A

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