Lead: Asymptotic Giant Branch production and Galactic Chemical Evolution

Abstract

The enrichment of Pb in the Galaxy is followed in the framework of a detailed model of Galactic chemical evolution that already proved adequate to reproduce the chemical enrichment of O and of the elements from Ba to Eu. The stellar yields are computed through nucleosynthesis calculations in the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) phase of low- and intermediate-mass stars, covering a wide range of metallicities. The physical parameters of the stellar structure were derived from full stellar evolutionary models previously computed. We show that low-mass AGB stars are the main producers of Pb in the Galaxy, with a complex dependence on metallicity and a maximum efficiency at [Fe/H] ~ -1. Our calculations succeed in reproducing the abundances of Pb isotopes in the solar system: the role attributed by the classical analysis of the s-process to the 'strong component', in order to explain more than 50% of solar 208Pb, is actually played by the high production of Pb in low-mass and low-metallicity AGB stars. We then follow the Galactic chemical evolution of Pb isotopes and give our expectations on the s-process contribution to each of them at the epoch of the solar system formation. Finally, we present new spectroscopic estimates of Pb abundance on a sample of field stars and compare them, together with a few other determinations available, with the predicted trend of [Pb/Fe] in the Galaxy.

Accepted for ApJ, 19 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (5)

• The r-Process Enriched Low Metallicity Giant HD 115444
• Evidence of Multiple r-Process Sites in the Early Galaxy: New Observations of CS 22892-052
• Si Isotopic Ratios in Mainstream Presolar SiC Grains Revisited
• Detection of Lead in the Carbon-Rich, Very Metal-Poor Star LP625-44: A Strong Constraint on s-Process Nucleosynthesis at Low Metallicity
• Inhomogeneous Chemical Evolution of the Galactic Halo: Abundance of r-process Elements

Cited by in corpus (76)

• The s Process: Nuclear Physics, Stellar Models, Observations
• The Dawes Review 2: Nucleosynthesis and stellar yields of low and intermediate-mass single stars
• Galactic Evolution of Sr, Y, Zr: A Multiplicity of Nucleosynthetic Processes
• Evolution, nucleosynthesis and yields of low mass AGB stars
• Nucleosynthesis and mixing on the Asymptotic Giant Branch. III. Predicted and observed s-process abundances
• The Evolution of Isotope Ratios in the Milky Way Galaxy
• Galactic Chemical Evolution and solar s-process abundances: dependence on the 13C-pocket structure
• Short-lived Nuclei in the Early Solar System: Possible AGB Sources
• NuGrid stellar data set I. Stellar yields from H to Bi for stars with metallicities Z = 0.02 and Z = 0.01
• Reaction Rates Uncertainties and the Production of F19 in AGB Stars
• s-Process Nucleosynthesis in AGB Stars: A Test for Stellar Evolution
• A Subaru/HDS study of Lead (Pb) abundances in eight s-process-element-rich, metal-poor stars
• The Ubiquity of the Rapid Neutron-Capture Process
• The Kr85 s-process Branching and the Mass of Carbon Stars
• Nucleosynthesis in the Early Galaxy
• Neutron Reactions in Astrophysics
• Neutron Capture Elements in s-Process-Rich, Very Metal-Poor Stars
• Abundances of Cu and Zn in metal-poor stars: clues for Galaxy evolution
• s-Process in Low Metallicity Stars. I. Theoretical Predictions
• The End of Nucleosynthesis: Production of Lead and Thorium in the Early Galaxy
• Stellar Archaeology: a Keck Pilot Program on Extremely Metal-Poor Stars from the Hamburg/ESO Survey. II. Abundance Analysis
• First stars IV.CS 29497-030: Evidence for operation of the s-process at very low metallicity
• The Branchings of the Main s-process: Their Sensitivity to alpha-induced Reactions on 13C and 22Ne and to the Uncertainties of the Nuclear Network
• CS 30322-023: an ultra metal-poor TP-AGB star?
• Th Ages for Metal-Poor Stars
• New analysis of the two carbon-rich stars CS 22948-27 and CS 29497-34 : binarity and neutron-capture elements
• CS22964-161: A Double-Lined Carbon- and s-Process-Enhanced Metal-Poor Binary Star
• The Hamburg/ESO R-process Enhanced Star survey (HERES) XI. The highly $r$-process-enhanced star CS 29497-004
• Galactic chemical evolution of Lithium: interplay between stellar sources"
• A high-resolution spectral analysis of three carbon-enhanced metal-poor stars
• Heavy element abundances in giant stars of the globular clusters M4 and M5
• Metal-Poor Stars Observed with the Magellan Telescope I. Constraints on Progenitor Mass and Metallicity of AGB Stars Undergoing s-Process Nucleosynthesis
• RAVE J203843.2-002333: The first highly r-process-enhanced star identified in the RAVE survey
• Carbon-enhanced metal-poor stars: a window on AGB nucleosynthesis and binary evolution. II. Statistical analysis of a sample of 67 CEMP-$s$ stars
• On the need of the Light Elements Primary Process (LEPP)
• Non-LTE effects on the lead and thorium abundance determinations for cool stars
• Heavy elements in Globular Clusters: the role of AGB stars
• Rubidium and lead abundances in giant stars of the globular clusters M4 and M5
• Galactic Chemical Evolution: the Impact of the 13C-pocket Structure on the s-process Distribution
• Characterizing the Heavy Elements in Globular Cluster M22 and an Empirical s-process Abundance Distribution Derived from the Two Stellar Groups
• New measurement of neutron capture resonances of 209Bi
• The s process in AGB stars as constrained by a large sample of Barium stars
• Cosmological implications of dwarf spheroidal chemical evolution
• Testing the role of SNe Ia for Galactic chemical evolution of p-nuclei with 2D models and with s-process seeds at different metallicities
• How plausible are the proposed formation scenarios of CEMP-r/s stars?
• s-Processing in AGB Stars Revisited. I. Does the Main Component Constrain the Neutron Source in the 13C-Pocket?
• Abundance analysis of barium and mild barium stars
• Rubidium and lead abundances in giant stars of the globular clusters M 13 and NGC 6752
• Radiogenic p-isotopes from SNIa, nuclear physics uncertainties and Galactic chemical evolution compared with values in primitive meteorites
• Resonance capture cross section of 207Pb
• Measurement of the neutron capture cross section of the s-only isotope 204Pb from 1 eV to 440 keV
• A Simple Model for r-Process Scatter and Halo Evolution
• The R-Process Alliance: Discovery of the first metal-poor star with a combined r- and s-process element signature
• Abundances of neutron-capture elements in thin- and thick-disc stars in the solar neighbourhood
• Zero and extremely low metallicity rotating massive stars: evolution, explosion, and nucleosynthesis up to the heaviest nuclei
• Measurement of the radiative neutron capture cross section of 206Pb and its astrophysical implications
• ${}^{62}$Ni($n,\gamma$) and ${}^{63}$Ni($n,\gamma$) cross sections measured at n_TOF/CERN
• Challenges in nucleosynthesis of trans-iron elements
• The AMBRE Project: r-process elements in the Milky Way thin and thick discs
• Galactic Chemical Evolution of the s Process from AGB Stars
• The 139La(n,gamma) cross section: key for the onset of the s process
• Constraints on Early Nucleosynthesis from the Abundance Pattern of a Damped Ly-alpha System at z = 2.626
• Partial mixing and the formation of 13C pockets in AGB stars: effects on the s-process elements
• High-temperature ${}^{205}$Tl decay clarifies ${}^{205}$Pb dating in early Solar System
• The cerium content of the Milky Way as revealed by Gaia DR3 GSP-Spec abundances
• The s-Process Enrichment of the Globular Clusters M4 and M22
• Enrichment of lead (Pb) in the Galactic halo
• What we do and do not know about the s-process
• Radiative levitation in carbon-enhanced metal-poor stars with s-process enrichment
• Galactic Chemical Evolution of Radioactive Isotopes with an s-process Contribution
• Discovery of s-process enhanced stars in the LAMOST survey
• Detection of Pb II in the Ultraviolet Spectra of Three Metal-Poor Stars
• Palladium and silver abundances in stars with [Fe/H] > -2.6
• Spectroscopic study of four metal-poor carbon stars from the Hamburg/ESO Survey: On confirming the low-mass nature of their companions
• The Galactic thick and thin disks: differences in evolution
• Rotational mixing in carbon-enhanced metal-poor stars with s-process enrichment