arXiv subjects

G. Zhao

Publications and source records attributed to G. Zhao.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2012

Chemical composition of giants from two moving groups

We present stellar parameters of 19 K-type giants and their abundances of 13 chemical elements (Al, Ba, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Sc, Si, Ti and V), selected from two moving groups, covering the metallicity range of -0.6 < [Fe/H] < 0.2, based on high resolution spectra. Most elemental abundances show similar trends with previous studies except for Al, Na and Ba, which are affected by evolution seriously. The abundance ratios of [Na/Mg] increase smoothly with higher [Mg/H] and [Al/Mg] decrease slightly with increasing [Mg/H]. [Mg/Ba] show distinction between these two moving groups which is mainly induced by chemical evolution and partly by kinematic effects. The inhomogeneous metallicity of each star from the moving groups demonstrate that these stars have different chemical origins before they were kinematically aggregated and favor the dynamical resonant theory.

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arXiv2011

Metallicity and Kinematic distributions of Red Horizontal-Branch Stars from the SDSS Survey

On the basis of a recently derived color-metallicity relation and stellar parameters from the Sloan Digtal Sky Survey Data Release 7 spectroscopic survey, a large sample of red horizontal branch candidates have been selected to serve as standard candles. The metallicity and kinematic distributions of these stars indicate that they mainly originate from the thick-disk and the halo populations. The typical thick disk is characterized by the first group peaking at [Fe/H] ~ -0.6, Vrot ~ 170 km/s with a vertical scale height around |Z| ~ 1.2 kpc, while stars with [Fe/H] < -0.9 are dominated by the halo population. Two sub-populations of the halo are suggested by the RHB stars peaking at [Fe/H] ~-1.3: one component with Vrot > 0 km/s (Halo I) shows a sign of metallicity gradient in the [Fe/H] versus |Z| diagram, while the other with Vrot < 0 km/s (Halo II) does not. The Halo I mainly clumps at the inner halo with R < 10 kpc and the Halo II comes both from the inner halo with R < 10 kpc and the outer halo with R > 10 kpc based on the star distribution in the R versus |Z| diagram.

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arXiv2011

The Metallicity Gradient of the Thick Disk Based on Red Horizontal Branch Stars From SDSS DR8

Based on SDSS DR8, we have selected a sample of 1728 red horizontal branch stars with |Z|<3 kpc by using a color-metallicity relation and stellar parameters. The sample stars clearly trace a typical thick disk population with peaks at |Z|=1.26 kpc and [Fe/H]=-0.54. The vertical metallicity gradient of the thick disk is estimated in two ways. One is a fit to the Gaussian peaks of the metallicity histograms of the thick disk by subtracting minor contributions from the thin disk and the inner halo based on the Besancon Galaxy model. The resulting gradient is -0.12+-0.01 dex/kpc for 0.5 <|Z| <3 kpc. The other method is to linearly fit the data based on stars with 1 <|Z| <3 kpc being the main component of the thick disk. Five subgroups are then selected in different directions in the X-|Z| plane to investigate the difference in the vertical metallicity gradient between the Galactocenter and anti-Galactocenter directions. We found that a vertical gradient o-0.22+-0.07 dex/kpc is detected for five directions except for one involving the pollution of stars from the bulge. The results indicate that the vertical gradient is dominant, but a radial gradient has a minor contribution for the thick disk population represented by RHB stars with 1 <|Z| <3 kpc. The present work strongly suggests the existence of a metallicity gradient in the thick disk, which is thought to be negligible in most previous works in the literature.

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arXiv2011

R-matrix electron-impact excitation data for astrophysically abundant sulphur ions

We present results for the electron-impact excitation of highly-charged sulphur ions (S8+ - S11+) obtained using the intermediate-coupling frame transformation R-matrix approach. A detailed comparison of the target structure has been made for the four ions to assess the uncertainty on collision strengths from the target structure. Effective collision strengths (Υs) are presented at temperatures ranging from 2\times10^2(z+1)^2 K to 2\times10^6(z+1)^2 K (where z is the residual charge of ions. Detailed comparisons for the Υare made with the results of previous calculations for these ions, which will pose insight on the uncertainty in their usage by astrophysical and fusion modelling codes.

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arXiv2011

The Hamburg/ESO R-process Enhanced Star survey (HERES) VI. The Galactic Chemical Evolution of Silicon

We determined the silicon abundances of 253 metal-poor stars in the metallicity range $-4<\mathrm{[Fe/H]} <-1.5$, based on non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) line formation calculations of neutral silicon and high-resolution spectra obtained with VLT-UT2/UVES. The $T_{\mathrm{eff}}$ dependence of [Si/Fe] noticed in previous investigation is diminished in our abundance analysis due to the inclusion of NLTE effects. An increasing slope of [Si/Fe] towards decreasing metallicity is present in our results, in agreement with Galactic chemical evolution models. The small intrinsic scatter of [Si/Fe] in our sample may imply that these stars formed in a region where the yields of type II supernovae were mixed into a large volume, or that the formation of these stars was strongly clustered, even if the ISM was enriched by single SNa II in a small mixing volume. We identified two dwarfs with $\mathrm{[Si/Fe]}\sim +1.0$: HE 0131$-$3953, and HE 1430$-$1123. These main-sequence turnoff stars are also carbon-enhanced. They might have been pre-enriched by sub-luminous supernovae.

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arXiv2011

The Chromospheric Activity, Age, Metallicty and Space Motions of 36 Wide Binaries

We present the chromospheric activity (CA) levels, metallicities and full space motions for 41 F, G, K and M dwarf stars in 36 wide binary systems. Thirty-one of the binaries, contain a white dwarf component. In such binaries the total age can be estimated by adding the cooling age of the white dwarf to an estimate of the progenitor's main sequence lifetime. To better understand how CA correlates to stellar age, 14 cluster member stars were also observed. Our observations demonstrate for the first time that in general CA decays with age from 50 Myr to at least 8 Gyr for stars with 1.0 < V-I < 2.4. However, little change occurs in CA level for stars with V-I < 1.0 between 1 Gyr and 5 Gyr, consistent with the results of Pace et al. (2009). Our sample also exhibits a negative correlation between stellar age and metallicity, a positive correlation between stellar age and W space velocity component and the W velocity dispersion increases with age. Finally, the population membership of these wide binaries is examined based upon their U, V, W kinematics, metallicity and CA. We conclude that wide binaries are similar to field and cluster stars in these respects. More importantly, they span a much more continuous range in age and metallicity than is afforded by nearby clusters.

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arXiv2011

Metallicity calibration for solar type stars based on red spectra

Based on high resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) spectra analysis of 90 solar type stars, we have established several new metallicity calibrations in Teff range [5600, 6500] K based on red spectra with the wavelength range of 560-880 nm. The new metallicity calibrations are applied to determine the metallicity of solar analogs selected from SDSS spectra. There is a good consistent result with the adopted value presented in SDSS-DR7 and a small scatter of 0.26 dex for stars with S/N > 50 is obtained. This study provides a new reliable way to derive the metallicity for solar-like stars with low resolution spectra. In particular, our calibrations are useful for finding metal-rich stars, which are missing in SSPP.

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arXiv2010

The stellar content of the Hamburg/ESO survey VI. The metallicity distribution of main-sequence turnoff stars in the Galactic halo

We determine the metallicity distribution function (MDF) of the Galactic halo based on metal-poor main-sequence turnoff-stars (MSTO) which were selected from the Hamburg/ESO objective-prism survey (HES) database. Corresponding follow-up moderateresolution observations (R ~ 2000) of some 682 stars (among which 617 were accepted program stars) were carried out with the 2.3m telescope at the Siding Spring Observatory (SSO). Corrections for the survey volume covered by the sample stars were quantitatively estimated and applied to the observed MDF. The corrections are quite small, when compared with those for a previously studied sample of metal-poor giants. The corrected observational MDF of the turnoff sample was then compared with that of the giants, as well as with a number of theoretical predictions of Galactic chemical evolution, including the mass-loss modified Simple Model. Although the survey-volume corrected MDFs of the metal-poor turnoff and the halo giants notably differ in the region of [Fe/H] > -2.0, below [Fe/H] ~ -2.0, (the region we scientifically focus on most) both MDFs show a sharp drop at [Fe/H] ~ -3.6 and present rather similar distributions in the low-metallicity tail. Theoretical models can fit some parts of the observed MDF, but none is found to simultaneously reproduce the peak as well as the features in the metal-poor region with [Fe/H] between -2.0 to -3.6. Among the tested models only the GAMETE model, when normalized to the tail of the observed MDF below [Fe/H] ~ -3.0, and with Z_{cr} = 10^{-3.4}Z_{\odot}, is able to predict the sharp drop at [Fe/H] ~ -3.6.

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arXiv2009

The Absolute Magnitudes of Red Horizontal Branch Stars in the ugriz System

Based on photometric data of the central parts of eight globular clusters and one open cluster presented by An and his collaborators, we select red horizontal branch (RHB) stars in the (g-r)0-g0 diagram and make a statistical study of the distributions of their colors and absolute magnitudes in the SDSS ugriz system. Meanwhile, absolute magnitudes in the Johnson VRI system are calculated through the translation formulae between gri and VRI in the literature. The calibrations of absolute magnitude as functions of metallicity and age are established by linear regressions of the data. It is found that metallicity coefficients in these calibrations decrease, while age coefficients increase, from the blue $u$ filter to the red $z$ filter. The calibration of Mi= 0.06[Fe/H]+0.040t+0.03 has the smallest scatter of 0.04 mag, and thus i is the best filter in the $ugriz$ system when RHB stars are used for distance indicators. The comparison of the MI calibration from our data with that from red clump stars indicates that the previous suggestion that the $I$ filter is better than the V filter in distance determination may not be true because of its significant dependence on age.

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arXiv2009

Statistical equilibrium of silicon in the atmospheres of metal-poor stars

Aims. The statistical equilibrium of neutral and ionized silicon in the atmospheres of metal-poor stars is discussed. Non-local thermodynamic equilibrium effects are investigated and the silicon abundances in metal-poor stars determined. Methods. We have used high resolution, high signal to noise ratio spectra from the UVES spectragraph at the ESO VLT telescope. Line formation calculations of Si i and Si ii in the atmospheres of metal-poor stars are presented for atomic models of silicon including 174 terms and 1132 line transitions. Recent improved calculations of Si i and Si ii photoionization cross-sections are taken into account, and the influence of the free-free quasi-molecular absorption in the Ly alpha wing is investigated by comparing theoretical and observed fluxes of metal-poor stars. All abundance results are derived from LTE and NLTE statistical equilibrium calculations and spectrum synthesis methods. Results. It is found that the extreme ultraviolet radiation is very important for metal-poor stars, especially for the high temperature, very metal-poor stars. The radiative bound-free cross-sections also play a very important role for these stars. Conclusions. NLTE effects for Si are found to be important for metal-poor stars, in particular for warm metal-poor stars. It is found that these effects depend on the temperature. For warm metal-poor stars, the NLTE abundance correction reaches ~ 0.2 dex relative to standard LTE calculations. Our results indicate that Si is overabundant for metal-poor stars.

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arXiv2008

Beryllium abundances in metal-poor stars

We have determined beryllium abundances for 25 metal-poor stars based on the high resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio spectra from the VLT/UVES database. Our results confirm that Be abundances increase with Fe, supporting the global enrichment of Be in the Galaxy. Oxygen abundances based on [O I] forbidden line implies a linear relation with a slope close to one for the Be vs. O trend, which indicates that Be is probably produced in a primary process. Some strong evidences are found for the intrinsic dispersion of Be abundances at a given metallicity. The deviation of HD132475 and HD126681 from the general Be vs. Fe and Be vs. O trend favours the predictions of the superbubble model, though the possibility that such dispersion originates from the inhomogeneous enrichment in Fe and O of the protogalactic gas cannot be excluded.

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arXiv2008

On the Crystallinity of Silicate Dust in the Interstellar Medium

An accurate knowledge of the mineralogy (chemical composition and crystal structure) of the silicate dust in the interstellar medium (ISM) is crucial for understanding its origin in evolved stars, the physical and chemical processing in the ISM, and its subsequent incorporation into protostellar nebulae, protoplanetary disks and cometary nuclei where it is subjected to further processing. While an appreciable fraction of silicate dust in evolved stars, in protoplanetary disks around pre-main sequence stars, in debris disks around main sequence stars, and in cometary nuclei is found to be in crystalline form, very recent infrared spectroscopic studies of the dust along the sightline toward the Galactic center source Sgr A* placed an upper limit of ~1.1% on the silicate crystalline fraction, well below the previous estimates of ~5% or ~60% derived from the observed 10 micron absorption profile for the local ISM toward Cyg OB2 No.12. Since the sightline toward SgrA contains molecular cloud materials as revealed by the detection of the 3.1 and 6.0 micron water ice absorption features, we argue that by taking into account the presence of ice mantles on silicate cores, the upper limit on the degree of silicate crystallinity in the ISM is increased to ~3--5%.

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arXiv2008

The Milky Way's Circular Velocity Curve to 60 kpc and an Estimate of the Dark Matter Halo Mass from Kinematics of ~2400 SDSS Blue Horizontal Branch Stars

We derive new constraints on the mass of the Milky Way's dark matter halo, based on a set of halo stars from SDSS as kinematic tracers. Our sample comprises 2401 rigorously selected Blue Horizontal-Branch (BHB) halo stars drawn from SDSS DR-6. To interpret these distributions, we compare them to matched mock observations drawn from two different cosmological galaxy formation simulations designed to resemble the Milky Way, which we presume to have an appropriate orbital distribution of halo stars. We then determine which value of $\rm V_{cir}(r)$ brings the observed distribution into agreement with the corresponding distributions from the simulations. This procedure results in an estimate of the Milky Way's circular velocity curve to $\sim 60$ kpc, which is found to be slightly falling from the adopted value of $\rm 220 km s^{-1}$ at the Sun's location, and implies M$(<60 \rm kpc) = 4.0\pm 0.7\times 10^{11}$M$_\odot$. The radial dependence of $\rm V_{cir}(r)$, derived in statistically independent bins, is found to be consistent with the expectations from an NFW dark matter halo with the established stellar mass components at its center. If we assume an NFW halo profile of characteristic concentration holds, we can use the observations to estimate the virial mass of the Milky Way's dark matter halo, M$_{\rm vir}=1.0^{+0.3}_{-0.2} \times 10^{12}$M$_\odot$, which is lower than many previous estimates. This estimate implies that nearly 40% of the baryons within the virial radius of the Milky Way's dark matter halo reside in the stellar components of our Galaxy. A value for M$_{\rm vir}$ of only $\sim 1\times10^{12}$M$_\odot$ also (re-)opens the question of whether all of the Milky Way's satellite galaxies are on bound orbits.

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arXiv2008

Statistical equilibrium of silicon in the solar atmosphere

The statistical equilibrium of neutral and ionised silicon in the solar photosphere is investigated. Line formation is discussed and the solar silicon abundance determined. High-resolution solar spectra were used to determine solar $\log gfε_{\rm Si}$ values by comparison with Si line synthesis based on LTE and NLTE level populations. The results will be used in a forthcoming paper for differential abundance analyses of metal-poor stars. A detailed analysis of silicon line spectra leads to setting up realistic model atoms, which are exposed to interactions in plane-parallel solar atmospheric models. The resulting departure coefficients are entered into a line-by-line analysis of the visible and near-infrared solar silicon spectrum. The statistical equilibrium of \ion{Si}{i} turns out to depend marginally on bound-free interaction processes, both radiative and collisional. Bound-bound interaction processes do not play a significant role either, except for hydrogen collisions, which have to be chosen adequately for fitting the cores of the near-infrared lines. Except for some near-infrared lines, the NLTE influence on the abundances is weak. Taking the deviations from LTE in silicon into account, it is possible to calculate the ionisation equilibrium from neutral and ionised lines. The solar abundance based on the experimental $f$-values of Garz corrected for the Becker et al.'s measurement is $7.52 \pm 0.05$. Combined with an extended line sample with selected NIST $f$-values, the solar abundance is $7.52 \pm 0.06$, with a nearly perfect ionisation equilibrium of $Δ\logε_\odot(\ion{Si}{ii}/\ion{Si}{i}) = -0.01$.

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arXiv2008

Soft X-ray spectroscopy of highly charged silicon ions in dense plasmas

Rich soft X-ray emission lines of highly charged silicon ions (Si VI--Si XII) were observed by irradiating an ultra-intense laser pulse with width of 200 fs and energy of $\sim$90 mJ on the solid silicon target. The high resolution spectra of highly charged silicon ions with full-width at half maximum (FWHM) of $\sim$0.3--0.4Åis analyzed in wavelength range of 40--90 Å. The wavelengths of 53 prominent lines are determined with statistical uncertainties being up to 0.005 Å. Collisional-radiative models were constructed for Si VI -- Si XII ions, which satisfactorily reproduces the experimental spectra, and helps the line identification. Calculations at different electron densities reveal that the spectra of dense plasmas are more complicate than the spectra of thin plasmas. A comparison with the Kelly database reveals a good agreement for most peak intensities, and differences for a few emission lines.

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arXiv2008

NLTE study of scandium in the Sun

We investigate the formation of neutral and singly ionized scandium lines in the solar photospheres. The research is aimed derive solar $\log gfε_{\odot}$(Sc) values for scandium lines, which will later be used in differential abundance analyses of metal-poor stars. Extensive statistical equilibrium calculations were carried out for a model atom, which comprises 92 terms for \ion{Sc}{i} and 79 for \ion{Sc}{ii}. Photoionization cross-sections are assumed to be hydrogenic. Synthetic line profiles calculated from the level populations according to the NLTE departure coefficients were compared with the observed solar spectral atlas. Hyperfine structure (HFS) broadening is taken into account. The statistical equilibrium of scandium is dominated by a strong underpopulation of \ion{Sc}{i} caused by missing strong lines. It is nearly unaffected by the variation in interaction parameters and only marginally sensitive to the choice of the solar atmospheric model. Abundance determinations using the ODF model lead to a solar Sc abundance of between $\logε_\odot = 3.07$ and 3.13, depending on the choice of $f$ values. The long known difference between photospheric and meteoritic scandium abundances is confirmed for the experimental $f$-values.

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arXiv2008

The focal-plane instruments on board WSO-UV

Dedicated to spectroscopic and imaging observations of the ultraviolet sky, the World Space Observatory for Ultraviolet Project is a Russia led international collaboration presently involving also China, Germany, Italy, Spain and Ukraine. The mission consists of a 1.7m telescope able to perform: a) high resolution (R greater than 60000) spectroscopy by means of two echelle spectrographs covering the 103-310 nm range; b) long slit (1x75 arcsec) low resolution (R about 1500-2500) spectroscopy using a near-UV channel and a far-UV channel to cover the 102-310nm range; c) deep UV and diffraction limited UV and optical imaging (from 115 to 700 nm). Overall information on the project and on its science objectives are given by other two papers in these proceedings. Here we present the WSO-UV focal plane instruments, their status of implementation, and the expected performances.

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arXiv2007

Non-LTE line formation for heavy elements in four very metal-poor stars

Stellar parameters and abundances of Na, Mg, Al, K, Ca, Sr, Ba, and Eu are determined for four very metal-poor stars (-2.66 < [Fe/H] < -2.15) based on non-LTE line formation and analysis of high-resolution (R ~60000 and 90000) high signal-to-noise (S/N > 200) observed spectra. A model atom for H I is presented. An effective temperature was obtained from the Balmer Halpha and Hbeta line wing fits, the surface gravity from the Hipparcos parallax if available and the non-LTE ionization balance between Ca I and Ca II. Based on the hyperfine structure affecting the Ba II resonance line, the fractional abundance of the odd isotopes of Ba was derived for HD 84937 and HD 122563 from a requirement that Ba abundances from the resonance line and subordinate lines of Ba II must be equal. For each star, non-LTE leads to a consistency of Teff from two Balmer lines and to a higher temperature compared to the LTE case, by up to 60 K. Non-LTE effects are important in spectroscopic determination of surface gravity from Ca I/Ca II. For each star with a known trigonometric gravity, non-LTE abundances from the lines of two ionization stages agree within the error bars, while a difference in the LTE abundances consists of 0.23 dex to 0.40 dex for different stars. Departures from LTE are found to be significant for the investigated atoms, and they strongly depend on stellar parameters. For HD 84937, the Eu/Ba ratio is consistent with the relative solar system r-process abundances, and the fraction of the odd isotopes of Ba, f_odd, equals 0.43+-0.14. The latter can serve as a constraint on r-process models. The lower Eu/Ba ratio and f_odd = 0.22+-0.15 found for HD 122563 suggest that the s-process or the unknown process has contributed significantly to the Ba abundance in this star.

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