arXiv subjects

Gabriele Cescutti

Publications and source records attributed to Gabriele Cescutti.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Beryllium enhancement in stars of the accreted Thamnos-2 system

Surveys of Galactic halo stars have revealed numerous streams and substructures tracing stellar populations accreted by the Milky Way. Among these, Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus (GSE) and Sequoia are the most prominent, both associated with dwarf galaxies accreted about 10 Gyr ago. We aim to measure beryllium abundances in nine stars associated with Thamnos, a substructure possibly linked to Sequoia, following the discovery of a Be-rich star BPM3066 by Monaco et al (2025). We used Gaia photometry and parallaxes to compute ATLAS9 model atmospheres. Synthetic spectra were generated with Turbospectrum and used with MyGIsFOS in single-model mode to analyze UVES high resolution spectra. Four new stars exhibit a significant beryllium overabundance. Moreover, the two known Be-rich stars, HD 106038 and HD 132475, are also found consistent with Thamnos membership. Thus, all currently known Be-rich stars appear associated with the Thamnos-2 structure. The Be enhancement is accompanied by elevated Si abundances, and we detect a correlation between Be and neutron-capture elements. No comparable Be-rich population is known elsewhere in the Galaxy, pointing to a rare enrichment event. The measured A(Be)/A(Li) excess ratio bears the imprint of spallation reactions, pointing to a highly energetic event in which fast CNO nuclei fragmented upon collision with the surrounding medium. The silicon overabundance is also consistent with a hypernova origin. Such an event may have rapidly enriched the surrounding gas to [Fe/H] about -1.5 explaining the relatively high metallicities of stars formed from this material despite their old ages (about 13 Gyr).

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arXiv2026

HRMOS: A High-Resolution Multi-Object Spectrograph for the VLT

This White Paper presents the scientific rationale and instrument concept for HRMOS (High-Resolution Multi-Object Spectrograph), a next-generation instrument proposed for the ESO Very Large Telescope within the VLT 2030 roadmap. Current and planned facilities offer either multi-object spectroscopy or ultra-high spectral resolution, but not both. HRMOS fills this gap by combining very high spectral resolution, multi-object capability, and radial-velocity stability, enabling transformative studies in Galactic and extragalactic astrophysics. The baseline design provides a resolving power of R = 80000, radial-velocity precision of 10 m s-1 (goal: 5 m s-1), simultaneous observations of 50-60 targets, and broad optical coverage down to 385 nm. These capabilities enable precise measurements of elemental abundances, isotopic ratios, line profiles, and radial velocities for large stellar samples, including crowded fields, star clusters, the Galactic bulge, and nearby dwarf galaxies. HRMOS will address key questions on the age of the oldest stellar populations through nucleocosmochronology, the formation and survival of planetary systems, the assembly history of the Milky Way and satellites, the origin of the heaviest elements, stellar evolution, and the chemical and dynamical properties of the interstellar and circumgalactic medium. It will bridge large spectroscopic surveys and the next generation of extremely large telescopes, with strong synergies with 4MOST, Gaia, TESS, PLATO, the proposed Haydn mission, and future ELT instruments. Building on VLT/FLAMES heritage, HRMOS represents a strategic investment for European astronomy in the 2030s.

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arXiv2026

The nucleosynthesis of Ba in the Early Universe. Constraints from elemental abundances and isotopic ratios

The [Ba/Eu] abundance ratio is commonly adopted as a tracer of the relative contributions of the slow (s) and rapid (r) neutron-capture processes. However, at [Fe/H] < -2 dex, Ba can be produced efficiently by both processes, rendering [Ba/Eu] non-deterministic. We propose to use barium isotopic ratio from the fitting of resonance Ba line profiles affected by hyperfine splitting. This approach requires precise atomic and stellar parameters, together with advanced spectral modelling, which, so far, remained insufficiently validated. We aim to provide a robust prescription of line-profile modelling for a reliable determination of the s- and r-processes fractions of barium in ordinary and peculiar stars. We assess the performance of 1D LTE and 1D non-LTE synthesis, and 3D non-LTE abundance corrections to model Ba lines. Alongside barium abundances and its isotopic ratios, we determine Eu and other neutron-capture element abundances to validate the method in the Titans metal-poor benchmark stars. The observational results are compared with the predictions of stochastic Galactic chemical evolution models that account the inhomogeneous mixing in the early times. We find that 1D LTE and 3D non-LTE Ba abundance determinations are equivalent, whereas the 1D non-LTE approach leads to systematic underestimations. These underestimations bias isotopic fractions toward higher r-process contributions. The inferred s- and r-process fractions demonstrate that [Ba/Eu] alone is an ambiguous tracer for ordinary stars within the range -0.8 < [Ba/Eu] < 0 dex. The comparison of our set of models, both for the proto-Milky Way halo and for Gaia-Enceladus galaxy is used to put constraints on the production of Ba at low [Fe/H], especially evaluating the role of rotating massive stars. The method here developed can be applied with confidence to both ordinary stars and peculiar stars enhanced in barium.

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arXiv2025

Mapping the Ages of Stars with Chemistry

Chemical clocks, based on age-sensitive stellar abundance ratios, offer a powerful and scalable approach to reconstruct the formation history of the Milky Way. This white paper outlines how wide-field, high-resolution spectroscopy can transform chemical clocks into precise and broadly applicable stellar age estimators when combined with astrometry and asteroseismology. We summarize the current limitations, including calibration across Galactic environments and the impact of internal stellar evolution, and define the observational requirements needed to overcome them. The Wide-field Spectroscopic Telescope (WST), with its large field of view, high multiplex, and broad wavelength coverage at high spectral resolution, is uniquely suited to deliver the homogeneous datasets required to map the age structure of the Galaxy at unprecedented scale. Such a capability will enable decisive progress in Galactic archaeology and stellar evolution studies.

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arXiv2025

Fluorine Evolution in the Galactic Halo

The chemical evolution of fluorine is still a matter of debate in Galactic archaeology, especially at low metallicities, where it is particularly challenging to obtain the corresponding chemical abundances from observations. We present here the first detailed theoretical study of the chemical evolution of fluorine at low metallicity by means of a stochastic chemical evolution model for the Galactic halo, in light of the most recent data for fluorine, which further pushed observations to lower metallicities down to [Fe/H]$\sim$-4 dex, more than a factor of 10 lower in metallicity than previous detections. We employ a state-of-the-art stochastic chemical evolution model to follow the evolution in the Galactic halo, which has been shown to reproduce well the main observables in this Galactic component and the abundance patterns of CNO and neutron-capture elements, and we implement nucleosynthesis prescriptions for fluorine, focusing on the chemical evolution of this element. By comparing recent observations with model predictions, we confirm the importance of rotating massive stars at low metallicities to explain both the [F/Fe] vs [Fe/H] and [F/O] vs [O/H] diagrams. In particular, we showed that we can reach high [F/Fe]$\sim$2 dex at [Fe/H]$\sim$-4 dex, in agreement with recent observations at the lowest metallicity. With a stochastic chemical evolution model for the Galactic halo, we confirm the importance of rotating massive stars as fluorine producers, as hinted by previous studies using chemical evolution models for the Galactic disc. We also expect an important production of F at high redshift, in agreement with recent detections of supersolar N by JWST. Further data for fluorine at low metallicities and also at high redshift would be needed to put further constraints on the chemical evolution of fluorine and be compared to our theoretical predictions.

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arXiv2025

Impact of AGB stars on the chemical evolution of neutron-capture elements

In this paper we discuss the impact of the s-process nucleosynthesis in Asymptotic Giant Branch stars on the enrichment of heavy elements. We review the main steps made on this subject in the last 40 years and discuss the importance of modelling the evolution of the abundances of such elements in our Milky Way. From the comparison between model results and observations, we can impose strong constraints on stellar nucleosynthesis as well as on the evolution of the Milky Way.

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arXiv2024

Modelling chemical clocks -- Theoretical evidences of the space and time evolution of [s/alpha] in the Galactic disc with Gaia-ESO survey

Chemical clocks based on [s-process elements/alpha-elements] ratios are widely used to estimate ages of Galactic stellar populations. However, the [s/alpha] vs. age relations are not universal, varying with metallicity, location in the Galactic disc, and specific s-process elements. Current Galactic chemical evolution models struggle to reproduce the observed [s/alpha] increase at young ages. We provide chemical evolution models for the Milky Way disc to identify the conditions required to reproduce the observed [s/H], [s/Fe], and [s/alpha] vs. age relations. We adopt a multi-zone chemical evolution model including state-of-the-art nucleosynthesis prescriptions for neutron-capture elements (AGB stars, rotating massive stars, neutron star mergers, magneto-driven supernovae). We explore variations in gas infall, AGB yield dependencies on progenitor stars, and rotational velocity distributions for massive stars. Results are compared with open cluster data from the Gaia-ESO survey. A three-infall scenario for disc formation captures the rise of [s/alpha] with age in the outer regions but fails in the inner ones, especially for second s-process peak elements. Ba production in the last 3 Gyr of chemical evolution would need to increase by half to match observations. S-process contributions from low-mass AGB stars improve predictions but require increases not supported by nucleosynthesis calculations, even with potential i-process contribution. Variations in the metallicity dependence of AGB yields show inconsistent effects across elements. Distributions of massive star rotational velocities fail to improve results due to balanced effects on elements. We confirm that there is no single relationship [s/alpha] vs. age, but that it varies along the MW disc. Current prescriptions for neutron-capture element yields cannot fully capture the complexity of evolution, particularly in the inner disc.

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arXiv2024

CUBES, the Cassegrain U-Band Efficient Spectrograph: towards final design review

In the era of Extremely Large Telescopes, the current generation of 8-10m facilities are likely to remain competitive at ground-UV wavelengths for the foreseeable future. The Cassegrain U-Band Efficient Spectrograph (CUBES) has been designed to provide high instrumental efficiency ( $>$ 37\%) observations in the near UV (305-400 nm requirement, 300-420 nm goal) at a spectral resolving power of R $>$ 20, 000 (with a lower-resolution, sky-limited mode of R $\sim$ 7, 000). With the design focusing on maximizing the instrument throughput (ensuring a Signal to Noise Ratio -SNR- $\sim$ 20 per spectral resolution element at 313 nm for U $\sim$ 17.5 mag objects in 1h of observations), it will offer new possibilities in many fields of astrophysics: i) access to key lines of stellar spectra (e.g. lighter elements, in particular Beryllium), extragalactic studies (e.g. circumgalactic medium of distant galaxies, cosmic UV background) and follow-up of explosive transients. We present the CUBES instrument design, currently in Phase-C and approaching the final design review, summarizing the hardware architecture and interfaces between the different subsystems as well as the relevant technical requirements. We describe the optical, mechanical, electrical design of the different subsystems (from the telescope adapter and support structure, through the main opto-mechanical path, including calibration unit, detector devices and cryostat control, main control electronics), detailing peculiar instrument functions like the Active Flexure Compensation (AFC). Furthermore, we outline the AITV concept and the main instrument operations giving an overview of its software ecosystem. Installation at the VLT is planned for 2028-2029 and first science operations in late 2029.

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arXiv2024

Tracing the Milky Way spiral arms with 26Al -- The role of nova systems in the 2D distribution of 26Al

Massive stars are one of the most important and investigated astrophysical production sites of $^{26}$Al, a short-lived radioisotope with $\sim$ 1 Myr half-life. Its short lifetime prevents us from observing its complete chemical history, and only the $^{26}$Al that was recently produced by massive stars can be observed. Hence, it is considered a tracer of star formation rate (SFR). However, important contributions to $^{26}$Al comes from nova systems that pollute the interstellar medium with a large delay, thus partly erasing the correlation between $^{26}$Al and SFR. In this work we describe the 2D distribution of the mass of $^{26}$Al as well as that of massive stars and nova systems in the Milky Way, to investigate their relative contributions to the production of $^{26}$Al. We use a detailed 2D chemical evolution model where the SFR is azimuthally dependent and is required to reproduce the spiral arm pattern observed in the Milky Way. We test two different models, one where the $^{26}$Al comes from massive stars and novae, and one with massive stars only. We then compare the predictions to the $\sim$ 2 M$_{\odot}$ of $^{26}$Al mass observed by the surveys COMPTEL and INTEGRAL. The results show that novae do not trace SFR and, in the solar vicinity, they concentrate in its minima. The effect of novae on the map of the $^{26}$Al mass consists in damping the spiral pattern by a factor of five. Regarding the nucleosynthesis, we find that $\sim$75% of the $^{26}$Al is produced by novae and the $\sim$25% by massive stars. We conclude that novae cannot be neglected as $^{26}$Al producers since the observations can only be reproduced by including their contribution. Moreover, we suggest that bulge novae should eject around six times more material than the disc ones to well reproduce the observed mass of $^{26}$Al.

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arXiv2024

There is No Place Like Home -- Finding Birth Radii of Stars in the Milky Way

Stars move away from their birthplaces over time via a process known as radial migration, which blurs chemo-kinematic relations used for reconstructing the Milky Way (MW) formation history. To understand the true time evolution of the MW, one needs to take into account the effects of this process. We show that stellar birth radii can be derived directly from the data with minimum prior assumptions on the Galactic enrichment history. This is done by first recovering the time evolution of the stellar birth metallicity gradient, $d\mathrm{[Fe/H]}(R, τ)/dR$, through its inverse relation to the metallicity range as a function of age today, allowing us to place any star with age and metallicity measurements back to its birthplace, $R_b$. Applying our method to a large, high-precision data set of MW disk subgiant stars, we find a steepening of the birth metallicity gradient from 11 to 8 Gyr ago, which coincides with the time of the last massive merger, Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus (GSE). This transition appears to play a major role in shaping both the age-metallicity relation and the bimodality in the [$α$/Fe]-[Fe/H] plane. By dissecting the disk into mono-$R_b$ populations, clumps in the low-[$α$/Fe] sequence appear, which are not seen in the total sample and coincide in time with known star-formation bursts, possibly associated with the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy. We estimated that the Sun was born at $4.5\pm 0.4$~kpc from the Galactic center. Our $R_b$ estimates provide the missing piece needed to recover the Milky Way formation history.

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arXiv2023

HRMOS White Paper: Science Motivation

The High-Resolution Multi-Object Spectrograph (HRMOS) is a facility instrument that we plan to propose for the Very Large Telescope (VLT) of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), following the initial presentation at the VLT 2030 workshop held at ESO in June 2019. HRMOS provides a combination of capabilities that are essential to carry out breakthrough science across a broad range of active research areas from stellar astrophysics and exoplanet studies to Galactic and Local Group archaeology. HRMOS fills a gap in capabilities amongst the landscape of future instrumentation planned for the next decade. The key characteristics of HRMOS will be high spectral resolution (R = 60000 - 80000) combined with multi-object (20-100) capabilities and long term stability that will provide excellent radial velocity precision and accuracy (10m/s). Initial designs predict that a SNR~100 will be achievable in about one hour for a star with mag(AB) = 15, while with the same exposure time a SNR~ 30 will be reached for a star with mag(AB) = 17. The combination of high resolution and multiplexing with wavelength coverage extending to relatively blue wavelengths (down to 380\,nm), makes HRMOS a spectrograph that will push the boundaries of our knowledge and that is envisioned as a workhorse instrument in the future. The science cases presented in this White Paper include topics and ideas developed by the Core Science Team with the contributions from the astronomical community, also through the wide participation in the first HRMOS Workshop (https://indico.ict.inaf.it/event/1547/) that took place in Firenze (Italy) in October 2021.

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arXiv2023

Origin of neutron capture elements with the Gaia-ESO survey: the evolution of s- and r-process elements across the Milky Way

We study the abundance patterns and the radial gradients of s-process elements (Y, Zr, Ba, La and Ce), r-process elements (Eu) and mixed-process elements (Mo, Nd and Pr) in the Galactic thin disc by means of a detailed two-infall chemical evolution model for the Milky Way with state-of-the-art nucleosynthesis prescriptions. We consider r-process nucleosynthesis from merging neutron stars (MNS), magneto-rotational supernovae (MR-SNe) and s-process synthesis from low- and intermediate- mass stars (LIMS) and rotating massive stars. The predictions of our model are compared with data from the sixth data release of the Gaia-ESO survey, from which we consider 62 open clusters with age > 0.1 Gyr and 1300 Milky Way disc field stars. We conclude that: i) the [Eu/Fe] vs. [Fe/H] is reproduced by both a prompt and a delayed source, but the quick source completely dominates the Eu production; ii) rotation in massive stars contribute substantially to the s-process elements of the first peak, but MNS and MR-SNe are necessary in order to reproduce the observations; iii) due to the adopted yields, our model overpredicts Pr and underpredicts Nd, while the [Mo/Fe] vs. [Fe/H] is nicely reproduced. For the radial gradients, we conclude that: i) our predicted slope of the [Fe/H] gradient is in agreement with the one observed in open clusters by Gaia-ESO and other high-resolution spectroscopic surveys. ii) The predicted slope of the [Eu/H] radial gradient is steeper than the observed one, independently on how quick the production of Eu is. We discuss the possible causes of this discrepancy in terms of both different Galaxy formation scenarios and stellar radial migration effects. iii) For all the elements belonging to the second s-process peak (Ba, La, Ce) as well as for Pr, we predict a plateau at low Galactocentric distances, which is probably due to the enhanced enrichment from LIMS in the inner regions.

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arXiv2023

Chemical clocks and their time zones: understanding the [s/Mg]--age relation with birth radii

The relative enrichment of s-process to $α$-elements ([s/$α$]) has been linked with age, providing a potentially useful avenue in exploring the Milky Way's chemical evolution. However, the age--[s/$α$] relationship is non-universal, with dependencies on metallicity and current location in the Galaxy. In this work, we examine these chemical clock tracers across birth radii ($\rm \text{R}_\text{birth}$), recovering the inherent trends between the variables. We derive $\rm \text{R}_\text{birth}$ and explore the [s/$α$]--age--$\rm \text{R}_\text{birth}$ relationship for 36,652 APOGEE DR17 red giant and 24,467 GALAH DR3 main sequence turnoff and subgiant branch disk stars using [Ce/Mg], [Ba/Mg], and [Y/Mg]. We discover that the age--[s/Mg] relation is strongly dependent on birth location in the Milky Way, with stars born in the inner disk having the weakest correlation. This is congruent with the Galaxy's initially weak, negative [s/Mg] radial gradient, which becomes positive and steep with time. We show that the non-universal relations of chemical clocks is caused by their fundamental trends with $\rm \text{R}_\text{birth}$ over time, and suggest that the tight age--[s/Mg] relation obtained with solar-like stars is due to similar $\rm \text{R}_\text{birth}$ for a given age. Our results are put into context with a Galactic chemical evolution model, where we demonstrate the need for data-driven nucleosynthetic yields.

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arXiv2023

Metal Mixing in the R-Process Enhanced Ultra-Faint Dwarf Galaxy Reticulum II

The ultra-faint dwarf galaxy Reticulum~II was enriched by a single rare and prolific r-process event. The r-process content of Reticulum~II thus provides a unique opportunity to study metal mixing in a relic first galaxy. Using multi-object high-resolution spectroscopy with VLT/GIRAFFE and Magellan/M2FS, we identify 32 clear spectroscopic member stars and measure abundances of Mg, Ca, Fe, and Ba where possible. We find $72^{+10}_{-12}$% of the stars are r-process-enhanced, with a mean $\left\langle\mbox{[Ba/H]}\right\rangle=-1.68~\pm~0.07$ and unresolved intrinsic dispersion $σ_{\rm [Ba/H]} < 0.20$. The homogeneous r-process abundances imply that Ret~II's metals are well-mixed by the time the r-enhanced stars form, which simulations have shown requires at least 100 Myr of metal mixing in between bursts of star formation to homogenize. This is the first direct evidence of bursty star formation in an ultra-faint dwarf galaxy. The homogeneous dilution prefers a prompt and high-yield r-process site, such as collapsar disk winds or prompt neutron star mergers. We also find evidence from [Ba/H] and [Mg/Ca] that the r-enhanced stars in Ret~II formed in the absence of substantial pristine gas accretion, perhaps indicating that ${\approx}70$% of Ret~II stars formed after reionization.

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arXiv2022

The CUBES Science Case

We introduce the scientific motivations for the development of the Cassegrain U-Band Efficient Spectrograph (CUBES) that is now in construction for the Very Large Telescope. The assembled cases span a broad range of contemporary topics across Solar System, Galactic and extragalactic astronomy, where observations are limited by the performance of current ground-based spectrographs shortwards of 400nm. A brief background to each case is presented and specific technical requirements on the instrument design that flow-down from each case are identified. These were used as inputs to the CUBES design, that will provide a factor of ten gain in efficiency for astronomical spectroscopy over 300-405nm, at resolving powers of R~24,000 and ~7,000. We include performance estimates that demonstrate the ability of CUBES to observe sources that are up to three magnitudes fainter than currently possible at ground-ultraviolet wavelengths, and we place its predicted performance in the context of existing facillities.

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arXiv2022

The neutron-capture and alpha-elements abundance ratios scatter in old stellar populations. Cosmological simulations of the stellar halo

We investigate the origin of the abundance ratios and scatter of the neutron-capture elements Sr, Ba and Eu in the stellar halo of a Milky Way-mass galaxy formed in a hydrodynamical cosmological simulation, and compare them with those of $α$-elements. For this, we implement a novel treatment for chemical enrichment of Type II supernovae which considers the effects of the rotation of massive stars on the chemical yields and differential enrichment according to the life-times of progenitor stars. We find that differential enrichment has a significant impact on the early enrichment of the interstellar medium which is translated into broader element ratio distributions, particularly in the case of the oldest, most metal-poor stars. We find that the [element/Fe] ratios of the $α-$elements O, Mg and Si have systematically lower scatter compared to the neutron-capture elements ratios Sr, Ba and Eu at [Fe/H]$<-2$, which is $\sim 0.1-0.4$ dex for the former and between $\sim 0.5$ and $1$ dex for the latter. The different scatter levels found for the neutron-capture and $α$-elements is consistent with observations of old stars in the Milky Way. Our model also predicts a high scatter for the [Sr/Ba] ratio, which results from the treatment of the fast-rotating stars and the dependence of the chemical yields on the metallicity, mass and rotational velocities. Such chemical patterns appear naturally if the different ejection times associated to stars of different mass are properly described, without the need to invoke for additional mixing mechanisms or a distinct treatment of the $α-$ and neutron-capture elements.

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arXiv2022

CUBES Phase A design overview -- The Cassegrain U-Band Efficient Spectrograph for the Very Large Telescope

We present the baseline conceptual design of the Cassegrain U-Band Efficient Spectrograph (CUBES) for the Very Large Telescope. CUBES will provide unprecedented sensitivity for spectroscopy on a 8 - 10 m class telescope in the ground ultraviolet (UV), spanning a bandwidth of > 100 nm that starts at 300 nm, the shortest wavelength accessible from the ground. The design has been optimized for end-to-end efficiency and provides a spectral resolving power of R > 20000, that will unlock a broad range of new topics across solar system, Galactic and extraglactic astronomy. The design also features a second, lower-resolution (R \sim 7000) mode and has the option of a fiberlink to the UVES instrument for simultaneous observations at longer wavelengths. Here we present the optical, mechanical and software design of the various subsystems of the instrument after the Phase A study of the project. We discuss the expected performances for the layout choices and highlight some of the performance trade-offs considered to best meet the instrument top-level requirements. We also introduce the model-based system engineering approach used to organize and manage the project activities and interfaces, in the context that it is increasingly necessary to integrate such tools in the development of complex astronomical projects.

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arXiv2021

Detection of $^7$Be II in the Small Magellanic Cloud

We analyse high resolution spectra of two classical novae that exploded in the Small Magellanic Cloud. $^7$Be II resonance transitions are detected in both ASASSN-19qv and ASASSN-20ni novae. This is the first detection outside the Galaxy and confirms that thermo-nuclear runaway reactions, leading to the $^7$Be formation, are effective also in the low metallicity regime, characteristic of the SMC. Derived yields are of N($^7$Be=$^7$Li)/N(H) = (5.3 $\pm$ 0.2) $\times$ 10$^{-6}$ which are a factor 4 lower than the typical values of the Galaxy. Inspection of two historical novae in the Large Magellanic Cloud observed with IUE in 1991 and 1992 showed also the possible presence of $^7$Be and similar yields. For an ejecta of $M_{H,ej} =$ 10$^{-5}$ M$_{\odot}$, the amount of $^7$Li produced is of $M_{^7 Li} = (3.7 \pm 0.6) \times 10^{-10}$ M$_{\odot}$ per nova event. Detailed chemical evolutionary model for the SMC shows that novae could have made an amount of lithium in the SMC corresponding to a fractional abundance of A(Li) $\approx$ 2.6. Therefore, it is argued that a comparison with the abundance of Li in the SMC, as measured by its interstellar medium, could effectively constrain the amount of the initial abundance of primordial Li, which is currently controversial.

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