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Takuma Suda

Publications and source records attributed to Takuma Suda.

49 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

The Stellar Abundances for Galactic Archaeology (SAGA) Database II - Implications for Mixing and Nucleosynthesis in Extremely Metal-Poor Stars and Chemical Enrichment of the Galaxy

We discuss the characteristics of known extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars in the Galaxy using the Stellar Abundances for Galactic Archaeology (SAGA) database (Suda et al. 2008, PASJ, 60, 1159).The analyses of carbon-enhanced stars in our sample suggest that the nucleosynthesis in AGB stars can contribute to the carbon enrichment in a different way depending on whether the metallicity is above or below [Fe/H] ~ -2.5, which is consistent with the current models of stellar evolution at low metallicity. We find the transition of the initial mass function at [Fe/H] ~ -2 in the viewpoint of the distribution of carbon abundance and the frequency of carbon-enhanced stars. For observed EMP stars, we confirmed that some, not all, of observed stars might have undergone at least two types of extra mixing to change their surface abundances. One is to deplete the lithium abundance during the early phase of red giant branch. Another is to decrease the C/N ratio by one order of magnitude during the red giant branch phase. Observed small scatters of abundances for alpha-elements and iron-group elements suggest that the chemical enrichment of our Galaxy takes place in a well-mixed interstellar medium. We find that the abundance trends of alpha-elements are highly correlated with each other, while the abundances of iron-group elements are subject to different slopes relative to the iron abundance. This implies that the supernova yields of alpha-elements are almost independent of mass and metallicity, while those of iron-group elements have a metallicity dependence or mass dependence with the variable initial mass function.The occurrence of the hot bottom burning in the mass range of 5 <~ M / Msun <~ 6 is consistent with the initial mass function of the Galaxy peaked at ~ 10 - 12 Msun to be compatible with the statistics of carbon enhanced stars with and without s-process element (truncated)

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Formation History of Metal-Poor Halo Stars with Hierarchical Model and the Effect of ISM accretion on the Most Metal-Poor Stars

We investigate the star formation and chemical evolution in the early universe by considering the merging history of the Galaxy in the ΛCDM scenario according to the extended Press-Schechter theory. We give some possible constraints from comparisons with observation of extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars. We demonstrate that (1) The hierarchical structure formation can explain the characteristics of the observed metallicity distribution function (MDF) including a break around [Fe/H]~-4. (2) A high mass IMF of peak mass ~10Msun with the contribution of binaries, derived from the statistics of carbon enhanced EMP stars (Komiya et al. 2007), predicts the frequency of low-mass survivors consistent with the number of EMP stars observed for -4~<[Fe/H]~<-2.5. (3) The stars formed from primordial gas before the first supernova explosions in their host mini-halos are assigned to the HMP stars with [Fe/H]~-5. (4) There is no indication of significant changes in the IMF and the binary contribution at metallicity -4~<[Fe/H]~<-2.5, or even larger as long as the field stars of Galactic halo are concerned. We further study the effects of the surface pollution through the accretion of ISM along the chemical and dynamical evolution of the Galaxy for low-mass Pop.III and EMP survivors. Because of shallower potential of smaller halos, the accretion of ISM in the mini-halos in which these stars were born dominates the surface metal pollution. This can account for the surface iron abundances as observed for the HMP stars if the cooling and concentration of gas in their birth mini-halos is taken into account. We also study the feedback effect from the very massive Pop. III stars. The metal pre-pollution by PISNe is shown to be compatible with the observed lack of their nucleosynthetic signatures when some positive feedback on gas cooling works and changes IMF from being very massive to being high mass.

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Evolution of Low- and Intermediate-Mass Stars with [Fe/H] <= -2.5

We present extensive sets of stellar models for 0.8-9.0Msun in mass and -5 <= [Fe/H] <= -2 and Z = 0 in metallicity. The present work focuses on the evolutionary characteristics of hydrogen mixing into the He-flash convective zones during the core and shell He flashes which occurs for the models with [Fe/H] <~ -2.5. Evolution is followed from the zero age MS to the TPAGB phase including the hydrogen engulfment by the He-flash convection during the RGB or AGB phase. There exist various types of mixing episodes of how the H mixing sets in and how it affects the final abundances at the surface. In particular, we find H ingestion events without dredge-ups that enables repeated neutron-capture nucleosynthesis in the He flash convective zones with 13 C(a,n)16 O as neutron source. For Z = 0, the mixing and dredge-up processes vary with the initial mass, which results in different final abundances in the surface. We investigate the occurrence of these events for various initial mass and metallicity to find the metallicity dependence for the He-flash driven deep mixing (He-FDDM) and also for the third dredge-up (TDU) events. In our models, we find He-FDDM for M <= 3Msun for Z = 0 and for M <~ 2Msun for -5 <~ [Fe/H] <~ -3. On the other hand, the occurrence of the TDU is limited to the mass range of ~1.5Msun to ~5Msun for [Fe/H] = -3, which narrows with decreasing metallicity. The paper also discusses the implications of the results of model computations for observations. We compared the abundance pattern of CNO abundances with observed metal-poor stars. The origins of most iron-deficient stars are discussed by assuming that these stars are affected by binary mass transfer. We also point out the existence of a blue horizontal branch for -4 <~ [Fe/H] <~ -2.5.

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Oxygen and light element synthesis by neutron-capture reactions in metal-free and extremely metal-poor AGB stars

The metal-free (Pop. III) and extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars of low- and intermediate-masses experience mixing of hydrogen into the helium convection during the early TP-AGB phase, differently from the meal-rich stars. We study the nucleosynthesis in the helium convective zone with 13C formed from mixed protons as neutron source by using a nuclear network from H through S. In the absence or scarcity of the pristine metals, the neutron-recycling reactions, 12C(n,g)13C(a,n)16O and also 16O(n,g)17O(a,n)20Ne promote the synthesis of O and light elements, including their neutron-rich isotopes and the odd atomic number elements. Based on the results, we demonstrate that the peculiar abundance patterns of C through Al observed for the three most iron-deficient, carbon-rich stars can be reproduced in terms of the nucleosynthesis in Pop. III, AGB stars in the different mass range. We argue that these three stars were born as the low-mass members of Pop. III binaries and later subject to the surface pollution by the mass transfer in the binary systems. It is also shown that the AGB nucleosynthesis with hydrogen mixing explains the abundances of C, O, Na, Mg and Al observed for most of carbon-enhanced EMP (CEMP) stars, including all CEMP-s stars with s-process elements. In addition the present results are used to single out other nucleosynthetic signatures of early generations of stars.

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Early-Age Evolution of the Milky Way Related by Extremely Metal-Poor Stars

We exploit the recent observations of extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars in the Galactic halo and investigate the constraints on the IMF of the stellar population that left these low-mass survivors of [Fe/H]<-2.5 and the chemical evolution that they took part in. A high-mass IMF with the typical mass~10Msun and the overwhelming contribution of low-mass members of binaries to the EMP survivors are derived from the statistics of carbon-enriched EMP stars with and without the enhancement of s-process elements (Komiya et al. 2007). We first examine the analysis to confirm their results for various assumptions on the mass-ratio distribution function. As compared with the uniform distribution, the increase or decrease function of the mass ratio gives a higher- or lower-mass IMF, and a lower-mass IMF results for the independent distribution with the both members in the same IMF, but the derived ranges of typical mass differ less than by a factor of two and overlap for the extreme cases. Furthermore, we prove that the same constraints are placed on the IMF from the surface density of EMP stars estimated from the surveys and the chemical evolution consistent with the metal yields of theoretical supernova models. We then apply the derived high-mass IMF with the binary contribution to show that the observed MDF of EMP stars can be reproduced not only for the shape but also for the number of EMP stars. In particular, the scarcity of stars below [Fe/H]<-4 is naturally explained in terms of the hierarchical structure formation, and there is no indication of significant changes in the IMF for the EMP Population. The present study indicates that 3 HMP stars of [Fe/H]<-4 are the primordial stars that were born as the low-mass members of binaries before the host clouds were polluted by their own supernovae.

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The Stellar Abundances for Galactic Archeology (SAGA) Database - Compilation of the Characteristics of Known Extremely Metal-Poor Stars

We describe the construction of a database of extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars in the Galactic halo whose elemental abundances have been determined. Our database contains detailed elemental abundances, reported equivalent widths, atmospheric parameters, photometry, and binarity status, compiled from papers in the recent literature that report studies of EMP halo stars with [Fe/H] < -2.5. The compilation procedures for this database have been designed to assemble the data effectively from electronic tables available from online journals. We have also developed a data retrieval system that enables data searches by various criteria, and permits the user to explore relationships between the stored variables graphically. Currently, our sample includes 1212 unique stars (many of which are studied by more than one group) with more than 15000 individual reported elemental abundances, covering all of the relevant papers published by December 2007. We discuss the global characteristics of the present database, as revealed by the EMP stars observed to date. For stars with [Fe/H] < -2.5, the number of giants with reported abundances is larger than that of dwarfs by a factor of two. The fraction of carbon-rich stars (among the sample for which the carbon abundance is reported) amount to ~30 % for [Fe/H] < -2.5. We find that known binaries exhibit different distributions of orbital period, according to whether they are giants or dwarfs, and also as a function of metallicity, although the total sample of such stars is still quite small.

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Highly He-Rich Matter Dredged Up by Extra Mixing through Stellar Encounters in Globular Clusters

The unveiled main-sequence splitting in omega Centauri as well as NGC 2808 suggests that matter highly-enriched in He (in terms of its mass fraction Y~0.4) was produced and made the color of some main-sequence stars bluer in these globular clusters (GCs). The potential production site for the He-rich matter is generally considered to be massive AGB stars that experience the second dredge-up. However, it is found that massive AGB stars provide the matter with Y~0.35 at most, while the observed blue-shift requires the presence of Y~0.4 matter. Here, we show that extra mixing, which operates in the red giant phase of stars less massive than ~2Msun, could be a mechanism that enhances He content in their envelopes up to Y~0.4. The extra mixing is supposed to be induced by red giant encounters with other stars in a collisional system like GCs. The Y~0.4 matter released in the AGB phase has alternative fates to (i) escape from a GC or (ii) be captured by kinematically cool stars through encounters. The AGB ejecta in omega Cen, which follows the latter case, can supply sufficient He to cause the observed blue-shift. Simultaneously, this scheme generates the extreme horizontal branch, as observed in omega Cen in response to the higher mass loss rates, which is also caused by stellar encounters.

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The IMF of Extremely Metal-Poor Stars and the Probe into the Star-Formation Process of the Milky Way

We discuss the star formation history of the Galaxy, based on the observations of extremely metal-poor stars (EMP) in the Galactic halo, to gain an insight into the evolution and structure formation in the early universe. The initialmass function (IMF) of EMP stars is derived from the observed fraction of carbon-enhanced EXP (CEMP) stars among the EMP survivors, which are thought to originate from the evolution in the close binary systems with mass transfer. Relying upon the theory of the evolution of EMP stars and of their binary evolution, we find that stars of metallicity [Fe/H]<-2.5 were formed at typical mass of ~10M_sun. The top heavy IMF thus obtained is applied to study the early chemical evolution of the Galaxy. We construct the merging history of our Galaxy semi-analytically and derive the metallicity distribution function (MDF) of low-mass EMP stars that survive to date with taking into account the contribution of binary systems. It is shown that the resultant MDF can well reproduce the observed distribution of EMP survivors, and, in particular, that they almost all stem from a less-mass companion in binary systems. We also investigate how first stars affect the MDF of EMP stars.

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Evolution of Low-Mass Population III Stars

We present the evolutionary models of metal-free stars in the mass range from 0.8 to 1.2 Msun with up-to-date input physics. The evolution is followed to the onset of hydrogen mixing into a convection, driven by the helium flash at red giant or asymptotic giant branch phase. The models of mass M >= 0.9 Msun undergo the central hydrogen flash, triggered by the carbon production due to the 3-alpha reactions. We find that the border of the off-center and central ignition of helium core flash falls between 1.1 and 1.2 Msun; the models of mass M <= 1.1 Msun experience the hydrogen mixing at the tip of red giant branch while the models of M = 1.2 Msun during the helium shell flashes on the asymptotic giant branch. The equation of state for the Coulomb liquid region, where electron conduction and radiation compete, is shown to be important since it affects the thermal state in the helium core and influences the red giant branch evolution. It is also found that the non-resonant term of 3-alpha reactios plays an important role, although it has negligible effect in the evolution of stars of younger populations. We compare our models with the computations by several other sets of authors, to confirm the good agreement except for one study which finds the helium ignition much closer to the center with consequences important for subsequent evolution.

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Surface pollution of main-sequence stars through encounters with AGB ejecta in omega Centauri

The origin of a double main-sequence (MS) in omega Centauri is explored. We have shown from theoretical calculations on the stellar evolution that the colors of MS stars are shifted to those of the observed blue MS if the surface layers are polluted by He-rich materials with the mass of ~ 0.1 solar mass. Stars are supposed to be polluted through numerous encounters with the ejecta descended from massive asymptotic giant-branch (AGB) stars. Two populations of stars with different kinematics exceptionally observed in omega Cen indicate that kinematically cooler stars are more polluted through encounters with AGB ejecta than kinematically hotter ones because the accretion rate is inversely proportional to the cube of the relative velocity. We propose that both of these factors split the MS in omega Cen. This theoretical scheme explains why only omega Cen exhibit a double MS and matches the amount of He necessary to produce the blue MS with that supplied from massive AGB stars. Furthermore, we predict that even if globular clusters (GCs) possess only one generation of stars, the velocity dispersion of stars broaden the MS in the color-magnitude diagram as long as the GCs are massive enough to keep the AGB ejecta after the burst of star formation. This view explains the broad MS recently found in the GC NGC 2808 which exhibits no scatter in [Fe/H] and thus is likely to consist of a single generation of stars unlike the case of omega Cen.

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The Origin of Carbon-Enhancement and Initial Mass Function of Extremely Metal-Poor Stars in the Galactic Halo

It is known that the carbon-enhanced, extremely metal-poor (CEMP) stars constitute a substantial proportion in the extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars of the Galactic Halo, by far larger than CH stars in Population II stars. We investigate their origin with taking into account an additional evolutionary path to the surface carbon-enrichment, triggered by hydrogen engulfment by the helium flash convection, in EMP stars of $[Fe/H] \lesssim -2.5$. This process is distinct from the third dredge-up operating in more metal-rich stars and also in EMP stars. In binary systems of EMP stars, the secondary stars become CEMP stars through mass transfer from the primary stars of low and intermediate masses, which have developed the surface carbon-enhancement. Our binary scenario can predict the variations in the abundances not only for carbon but also for nitrogen and s-process elements and reasonably explain the observed properties such as the stellar distributions with respect to the carbon abundances, the binary periods, and the evolutionary stages. Furthermore, from the observed frequencies of CEMP stars with and without s-process element enhancement, we demonstrate that the initial mass function of EMP stars need to give the mean mass $~10\msun$ under the reasonable assumptions on the distributions of orbital separations and mass ratio of binary components. This also indicates that the currently observed EMP stars were exclusively born as the secondary members of binaries, making up $\sim 10%$ remnants of EMP binary systems of mass $~10^8\msun$ in total; in addition to CEMP stars with white dwarf companions, a significant fraction of them have experienced supernova explosions of their companions. We discuss the implications of the present results in relation to the formation of Galactic halo.

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Various Modes of Helium Mixing in Globular Cluster Giants and Their Possible Effects on the Horizontal Branch Morphology

It has been known for a long time that some red giants in globular clusters exhibit large star-to-star variations in the abundances of light elements that are not exhibited by field giants. This fact can be taken as evidence that the extra mixing mechanism(s) that operate in globular cluster giants may be consequences of star-star interactions in the dense stellar environment. In order to constrain the extra mixing mechanism(s), we study the influence of helium enrichment along the red giant branch (RGB) on the evolution of stars through the horizontal branch. Three possible modes of helium enrichment are considered, associated with close encounters of stars in the globular clusters. We show that as a consequence of the variations in the core mass as well as in the total mass due to mass loss, the color of horizontal branch models are distributed over almost all range of horizontal branch. The results are discussed in relation to the scenario for the origin of the abundance anomalies and for the effects on the morphology of horizontal branch. We argue that the star-star interactions can explain not only the source of angular momentum of rapid rotation but also provide a mechanism for the bimodal distribution of rotation rates in some globular clusters. We also propose the time elapsed from the latest core collapse phase during the gravo-thermal oscillations as the second parameter to explain the variations in HB morphology among the globular clusters.

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The origin of HE0107-5240 and the production of O and Na in extremely metal-poor stars

We elaborate the binary scenario for the origin of HE0107-5240, the most metal-poor star yet observed ([Fe/H] = -5.3), using current knowledge of the evolution of extremely metal-poor stars. From the observed C/N value, we estimate the binary separation and period. Nucleosynthesis in a helium convective zone into which hydrogen has been injected allows us to discuss the origin of surface O and Na as well as the abundance distribution of s-process elements. We can explain the observed abundances of 12C, 13C, N, O, and Na and predict future observations to validate the Pop III nature of HE0107-5240.

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