Search for: All records

Abstract Many of the short-lived radioactive nuclei that were present in the early solar system can be produced in massive stars. In the first paper in this series, we focused on the production of 26 Al in massive binaries. In our second paper, we considered rotating single stars; two more short-lived radioactive nuclei, 36 Cl and 41 Ca; and the comparison to the early solar system data. In this work, we update our previous conclusions by further considering the impact of binary interactions. We used the MESA stellar evolution code with an extended nuclear network to compute massive (10–80 M ⊙ ), binary stars at various initial periods and solar metallicity ( Z = 0.014), up to the onset of core collapse. The early solar system abundances of 26 Al and 41 Ca can be matched self-consistently by models with initial masses ≥25 M ⊙ , while models with initial primary masses ≥35 M ⊙ can also match 36 Cl. Almost none of the models provide positive net yields for 19 F, while for 22 Ne the net yields are positive from 30 M ⊙ and higher. This leads to an increase by a factor of approximately 4 in the amount of 22 Ne produced by a stellar population of binary stars, relative to single stars. In addition, besides the impact on the stellar yields, our 10 M ⊙ primary star undergoing Case A mass transfer ends its life as a white dwarf instead of as a core-collapse supernova. This demonstrates that binary interactions can also strongly impact the evolution of stars close to the supernova boundary. 

ABSTRACT Fluorine has many different potential sites and channels of production, making narrowing down a dominant site of fluorine production particularly challenging. In this work, we investigate which sources are the dominant contributors to the galactic fluorine by comparing chemical evolution models to observations of fluorine abundances in Milky Way stars covering a metallicity range of −2 < [Fe/H] < 0.4 and upper limits in the range of −3.4 < [Fe/H] < −2.3. In our models, we use a variety of stellar yield sets in order to explore the impact of varying both asymptotic giant branch (AGB) and massive star yields on the chemical evolution of fluorine. In particular, we investigate different prescriptions for initial rotational velocity in massive stars as well as a metallicity-dependent mix of rotational velocities. We find that the observed [F/O] and [F/Fe] abundance ratios at low metallicity and the increasing trend of [F/Ba] at [Fe/H] ≳ −1 can only be reproduced by chemical evolution models assuming, at all metallicities, a contribution from rapidly rotating massive stars with initial rotational velocities as high as 300 km s−1. A mix of rotational velocities may provide a more physical solution than the sole use of massive stars with vrot  =  300 km s−1, which are predicted to overestimate the fluorine and average s-process elemental abundances at [Fe/H] ≳ −1. The contribution from AGB stars is predicted to start at [Fe/H] ≈ −1 and becomes increasingly important at high metallicity, being strictly coupled to the evolution of the nitrogen abundance. Finally, by using modern yield sets, we investigate the fluorine abundances of Wolf–Rayet winds, ruling them out as dominant contributors to the galactic fluorine. 

Abstract Radioactive nuclei were present in the early solar system (ESS), as inferred from analysis of meteorites. Many are produced in massive stars, either during their lives or their final explosions. In the first paper of this series (Brinkman et al. 2019), we focused on the production of 26 Al in massive binaries. Here, we focus on the production of another two short-lived radioactive nuclei, 36 Cl and 41 Ca, and the comparison to the ESS data. We used the MESA stellar evolution code with an extended nuclear network and computed massive (10–80 M ⊙ ), rotating (with initial velocities of 150 and 300 km s −1 ) and nonrotating single stars at solar metallicity ( Z = 0.014) up to the onset of core collapse. We present the wind yields for the radioactive isotopes 26 Al, 36 Cl, and 41 Ca, and the stable isotopes 19 F and 22 Ne. In relation to the stable isotopes, we find that only the most massive models, ≥60 and ≥40 M ⊙ give positive 19 F and 22 Ne yields, respectively, depending on the initial rotation rate. In relation to the radioactive isotopes, we find that the ESS abundances of 26 Al and 41 Ca can be matched with by models with initial masses ≥40 M ⊙ , while 36 Cl is matched only by our most massive models, ≥60 M ⊙ . 60 Fe is not significantly produced by any wind model, as required by the observations. Therefore, massive star winds are a favored candidate for the origin of the very short-lived 26 Al, 36 Cl, and 41 Ca in the ESS.