Models for extremely metal-poor halo stars

Abstract

Two alternative scenarios concerning the origin and evolution of extremely metal-poor halo stars are investigated. The first one assumes that the stars have been completely metal-free initially and produced observed carbon and nitrogen overabundances during the peculiar core helium flash typical of low-mass Population III stars. The second scenario assumes that the initial composition resulted from a mixture of primordial material with ejecta from a single primordial supernova. Both scenarios are shown to have problems in reproducing C, N, and O abundances simultaneously, and both disagree with observed 12C/13C-ratios, although in different directions. We concentrate on the most iron-poor, carbon-rich object of this class, HE 0107-5240, and conclude that the second scenario presently offers the more promising approach to understand these objects, in particular because evolutionary tracks match observations very well.