Explaining the Sr and Ba scatter in extremely metal-poor stars

Abstract

Compilations of abundances of strontium and barium in extremely metal-poor stars show that an apparent cutoff is observed for [Sr/Ba] at [Fe/H] -3.6 with a clear upper bound depending on metallicity. We study the factors that place upper limits on the logarithmic ratio [Sr/Ba]. A model is developed in which the collapses of type II supernovae are found to reproduce many of the features seen in the data. This model is consistent with galactic chemical evolution constraints of light-element enrichment in metal-poor stars. Effects of turbulence in an explosive site have also been simulated, and are found to be important in explaining the large scatter observed in the [Sr/Ba] data. © 2013 The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.