Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

The GALAH survey : A new constraint on cosmological lithium and Galactic lithium evolution from warm dwarf stars

Gao, Xudong ; Lind, Karin ; Amarsi, Anish M. ; Buder, Sven ; Bland-Hawthorn, Joss ; Campbell, Simon W. ; Asplund, Martin ; Casey, Andrew R. ; De Silva, Gayandhi M. and Freeman, Ken C. , et al. (2020) In Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters 497(1). p.30-34
Abstract

Lithium depletion and enrichment in the cosmos is not yet well understood. To help tighten constraints on stellar and Galactic evolution models, we present the largest high-resolution analysis of Li abundances A(Li) to date, with results for over $100\, 000$ GALAH (Galactic Archeology with HERMES) field stars spanning effective temperatures $5900\, \mathrm{K} \lesssim T_{\mathrm{eff}}\lesssim 7000\, \mathrm{K}$ and metallicities-3 â [Fe/H] â +0.5. We separated these stars into two groups, on the warm and cool sides of the so-called Li dip, a localized region of the Kiel diagram wherein lithium is severely depleted. We discovered that stars in these two groups show similar trends in the A(Li)-[Fe/H] plane, but with a roughly constant... (More)

Lithium depletion and enrichment in the cosmos is not yet well understood. To help tighten constraints on stellar and Galactic evolution models, we present the largest high-resolution analysis of Li abundances A(Li) to date, with results for over $100\, 000$ GALAH (Galactic Archeology with HERMES) field stars spanning effective temperatures $5900\, \mathrm{K} \lesssim T_{\mathrm{eff}}\lesssim 7000\, \mathrm{K}$ and metallicities-3 â [Fe/H] â +0.5. We separated these stars into two groups, on the warm and cool sides of the so-called Li dip, a localized region of the Kiel diagram wherein lithium is severely depleted. We discovered that stars in these two groups show similar trends in the A(Li)-[Fe/H] plane, but with a roughly constant offset in A(Li) of $0.4\, \mathrm{dex}$, the warm group having higher Li abundances. At $\rm [Fe/H]\gtrsim-0.5$, a significant increase in Li abundance with increasing metallicity is evident in both groups, signalling the onset of significant Galactic production. At lower metallicity, stars in the cool group sit on the Spite plateau, showing a reduced lithium of around $0.4\, \mathrm{dex}$ relative to the primordial value predicted from big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN). However, stars in the warm group between [Fe/H] =-1.0 and-0.5 form an elevated plateau that is largely consistent with the BBN prediction. This may indicate that these stars in fact preserve the primordial Li produced in the early Universe.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
@article{d9780472-ffec-4b04-a294-f102c70f4e8e,
  abstract     = {{<p>Lithium depletion and enrichment in the cosmos is not yet well understood. To help tighten constraints on stellar and Galactic evolution models, we present the largest high-resolution analysis of Li abundances A(Li) to date, with results for over $100\, 000$ GALAH (Galactic Archeology with HERMES) field stars spanning effective temperatures $5900\, \mathrm{K} \lesssim T_{\mathrm{eff}}\lesssim 7000\, \mathrm{K}$ and metallicities-3 â [Fe/H] â +0.5. We separated these stars into two groups, on the warm and cool sides of the so-called Li dip, a localized region of the Kiel diagram wherein lithium is severely depleted. We discovered that stars in these two groups show similar trends in the A(Li)-[Fe/H] plane, but with a roughly constant offset in A(Li) of $0.4\, \mathrm{dex}$, the warm group having higher Li abundances. At $\rm [Fe/H]\gtrsim-0.5$, a significant increase in Li abundance with increasing metallicity is evident in both groups, signalling the onset of significant Galactic production. At lower metallicity, stars in the cool group sit on the Spite plateau, showing a reduced lithium of around $0.4\, \mathrm{dex}$ relative to the primordial value predicted from big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN). However, stars in the warm group between [Fe/H] =-1.0 and-0.5 form an elevated plateau that is largely consistent with the BBN prediction. This may indicate that these stars in fact preserve the primordial Li produced in the early Universe. </p>}},
  author       = {{Gao, Xudong and Lind, Karin and Amarsi, Anish M. and Buder, Sven and Bland-Hawthorn, Joss and Campbell, Simon W. and Asplund, Martin and Casey, Andrew R. and De Silva, Gayandhi M. and Freeman, Ken C. and Hayden, Michael R. and Lewis, Geraint F. and Martell, Sarah L. and Simpson, Jeffrey D. and Sharma, Sanjib and Zucker, Daniel B. and Zwitter, Toma and Horner, Jonathan and Munari, Ulisse and Nordlander, Thomas and Stello, Dennis and Ting, Yuan Sen and Traven, Gregor and Wittenmyer, Robert A.}},
  issn         = {{1745-3925}},
  keywords     = {{cosmology: primordial nucleosynthesis; Galaxy: Abundances; stars: Abundances; stars: Atmospheres; stars: late-Type; techniques: spectroscopic}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{30--34}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters}},
  title        = {{The GALAH survey : A new constraint on cosmological lithium and Galactic lithium evolution from warm dwarf stars}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnrasl/slaa109}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/mnrasl/slaa109}},
  volume       = {{497}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}