Production of lithium in primordial supernovae

Alexander Heger, Stan Woosley

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference PaperResearch

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

The first generation of stars is quite unique. The absence of metals likely affects their formation, with current models suggesting a much more top-heavy initial mass fraction than what we observe today, and some of their other properties, such as rotation rates and binarity, are largely unknown or constrained by direct observations. But even non-rotation single stars of a given mass will evolve quite differently due to the absence of the metals: the stars will mostly remain much more compact until their death, with the hydrogen-rich later reaching down ten teems deeper in radius than in modern stars. When they explode as supernovae, the exposure to the supernova neutrino flux is much enhanced, allowing for copious production of lithium. This production will not be constant for all stars but largely vary across the mass range. Such production even more challenges the presence of the Spite Plateau.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationMemorie della Societa Astronomica Italiana - Journal of the Italian Astronomical Society
EditorsG Cescutti, A J Korn, P Ventura
Place of PublicationItaly
PublisherItalian Astronomical Society (SAIt)
Pages58-62
Number of pages5
Volume91
Edition1-2
Publication statusPublished - 2020
EventLithium in the Universe: to Be or not to Be? - Monte Porzio Catone, Italy
Duration: 18 Nov 201922 Nov 2019
https://lithiumintheuniverse.wixsite.com/lithium2019

Publication series

NameMemorie della Societa Astronomica Italiana - Journal of the Italian Astronomical Society
PublisherSocieta Astronomica Italiana
ISSN (Print)1824-016X

Conference

ConferenceLithium in the Universe
Country/TerritoryItaly
CityMonte Porzio Catone
Period18/11/1922/11/19
OtherThe meeting will bring together experts from various fields to discuss the role played by lithium in several astrophysical contexts and to highlight the extraordinary character of this chemical species, as a tracer of the structure and evolution of stars, galaxies and the Universe.

The main topics of the meeting will be:
* Big Bang nucleosynthesis
* Nuclear reaction rates involving lithium and beryllium
* Physical processes in stellar interiors as traced by Li, Be, and B
* Hot bottom burning in massive AGB stars
* Lithium depletion in pre-MS stars and brown dwarfs
* Lithium and Beryllium in novae
* Lithium in stellar clusters
* Galaxy evolution
* Lithium as tracer of the evolution of extra-galactic systems
* Lithium and the First stars
* Evolution in the disc and the bulge of the Milky Way

* Li abundance modelling
Internet address

Keywords

  • Abundance:Li
  • Stars: abundances
  • Stars: Population III
  • Stars: Supernovae

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