1. A Perspective on the Milky Way Bulge Bar as Seen from the Neutron-capture Elements Cerium and Neodymium with APOGEE
- Author
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J. V. Sales-Silva, K. Cunha, V. V. Smith, S. Daflon, D. Souto, R. Guerço, A. Queiroz, C. Chiappini, C. R. Hayes, T. Masseron, Sten Hasselquist, D. Horta, N. Prantzos, M. Zoccali, C. Allende Prieto, B. Barbuy, R. Beaton, D. Bizyaev, J. G. Fernández-Trincado, P. M. Frinchaboy, J. A. Holtzman, J. A. Johnson, Henrik Jönsson, S. R. Majewski, D. Minniti, D. L. Nidever, R. P. Schiavon, M. Schultheis, J. Sobeck, G. S. Stringfellow, and G. Zasowski
- Subjects
Galaxy abundances ,Galaxy bulges ,Galaxy evolution ,Milky Way evolution ,Astrophysics ,QB460-466 - Abstract
This study probes the chemical abundances of the neutron-capture elements cerium and neodymium in the inner Milky Way from an analysis of a sample of ∼2000 stars in the Galactic bulge bar spatially contained within ∣ X _Gal ∣ < 5 kpc, ∣ Y _Gal ∣ < 3.5 kpc, and ∣ Z _Gal ∣ < 1 kpc, and spanning metallicities between −2.0 ≲ [Fe/H] ≲ +0.5. We classify the sample stars into low- or high-[Mg/Fe] populations and find that, in general, values of [Ce/Fe] and [Nd/Fe] increase as the metallicity decreases for the low- and high-[Mg/Fe] populations. Ce abundances show a more complex variation across the metallicity range of our bulge-bar sample when compared to Nd, with the r -process dominating the production of neutron-capture elements in the high-[Mg/Fe] population ([Ce/Nd] < 0.0). We find a spatial chemical dependence of Ce and Nd abundances for our sample of bulge-bar stars, with low- and high-[Mg/Fe] populations displaying a distinct abundance distribution. In the region close to the center of the MW, the low-[Mg/Fe] population is dominated by stars with low [Ce/Fe], [Ce/Mg], [Nd/Mg], [Nd/Fe], and [Ce/Nd] ratios. The low [Ce/Nd] ratio indicates a significant contribution in this central region from r -process yields for the low-[Mg/Fe] population. The chemical pattern of the most metal-poor stars in our sample suggests an early chemical enrichment of the bulge dominated by yields from core-collapse supernovae and r -process astrophysical sites, such as magnetorotational supernovae.
- Published
- 2024
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