Chemical Abundances in Symbiotic Stars

TL;DR

This study investigates the chemical abundances in symbiotic stars using population synthesis, revealing insights into their composition, evolutionary processes, and the effects of stellar mixing and ejected material on nebular chemistry.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed simulation-based analysis of chemical abundances in symbiotic stars, linking observed ratios to stellar processes and evolution.

Findings

O-rich to C-rich star ratio varies with stellar wind parameters

Fraction of C-rich cool giants depends on mass-loss and binary interactions

Nebular abundances are often modified by hot component ejections

Abstract

We have carried out a study of the chemical abundances of $^1$H, $^4$He, $^{12}$C, $^{13}$C, $^{14}$N, $^{15}$N, $^{16}$O, $^{17}$O, $^{20}$Ne and $^{22}$Ne in symbiotic stars (SSs) by means of a population synthesis code. We find that the ratios of the number of O-rich SSs to that of C-rich SSs in our simulations are between 3.4 and 24.1, depending on the third dredge-up efficiency $\lambda$ and the terminal velocity of the stellar wind $v(\infty)$. The fraction of SSs with $extrinsic$ C-rich cool giants in C-rich cool giants ranges from 2.1% to 22.7%, depending on $\lambda$, the common envelope algorithm and the mass-loss rate. Compared with the observations, the distributions of the relative abundances of $^{12}$C/$^{13}$C vs. [C/H] of the cool giants in SSs suggest that the thermohaline mixing in low-mass stars may exist. The distributions of the relative abundances of C/N vs. O/N, Ne/O vs. N/O and He/H vs. N/O in the symbiotic nebulae indicate that it is quite common that the nebular chemical abundances in SSs are modified by the ejected materials from the hot components. Helium overabundance in some symbiotic nebulae may be relevant to a helium layer on the surfaces of white dwarf accretors.