The s Process: Nuclear Physics, Stellar Models, Observations

TL;DR

This paper reviews the s process nucleosynthesis in stars, highlighting recent advances in nuclear physics, stellar modeling, and observations, and discusses their implications for understanding stellar evolution and galactic chemical evolution.

Contribution

It provides an updated review of s-process nucleosynthesis, integrating recent nuclear data, stellar models, and observational constraints to improve understanding of element formation.

Findings

Updated nuclear physics data enhances s-process models.

Observations of AGB and metal-poor stars constrain stellar models.

Metallicity significantly influences s-process efficiency and galactic chemical evolution.

Abstract

Nucleosynthesis in the s process takes place in the He burning layers of low mass AGB stars and during the He and C burning phases of massive stars. The s process contributes about half of the element abundances between Cu and Bi in solar system material. Depending on stellar mass and metallicity the resulting s-abundance patterns exhibit characteristic features, which provide comprehensive information for our understanding of the stellar life cycle and for the chemical evolution of galaxies. The rapidly growing body of detailed abundance observations, in particular for AGB and post-AGB stars, for objects in binary systems, and for the very faint metal-poor population represents exciting challenges and constraints for stellar model calculations. Based on updated and improved nuclear physics data for the s-process reaction network, current models are aiming at ab initio solution for the stellar physics related to convection and mixing processes. Progress in the intimately related areas of observations, nuclear and atomic physics, and stellar modeling is reviewed and the corresponding interplay is illustrated by the general abundance patterns of the elements beyond iron and by the effect of sensitive branching points along the s-process path. The strong variations of the s-process efficiency with metallicity bear also interesting consequences for Galactic chemical evolution.