Anomalous globular clusters: insights from neutron capture elements abundances

TL;DR

This paper reviews the chemical diversity in globular clusters, focusing on neutron-capture element variations, and discusses their implications for understanding multiple stellar populations and cluster formation history.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive summary of neutron-capture element variations in globular clusters and explores their connection to multiple stellar populations.

Findings

Detection of internal neutron-capture element variations in some globular clusters

Correlation between chemical inhomogeneities and stellar distribution in color-magnitude diagrams

Insights into the formation and evolutionary processes of globular clusters

Abstract

Thanks to the large amount of spectroscopic and photometric data assembled in the last couple of decades, the assumption that all globular clusters (GCs) contain a simple mono-metallic stellar population has been modified. Besides the common variations in the elements created/destroyed in the H-burning processes, spreads and/or multi-modalities in heavier elements have been detected in a few objects. Among the most remarkable chemical inhomogeneity in these anomalous objects is the internal variation in the neutron-capture (n-capture) elements, that can provide some information about the material from which stars were born. I report a summary of the chemical pattern observed in GCs where variations in n-capture have been detected, and the connection between these chemical features and the distribution of stars along the color-magnitude diagrams in the context of the lively debate on multiple stellar populations.