The s-process in the Galactic halo: the fifth signature of spinstars in the early Universe?

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that fast rotating massive stars (spinstars) contributed to early Universe enrichment of s-process elements, explaining observed abundance variations in ancient halo stars and providing a new signature of their existence.

Contribution

It introduces a chemical inhomogeneous model including spinstar s-process contributions, successfully reproducing the observed scatter in [Sr/Ba] ratios at low metallicity.

Findings

Model reproduces observed [Sr/Ba] scatter at [Fe/H]< -2.5

Spinstars contribute to early s-process element enrichment

Predicted scatter decreases with increasing metallicity

Abstract

Very old halo stars were previously found to show at least four different abundance 'anomalies', which models of fast rotating massive stars (spinstars) can successfully account for: rise of N/O and C/O, low 12C/13C and a primary-like evolution of Be and B. Here we show the impact of these same stars in the enrichment of Sr and Ba in the early Universe. We study if the s-process production of fast rotating massive stars can offer an explanation for the observed spread in [Sr/Ba] ratio in halo stars with metallicity [Fe/H]< -2.5. By means of a chemical inhomogeneous model we compute the enrichment of Sr and Ba by massive stars in the Galactic halo. Our model takes into account, for the first time, the contribution of spinstars. Our model (combining an r-process contribution with a s-process from fast rotating massive stars) is able to reproduce for the first time the observed scatter in the [Sr/Ba] ratio at [Fe/H]< -2.5. Toward higher metallicities, the stochasticity of the star formation fades away due to the increasing number of exploding and enriching stars, and as a consequence the predicted scatter decreases. Our scenario is again based on the existence of spinstars in the early Universe. Very old halo stars were previously found to show at least four other abundance 'anomalies', which rotating models of massive stars can successfully account for. Our results provide a 5th independent signature of the existence of fast rotating massive stars: an early enrichment of the Universe in s-process elements.