Sensitivity to Thermonuclear Reaction Rates in Modeling the Abundance Anomalies of NGC 2419

TL;DR

This study investigates how uncertainties in nuclear reaction rates affect models of chemical abundance anomalies in globular cluster NGC 2419, identifying key reactions that influence the inferred stellar pollution processes.

Contribution

It performs an exhaustive sensitivity analysis on nuclear reaction rates to determine their impact on modeling abundance anomalies in NGC 2419.

Findings

Identifies key nuclear reactions affecting abundance models.

Highlights the importance of specific proton capture reactions.

Provides recommendations for future nuclear physics experiments.

Abstract

Abundance anomalies in globular clusters provide strong evidence for multiple stellar populations within each cluster. These populations are usually interpreted as distinct generations, with the currently observed second-generation stars having formed in part from the ejecta of massive, first-generation "polluter" stars, giving rise to the anomalous abundance patterns. The precise nature of the polluters and their enrichment mechanism are still unclear. Even so, the chemical abundances measured in second-generation stars within the globular cluster NGC 2419 provide insight into this puzzling process. Previous work used Monte Carlo nuclear reaction network calculations to constrain the temperature-density conditions that could reproduce the observed abundances, thereby placing robust limits on the origins of the polluter material. The effect of individual reaction rates on these conditions has not been studied, however. Thus, we perform an exhaustive sensitivity study on the nuclear physics input to determine which reactions have the greatest impact on these predictions. We find that the $^{30}$Si(p,$\gamma$)$^{31}$P, $^{37}$Ar(p,$\gamma$)$^{38}$K, $^{38}$Ar(p,$\gamma$)$^{39}$K, and $^{39}$K(p,$\gamma$)$^{40}$Ca reactions are all critical in determining the temperature-density conditions, and ultimately, the origin of the polluter material. We conclude with recommendations for future experiments.