Chemical abundances of 1111 FGK stars from the HARPS-GTO planet search sample. III. Sulfur

TL;DR

This study investigates sulfur abundances in 719 FGK stars from the HARPS-GTO sample, revealing sulfur's behavior as an alpha-element and its relation to stellar age and galactic evolution, with no difference between planet-hosting and non-hosting stars.

Contribution

First detailed analysis of sulfur abundances in a large, high-quality stellar sample, linking sulfur behavior to galactic chemical evolution and stellar age.

Findings

Sulfur behaves as a typical alpha-element.

High-alpha metal-rich stars show enhanced sulfur.

No sulfur abundance difference between planet hosts and non-hosts.

Abstract

Context. Elemental abundances are of prime importance to help us reconstruct the origin and evolution of stars and galaxies in our Universe. Sulfur abundances have not been as heavily studied as other elements, so some details regarding its behaviour are still unclear. Aims. We aim to investigate [S/Fe] ratios in stars of the solar neighbourhood in order to analyse the chemical evolution of sulfur and probe for possible differences in abundances of planet host and non-planet host stars. Methods. We use the code MOOG to perform spectral synthesis and derive v*sin(i) values and [S/Fe] ratios for 719 FGK stars with high-resolution (R~115000) and high-quality spectra from the HARPS-GTO program. We find the best fit and corresponding parameter values by performing chi-square minimisation of the deviation between synthetic profiles and observational spectra. Results. Our results reveal that sulfur behaves as a typical alpha-element, with low abundances in young thin disk stars and high abundances in old thick disk stars, following what was expected from our understanding of the Galactic chemical evolution (GCE). Nevertheless, further studies into the abundances of sulfur in very metal-poor stars are required as our sample only derived sulfur abundances to stars with metallicity as low as [Fe/H]=-1.13 dex. High-alpha metal rich stars are more enhanced in sulfur compared to their thin disk counterparts at the same metallicity. We compare our results to GCE models from other authors in the [S/Fe] vs. [Fe/H] plane. The [S/Fe]-age relationship is a good proxy for time, just like it is the case with other alpha-elements. We report no differences in the abundances of sulfur between stars with and without planetary companions in the metallicity range [Fe/H] >= -0.3 dex.