[en] Spectroscopy is the most powerful tool in astrophysics. One obtains information on stellar structure, temperature, gravity, chemistry, and age by means of analysis of spectral observations. Accurate determination of all these parameters depends on an adequate response from laboratory and theoretical spectroscopy. We consider the contribution of different parameters of atomic and molecular lines to stellar atmospheric and abundance analysis. The role of completeness of atomic and molecular data is emphasized. (paper)

[en] We have improved the Ba II model atom by taking into account the excitation of transitions through collisions with hydrogen atoms with the rate coefficients from the quantum-mechanical calculations of Belyaev and Yakovleva (2018). Using high-resolution spectra and Ba II line modeling when abandoning the assumption of LTE, we have determined the fraction of barium isotopes with an odd mass number (f_odd) in four Galactic halo giants with well-known atmospheric parameters. We use a method based on the requirement that the abundances from the resonance (Ba II 4554 Å) and subordinate (Ba II 5853, 6496 Å) lines be equal. A accuracy of 0.04 dex in determining the barium abundance from individual lines has been achieved. In three stars (HD 2796, HD 108317, and HD 122563) f_odd ≳ 0.4. This suggests that ≳80% of the barium observed in these stars was synthesized in the r-process. In HD 128279 f_odd = 0.27 exceeds the fraction of odd barium isotopes in the Solar system, but only slightly. The dominance of the r-process at the formation epoch of the stars from our sample is confirmed by the presence of a europium overabundance relative barium in them, with [Eu/Ba] > 0.3. We have calculated the non-LTE barium abundance corrections for five Ba II lines and investigated their dependence on atmospheric parameters in the ranges of effective temperatures from 4500 to 6500 K, surface gravities log g from 0.5 to 4.5, and metallicities [Fe/H] from 0 to −3.

[en] Since the historical papers by Burbidge et al. and Cameron 50 years ago, it is generally accepted that half of the chemical elements above Fe are formed in explosive stellar scenarios by a rapid neutron-capture process (the classical ''r-process''). Already from their essential ideas, it became clear that a correct modelling of this nucleosynthesis process requires both, the knowledge of various nuclear properties very far from stability and a detailed description of the astrophysical environments. However, it took about three decades, until in 1986 the first experimental nuclear-physics data on the neutron-magic r-isotopes ⁸⁰Zn and ¹³⁰Cd could be obtained, which act as key ''waiting points'' in the respective A≅80 and 130 peaks of the Solar-System (SS) r-abundances (N_r,·). Since then, using steadily improved nuclear data, we have optimized our r-process calculations to reproduce the present observables of the isotopic N_r,· ''residuals'', as well as the more recent elemental abundances in ultra-metal-poor, r-process-enriched halo stars. Concerning the latter observations, we support the basic idea about two different types of r-processes. Based on our many years' experience with the site-independent ''waiting-point approach'', we recently have extended our studies to fully dynamical network calculations for the most likely astrophysical r-process scenario, i.e. the high-entropy wind (HEW) of core-collapse type II supernovae (SN II). Again, an excellent reproduction of all observables for the ''main'' r-process has been achieved. However, a major difference is the nucleosynthesis origin of the lighter heavy elements in the 29≤Z≤45 mass region. Here, the HEW model predicts-instead of a ''weak'' neutron-capture r-process component-a primary rapid charged-particle process. This may explain the recent observations of a non-correlation of these elements with the heavier ''main'' r-process elements

[en] Non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) line formation for neutral copper in the one-dimensional solar atmospheres is presented for the atomic model, including 96 terms of Cu I and the ground state of Cu II. The accurate oscillator strengths for all the line transitions in model atom and photoionization cross sections were calculated using the R-matrix method in the Russell-Saunders coupling scheme. The main NLTE mechanism for Cu I is the ultraviolet overionization. We find that NLTE leads to systematically depleted total absorption in the Cu I lines and, accordingly, positive abundance corrections. Inelastic collisions with neutral hydrogen atoms produce minor effects on the statistical equilibrium of Cu I in the solar atmosphere. For the solar Cu I lines, the departures from LTE are found to be small, the mean NLTE abundance correction of ∼0.01 dex. It was found that the six low-excitation lines, with excitation energy of the lower level E _exc ≤ 1.64 eV, give a 0.14 dex lower mean solar abundance compared to that from the six E _exc > 3.7 eV lines, when applying experimental gf-values of Kock and Richter. Without the two strong resonance transitions, the solar mean NLTE abundance from 10 lines of Cu I is log ε_☉(Cu) = 4.19 ± 0.10, which is consistent within the error bars with the meteoritic value 4.25 ± 0.05 of Lodders et al. The discrepancy between E _exc = 1.39-1.64 eV and E _exc > 3.7 eV lines can be removed when the calculated gf-values are adopted and a mean solar abundance of log ε_☉(Cu) = 4.24 ± 0.08 is derived.

[en] We present atmospheric parameters for 51 nearby F and G dwarf and subgiant stars uniformly distributed over the $-<!--\; ???\; -->2.60<<!--\; <\; -->[\mathrm{F}\mathrm{e}/\mathrm{H}]<<!--\; <\; -->+0.20$ metallicity range that is suitable for the Galactic chemical evolution research. Lines of iron in the two ionization stages, Fe i and Fe ii, were used to derive a homogeneous set of effective temperatures, surface gravities, iron abundances, and microturbulence velocities. Our spectroscopic analyses took advantage of employing high-resolution (R ≥ 60,000) Shane/Hamilton and Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope/ESPaDOnS observed spectra and non-LTE (NLTE) line formation for Fe i and Fe ii in the classical one-dimensional model atmospheres. The spectroscopic method was tested in advance with the 20 benchmark stars, for which there are multiple measurements of the infrared flux method effective temperature and their Hipparcos parallax error is less than 10%. We found NLTE abundances from lines of Fe i and Fe ii to be consistent within 0.06 dex for every benchmark star, when applying a scaling factor of $S_{\mathrm{H}}$ = 0.5 to the Drawinian rates of inelastic Fe+H collisions. The obtained atmospheric parameters were checked for each program star by comparing its position in the log g–$T_{\mathrm{e}\mathrm{f}\mathrm{f}}$ plane with the theoretical evolutionary track of given metallicity and α-enhancement in the Yi et al. grid. Our final effective temperatures lie exactly in between the $T_{\mathrm{I}\mathrm{R}\mathrm{F}\mathrm{M}}$ scales of Alonso et al. and Casagrande et al., with a mean difference of +46 and −51 K, respectively. NLTE leads to higher surface gravity compared with that for LTE. The shift in log g is smaller than 0.1 dex for stars with [Fe/H] $⩾<!--\; ???\; -->-<!--\; ???\; -->0.75$, $T_{\mathrm{e}\mathrm{f}\mathrm{f}}$ ≤ 5750 K, or log g ≥ 4.20. NLTE analysis is crucial for the very metal-poor turnoff and subgiant stars, for which the shift in log g between NLTE and LTE can be up to 0.5 dex. The obtained accurate atmospheric parameters will be used in the forthcoming papers to determine NLTE abundances of important astrophysical elements from lithium to europium and to improve observational constraints on the chemodynamical models of the Galaxy evolution.

[en] Based on spectroscopic constraints derived from nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium line formation, we explore the likely range of stellar parameters (T _eff and log g) for the hyper-metal-poor (HMP) star HE 1327-2326. Combining the constraints from Balmer line profiles and the Ca I/II ionization equilibrium, a subgiant stage of evolution is indicated. This result is further supported by spectrophotometric observations of the Balmer jump. If a higher T _eff value was used (as favored by some photometric calibrations), the spectroscopic analysis would indicate a turnoff-point stage of evolution. Using a stellar-structure code that treats the effects of atomic diffusion throughout the star in detail, we evolve a low-mass model star to reach the Hertzsprung-Russell-diagram position of HE 1327-2326 after roughly 13 Gyr. While the surface abundances are modified significantly (by more than 1 dex for the case of uninhibited diffusion), such corrections cannot resolve the discrepancy between the abundance inferred from the nondetection of the Li I resonance line at 6707 A and the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe based primordial lithium abundance. As there are numerous processes that can destroy lithium, any cosmological interpretation of a lower-than-expected lithium abundance at the lowest metallicities will have to await sample sizes of unevolved HMP stars that are 1 order of magnitude larger. The situation remains equally inconclusive concerning atomic-diffusion corrections. Here, attempts have to be made to better constrain internal mixing processes, both observationally and by means of sophisticated modeling. With constraints on additional mixing processes taken from a recent globular-cluster study, the likeliest scenario is that HE 1327-2326's surface abundances have undergone mild depletion (of order 0.2 dex).

[en] While the high-entropy wind (HEW) of Type II supernovae remains one of the more promising sites for the rapid neutron-capture (r-) process, hydrodynamic simulations have yet to reproduce the astrophysical conditions under which the latter occurs. We have performed large-scale network calculations within an extended parameter range of the HEW, seeking to identify or to constrain the necessary conditions for a full reproduction of all r-process residuals N _r,sun = N _sun-N _s,sun by comparing the results with recent astronomical observations. A superposition of weighted entropy trajectories results in an excellent reproduction of the overall N _r,sun pattern beyond Sn. For the lighter elements, from the Fe group via Sr-Y-Zr to Ag, our HEW calculations indicate a transition from the need for clearly different sources (conditions/sites) to a possible co-production with r-process elements, provided a range of entropies are contributing. This explains recent halo-star observations of a clear noncorrelation of Zn and Ge and a weak correlation of Sr-Zr with heavier r-process elements. Moreover, new observational data on Ru and Pd also seem to confirm a partial correlation with Sr as well as the main r-process elements (e.g., Eu).

[en] In an attempt to constrain the astrophysical conditions for the nucleosynthesis of the classical r-process elements beyond Fe, we have performed large-scale dynamical network calculations within the model of an adiabatically expanding high- entropy wind (HEW) of type II supernovae (SN II). A superposition of several entropy-components (S) with model-inherent weightings results in an excellent reproduction of the overall Solar System (SS) isotopic r-process residuals (N_r,·), as well as the more recent observations of elemental abundances of metal-poor, r-process rich halo stars in the early Galaxy. For the heavy r-process elements beyond Sn, our HEW model predicts a robust abundance pattern up to the Th, U r-chronometer region. For the lighter neutron-capture region, an S-dependent superposition of (i) a normal α-component directly producing stable nuclei, including s-only isotopes, and (ii) a component from a neutron-rich α-freezeout followed by the rapid recapture of β-delayed neutrons (βdnrpar; emitted from the far-unstable seed nuclei is indicated. In agreement with several recent halo-star observations in the 60< A<110 region, our HEW model confirms a Z-dependent non-correlation, respectively partial correlation with the heavier ''main'' r-process elements