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Description
Previous high-precision studies of abundances of elements in solar twin stars are extended to a wider metallicity range to see how the trends of element ratios with stellar age depend on [Fe/H]. HARPS spectra with S/N>~600 at {lambda}~6000{AA} were analysed with MARCS model atmospheres to obtain 1D LTE abundances of C, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, Cr, Fe, Ni, Sr, and Y in 72 solar-type stars including the binary star zeta Reticuli and ASTEC stellar models were used to determine stellar ages from effective temperatures, luminosities obtained via Gaia DR2 parallaxes, and heavy element abundances. The age-metallicity distribution appears to consist of the following two distinct populations: a sequence of old stars with a steep rise of [Fe/H] to ~+0.3 dex at an age of ~7Gyr and a younger sequence with [Fe/H] increasing from about -0.3dex to ~+0.2dex over the last 6Gyr. Furthermore, the trends of several abundance ratios, [O/Fe], [Na/Fe], [Ca/Fe], and [Ni/Fe], as a function of stellar age, split into two corresponding sequences. The [Y/Mg]-age relation, on the other hand, shows no offset between the two age sequences and has no significant dependence on [Fe/H], but the components of a visual binary star, {zeta} Reticuli, have a large and puzzling deviation. The split of the age-metallicity distribution into two sequences may be interpreted as evidence of two episodes of accretion of gas onto the Galactic disk with a quenching of star formation in between. Some of the [X/Fe]-age relations support this scenario but other relations are not so easy to explain, which calls for a deeper study of systematic errors in the derived abundances as a function of [Fe/H], in particular 3D non-LTE effects.
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