|
Description
Sr, Y, Zr, and Ce abundances are derived for the sample of 74 cool dwarfs and subgiants with the iron abundance [Fe/H] ranged between -2.43 and 0.25. The results are based on LTE (Y, Zr and Ce) and non-LTE (Sr) line formation and line profile analysis of high resolution (40000 and 60000) spectra that have a typical S/N of 50-200. The Zr/Y, Sr/Y, and Sr/Zr ratios in the halo stars form nearly a plateau over the wide metallicity range, -2.43<=[Fe/H]<=0.90, indicating a common origin of Sr, Y, and Zr at the epoch of the halo formation. We find a steep decline of [Zr/Y] in the thick disk stars with increasing Ba abundance. This suggests the reduction of the production rate of Zr compared to that for Y at the active phase of the thick disk formation. The halo and thick disk stars reveal an overabundance of Zr relative to barium that grows with decreasing Ba abundance. There is a clear correlation of the [Zr/Ba] and [Eu/Ba] abundance ratios. Our observational findings for the halo and thick disk do not support the Galaxy chemical evolution models available in the literature and require to improve their predictions. The thin disk stars reveal, on average, solar abundance ratios for (Y,Zr)/Fe, (Y,Zr)/Ba, and Zr/Y. We note a slight decline of Zr/Ba and Zr/Y in these stars with increasing Ba abundance. Our results favour a dominance of the asymptotic giant branch stars in the heavy element enrichment of the interstellar gas over the epoch of the thin disk existence, in agreement with the theory of the main s-process nucleosynthesis.
|
