The abundance distribution of neutron-capture elements in metal-poor stars

We apply our model for calculating the heavy element abundance in metal-poor stars to recent data of 21 such stars. The results show that the agreement between our calculated curve and the observed values is good for the heavier elements, and no so good for the lighter ones. This shows that, under metal-poor condition, the abundances of the heavier elements generated by the various nucleosynthesis processes are similar to those in the solar system, while the relative contributions of the processes differ; that the abundances of the lighter elements differ from the solar system values; and that the nucleosynthesis environment is different for the heavier and lighter elements. The effect of the observing error on the relative contributions of the different processes is discussed.Astronomy & AstrophysicsSCI(E)1ARTICLE3298-3042