Chemical Enrichment of the Early Solar System

Meteorites preserved from the birth of the Solar system over 4.5 billion years ago contain the chemical signature of a nearby contemporaneous stellar explosion in the form of short-lived radioisotopes (SLRs) such as Aluminum-26. Yet results from hydrodynamical models of SLR injection into the pre-Solar cloud or disk encounter a common problem: it is difficult to sufficiently mix the hot, enriched gas into the cold, dense, cloud without disrupting the formation of the Solar system. I first consider the role of numerical methods in limiting the mixing. I implement six turbulence models in the Athena hydrodynamics code. I then explore an alternative mechanism to overcome the mixing barrier: microscopic dust grains. I numerically model the interaction of a supernova remnant containing SLR-rich dust grains with a nearby molecular cloud. The results suggest that SLR transport on dust grains is a viable mechanism to explain Solar system enrichment. Finally, I attempt to constrain the formation timescale of stellar systems such as the Solar system using deuterium fractionation as a "chemical clock". I determine the physical conditions necessary to reach the observed values of deuterium fraction in pre-stellar cores.Doctor of Philosoph