Context.
The chemical composition of the Sun is a fundamental yardstick in astronomy, relative to which essentially all cosmic objects are referenced. As such, having accurate knowledge of the solar ...elemental abundances is crucial for an extremely broad range of topics.
Aims.
We reassess the solar abundances of all 83 long-lived elements, using highly realistic solar modelling and state-of-the-art spectroscopic analysis techniques coupled with the best available atomic data and observations.
Methods.
The basis for our solar spectroscopic analysis is a three-dimensional (3D) radiative-hydrodynamical model of the solar surface convection and atmosphere, which reproduces the full arsenal of key observational diagnostics. New complete and comprehensive 3D spectral line formation calculations taking into account of departures from local thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE) are presented for Na, Mg, K, Ca, and Fe using comprehensive model atoms with reliable radiative and collisional data. Our newly derived abundances for C, N, and O are based on a 3D non-LTE analysis of permitted and forbidden atomic lines as well as 3D LTE calculations for a total of 879 molecular transitions of CH, C
2
, CO, NH, CN, and OH. Previous 3D-based calculations for another 50 elements are re-evaluated based on updated atomic data, a stringent selection of lines, improved consideration of blends, and new non-LTE calculations available in the literature. For elements where spectroscopic determinations of the quiet Sun are not possible, the recommended solar abundances are revisited based on complementary methods, including helioseismology (He), solar wind data from the Genesis sample return mission (noble gases), sunspot observations (four elements), and measurements of the most primitive meteorites (15 elements).
Results.
Our new improved analysis confirms the relatively low solar abundances of C, N, and O obtained in our previous 3D-based studies: log
ϵ
C
= 8.46 ± 0.04, log
ϵ
N
= 7.83 ± 0.07, and log
ϵ
O
= 8.69 ± 0.04. Excellent agreement between all available atomic and molecular indicators is achieved for C and O, but for N the atomic lines imply a lower abundance than for the molecular transitions for unknown reasons. The revised solar abundances for the other elements also typically agree well with our previously recommended values, with only Li, F, Ne, Mg, Cl, Kr, Rb, Rh, Ba, W, Ir, and Pb differing by more than 0.05 dex. The here-advocated present-day photospheric metal mass fraction is only slightly higher than our previous value, mainly due to the revised Ne abundance from Genesis solar wind measurements:
X
surface
= 0.7438 ± 0.0054,
Y
surface
= 0.2423 ± 0.0054,
Z
surface
= 0.0139 ± 0.0006, and
Z
surface
/
X
surface
= 0.0187 ± 0.0009. Overall, the solar abundances agree well with those of CI chondritic meteorites, but we identify a correlation with condensation temperature such that moderately volatile elements are enhanced by ≈0.04 dex in the CI chondrites and refractory elements possibly depleted by ≈0.02 dex, conflicting with conventional wisdom of the past half-century. Instead, the solar chemical composition more closely resembles that of the fine-grained matrix of CM chondrites with the expected exception of the highly volatile elements.
Conclusions.
Updated present-day solar photospheric and proto-solar abundances are presented for 83 elements, including for all long-lived isotopes. The so-called solar modelling problem – a persistent discrepancy between helioseismology and solar interior models constructed with a low solar metallicity similar to that advocated here – remains intact with our revised solar abundances, suggesting shortcomings with the computed opacities and/or treatment of mixing below the convection zone in existing standard solar models. The uncovered trend between the solar and CI chondritic abundances with condensation temperature is not yet understood but is likely imprinted by planet formation, especially since a similar trend of opposite sign is observed between the Sun and solar twins.
Abstract
We investigate departures from local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) in the line formation of neutral and singly ionized iron lines and their impact on spectroscopic stellar parameters. The ...calculations were performed for an extensive grid of 1D marcs models of metal-rich and metal-poor late-type dwarfs and giants. We find that iron abundances derived from Fe i lines are increasingly underestimated in hotter, lower surface gravity and more metal-poor stars, in a simple and well-defined pattern, while LTE is usually a realistic approximation for Fe ii lines. For the vast majority of dwarfs and giants, the perturbed ionization balance of Fe i and Fe ii is the main relevant non-LTE effect to consider in the determination of spectroscopic parameters, while for extremely metal-poor stars and hot giant stars significant impact is seen also on the excitation balance and on the microturbulence determination from Fe i lines.
We present 3D non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE) radiative transfer calculations for silicon in the solar photosphere, using an extensive model atom that includes recent, realistic neutral ...hydrogen collisional cross-sections. We find that photon losses in the Si i lines give rise to slightly negative non-LTE abundance corrections of the order of -0.01 dex. We infer a 3D non-LTE-based solar silicon abundance of lg...=7.51dex. With silicon commonly chosen to be the anchor between the photospheric and meteoritic abundances, we find that the meteoritic abundance scale remains unchanged compared with the Asplund et al. and Lodders et al. results. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae/symbols omitted.)
As one of the most important elements in astronomy, iron abundance determinations need to be as accurate as possible. We investigate the accuracy of spectroscopic iron abundance analyses using ...archetypal metal-poor stars. We perform detailed 3D non-LTE radiative transfer calculations based on 3D hydrodynamic stagger model atmospheres, and employ a new model atom that includes new quantum-mechanical neutral hydrogen collisional rate coefficients. With the exception of the red giant HD122563, we find that the 3D non-LTE models achieve Fe i/Fe ii excitation and ionization balance as well as not having any trends with equivalent width to within modelling uncertainties of 0.05 dex, all without having to invoke any microturbulent broadening; for HD122563 we predict that the current best parallax-based surface gravity is overestimated by 0.5 dex. Using a 3D non-LTE analysis, we infer iron abundances from the 3D model atmospheres that are roughly 0.1 dex higher than corresponding abundances from 1D MARCS model atmospheres; these differences go in the same direction as the non-LTE effects themselves. We make available grids of departure coefficients, equivalent widths and abundance corrections, calculated on 1D MARCS model atmospheres and horizontally and temporally averaged 3D stagger model atmospheres.
Neutral sodium is a minority species in the atmospheres of late-type stars, and line formation in local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) is often a poor assumption, in particular for strong lines. We ...present an extensive grid of non-LTE calculations for several Na I lines in cool stellar atmospheres, including metal-rich and metal-poor dwarfs and giants. For the first time, we constructed a Na model atom that incorporates accurate quantum mechanical calculations for collisional excitation and ionisation by electrons as well as collisional excitation and charge exchange reactions with neutral hydrogen. Similar to Li I, the new rates for hydrogen impact excitation do not affect the statistical equilibrium calculations, while charge exchange reactions have a small but non-negligible influence. The presented LTE and non-LTE curves-of-growth can be interpolated to obtain non-LTE abundances and abundance corrections for arbitrary stellar parameter combinations and line strengths. The typical corrections for weak lines are −0.1... −0.2 dex, whereas saturated lines may overestimate the abundance in LTE by more than 0.5 dex. The non-LTE Na abundances appear very robust with respect to uncertainties in the input collisional data.
Carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen are the fourth, sixth, and third most abundant elements in the Sun. Their abundances remain hotly debated due to the so-called solar modelling problem that has persisted ...for almost 20 years. We revisit this issue by presenting a homogeneous analysis of 408 molecular lines across 12 diagnostic groups, observed in the solar intensity spectrum. Using a realistic 3D radiative-hydrodynamic model solar photosphere and local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) line formation, we find log
ϵ
C
= 8.47 ± 0.02, log
ϵ
N
= 7.89 ± 0.04, and log
ϵ
O
= 8.70 ± 0.04. The stipulated uncertainties mainly reflect the sensitivity of the results to the model atmosphere; this sensitivity is correlated between the different diagnostic groups, which all agree with the mean result to within 0.03 dex. For carbon and oxygen, the molecular results are in excellent agreement with our 3D non-LTE analyses of atomic lines. For nitrogen, however, the molecular indicators give a 0.12 dex larger abundance than the atomic indicators, and our best estimate of the solar nitrogen abundance is given by the mean: 7.83 dex. The solar oxygen abundance advocated here is close to our earlier determination of 8.69 dex, and so the present results do not significantly alleviate the solar modelling problem.
Abstract
We investigate departures from local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) in the line formation of Fe for a number of well-studied late-type stars in different evolutionary stages. A new model of ...the Fe atom was constructed from the most up-to-date theoretical and experimental atomic data available so far. Non-LTE (NLTE) line formation calculations for Fe were performed using 1D hydrostatic marcs and mafags-os model atmospheres, as well as the spatial and temporal average stratifications from full 3D hydrodynamical simulations of stellar convection computed using the stagger code. It is shown that the Fe i/Fe ii ionization balance can be well established with the 1D and mean 3D models under NLTE including calibrated inelastic collisions with H i calculated from Drawin's formulae. Strong low-excitation Fe i lines are very sensitive to the atmospheric structure; classical 1D models fail to provide consistent excitation balance, particularly so for cool metal-poor stars. A better agreement between Fe i lines spanning a range of excitation potentials is obtained with the mean 3D models. Mean NLTE metallicities determined for the standard stars using the 1D and mean 3D models are fully consistent. Moreover, the NLTE spectroscopic effective temperatures and gravities from ionization balance agree with that determined by other methods, e.g. the infrared flux method and parallaxes, if one of the stellar parameters is constrained independently.
Abstract Micro-sized electrodes are essential for highly sensitive communication at the neural interface with superior spatial resolution. However, such small electrodes inevitably suffer from high ...electrical impedance and thus high levels of thermal noise deteriorating the signal to noise ratio. In order to overcome this problem, a nanostructured Pt-coating was introduced as add-on functionalization for impedance reduction of small electrodes. In comparison to platinum black deposition, all used chemicals in the deposition process are free from cytotoxic components. The grass-like nanostructure was found to reduce the impedance by almost two orders of magnitude compared to untreated samples which was lower than what could be achieved with conventional electrode coatings like IrOx or PEDOT. The realization of the Pt-grass coating is performed via a simple electrochemical process which can be applied to virtually any possible electrode type and accordingly shows potential as a universal impedance reduction strategy. Elution tests revealed non-toxicity of the Pt-grass and the coating was found to exhibit strong adhesion to the metallized substrate.
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