Understanding the Enrichment of Heavy Elements by the Chemodynamical Evolution Models of Dwarf Galaxies

Description

This book addresses the mechanism of enrichment of heavy elements in galaxies, a long standing problem in astronomy. It mainly focuses on explaining the origin of heavy elements by performing state-of-the-art, high-resolution hydrodynamic simulations of dwarf galaxies. In this book, the author successfully develops a model of galactic chemodynamical evolution by means of which the neutron star mergers can be used to explain the observed abundance pattern of the heavy elements synthesized by the rapid neutron capture process, such as europium, gold, and uranium in the Local Group dwarf galaxies. The book argues that heavy elements are significant indicators of the evolutionary history of the early galaxies, and presents theoretical findings that open new avenues to understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies based on the abundance of heavy elements in metal-poor stars. Front Matter ....Pages i-xv Introduction (Yutaka Hirai)....Pages 1-27 Methods for Simulations of Galaxy Formation (Yutaka Hirai)....Pages 29-47 Chemodynamical Evolution of Dwarf Galaxies (Yutaka Hirai)....Pages 49-69 Enrichment of Zinc in Dwarf Galaxies (Yutaka Hirai)....Pages 71-82 Enrichment of r-Process Elements in Isolated Dwarf Galaxies (Yutaka Hirai)....Pages 83-102 Efficiency of Metal Mixing in Dwarf Galaxies (Yutaka Hirai)....Pages 103-114 Enrichment of r-Process Elements in a Cosmological Context (Yutaka Hirai)....Pages 115-123 Conclusions and Future Prospects (Yutaka Hirai)....Pages 125-130 Back Matter ....Pages 131-135