The Origin of the Elements in the Milky Way and Its Closest Neighbors

Understanding the origin and distribution of the elements is essential for understanding the processes that govern galaxy formation. This research project comprises a program of data analysis and modeling to interpret the elemental abundance patterns of stars in the Milky Way and its dwarf satellite galaxies observed by large spectroscopic surveys. Results from the project will allow astronomers to build a coherent picture of stellar and galactic scale phenomena that govern the synthesis of the elements. The project will train a graduate student in methods of advanced astronomical analysis and support a program of research mentoring for undergraduate students. Building upon models developed by the research team, the studies undertaken will yield strong empirical constraints on the contributions of core collapse supernovae, Type Ia supernovae, and asymptotic giant branch stars to the observed stellar elemental abundance patterns. They will provide stringent tests of Milky Way chemical evolution models that explore different assumptions about accretion and star formation history, galactic winds, fountains, radial gas flows, and stochastic enrichment events, as well as incomplete mixing in the interstellar medium. They will also yield new insights on the origin of chemical abundance differences between the components of the Milky Way (thin disk, thick disk, bulge, halo) and between the Milky Way and its dwarf satellites. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.