Heavy-element abundances and massive star formation

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics

Scientific paper

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Abundance, Massive Stars, Nuclear Fusion, Oxygen, Star Formation, Interstellar Gas, Solar Neighborhood, Starburst Galaxies

Scientific paper

The observational consequences that arise for the heavy-element abundances in normal spiral galaxies from variations in the IMF are investigated. The most recent calculations of supernova nucleosynthesis are used to calculate the oxygen yield for a given IMF. Assuming instantaneous recycling of oxygen, the resultant oxygen abundance is calculated. A comparison of the predicted and observed oxygen abundances in the Milky Way shows that the overall abundance is well explained by the IMF determined in the solar neighborhood. It is shown that the oxygen abundance is very sensitive to the underlying IMF; some of the modifed IMFs proposed for the Milky Way and starburst galaxies result in an oxygen abundance an order of magnitude larger than solar. It is concluded that truncation of the IMF in starburst regions results in an oxygen abundance in conflict with the available observations, unless very large mass loss has occurred.

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