| Grant number: | 12/24392-2 |
| Support Opportunities: | Research Projects - Thematic Grants |
| Duration: | May 01, 2013 - April 30, 2018 |
| Field of knowledge: | Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Astronomy - Stellar Astrophysics |
| Principal Investigator: | Jorge Luis Melendez Moreno |
| Grantee: | Jorge Luis Melendez Moreno |
| Host Institution: | Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas (IAG). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil |
| Associated researchers: | TalaWanda Rose Monroe |
| Associated scholarship(s): | 14/26908-1 - How common is our sun in its period of rotation?,
BP.MS 14/15706-9 - Differential abundances in solar-type stars: implications for planets formation and stellar nucleosynthesis, BP.PD 13/25008-4 - Chemical composition of solar-type stars, BP.IC |
Abstract
This project intends to determine stellar parameters and chemical abundances in F and G stars at unparalleled precision, aiming to study at unprecedented detail planet formation, stellar evolution processes, Galactic chemical evolution and primordial Big Bang nucleosynthesis. We will use differential analysis techniques, successfully applied to solar twin stars, to study groups of stars with similar stellar parameters, minimizing thus systematic errors and allowing to achieve a precision in chemical abundances of about 0.01 dex, which is much lower than typical errors (0.05 - 0.1 dex) found in the literature. Furthermore, our techniques will provide high precision stellar parameters, important to minimize the errors in chemical abundances and also for the determination of precise differential masses and ages. As part of our project, we will search for planets at high precision in radial velocity (1 m s-1). The synergy of high precision radial velocities and high precision chemical abundances will permit a detailed study of the connection between stars and planets. Different groups of stars with and without planets will be studied in order to explore planet formation in different regimes. Our high precision techniques will also be useful to characterize the stellar populations of the two halos in our Galaxy and to study their chemical evolution. Finally, the study of both lithium and beryllium in metal-poor stars will be important to solve the cosmological lithium problem, i.e., to ascertain if the low Li abundance in metal-poor stars is due to stellar depletion processes during their evolution or if new physics beyond the standard model of Big Bang nucleosynthesis is required. (AU)
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