The r-Process Enhancement of Stars from Chemodynamically Tagged Groups in the Milky Way Halo
Author: Jessica Agnos
Faculty Supervisor: Charli Sakari
Department: Physics & Astronomy
The heaviest elements in the periodic table are created through the rapid (r-) neutron capture process. Metal-poor stars that are enhanced in r-process elements like Eu provide valuable constraints on early r-process nucleosynthesis and the early assembly history of the Milky Way. In its first four data releases, the r-Process Alliance (RPA) has discovered hundreds of r-process enhanced metal-poor stars in the Milky Way. This thesis presents detailed abundance patterns of three stars identified as r-process enhanced (RPE). These three stars have been kinematically linked to other stars, meaning they are each part of a chemo-dynamically tagged group (CDTG). These CDTGs may be the remnants of accreted satellite galaxies or disrupted star clusters. This thesis shows how the chemical abundances of these RPE stars are important to constrain early r-process nucleosynthesis and help us to understand the formation sites of RPE stars in the Milky Way.