Outline

12. Nucleosynthesis

The following figures are from A Review of the Universe.

Light element systhesis:
¹H, ²H: Big Bang.
³He, ⁴He: Big Bang, some stellar.
Li, Be, B: Mostly cosmic ray spallation, some Big Bang.
¹⁴N, ¹³C: CNO-cycle equilibrium ( ¹⁴C: cosmic ray spallation).
¹²C, ¹⁶O: 3α process.
¹⁸O, ²²Ne: α-capture on ¹⁴N.
²⁰Ne - ²⁸Si: Carbon burning.
Mg - S: Oxygen burning.
Si - Cr: Photo-disintegrarion rearrangement.
Cr - Ni: Nuclear statisitical equilibrium (NSE; also e-process).

The next figures are from Principles of Stellar Evolution and Nucleosynthesis, by D.L.Clayton:

Beyond the iron group: s-process and r-process neutron capture.

Calculated Solar System abundance fractions from Burris, et al. 2000.

Abundances in a population II halo giant compared with scaled Solar System values, showing the r-process dominates early times.

A whole course on Cosmic Chemical Evolution.