Origin of the elements

Various estimates of the universal abundances of the elements have been made and, although these sometimes differ in detail for particular elements, they rarely do so by more than a factor of 3 (10 ) on a scale that spans more than 12 orders of magnitude. Representative values are plotted in Fig. 1.1, which shows a number of features that must be explained by any satisfactory theory of the origin of the elements. For example ... 

R. W. Wilson, The cosmic microwave background radiation, pp. 113-33 in I.es Prix Nobel 1978. Almqvist Wiksell International, Stockholm 1979. A. A. Penzias, The origin of the elements, pp. 93-106 in Les Prix Nobel 1978 (also in Science 105, 549-54 (1979)). 

Abstract. The astrophysical origins of the element fluorine remain uncertain due in part to the availability of just a small number of abundance results for this element, that has readily observable transitions only in the infrared via vibration-rotation lines of HF. In this paper, we discuss all the available Galactic fluorine abundances to date, and add results for field stars with metallicities between [Fe/H] = -0.5 and -1.0, plus two stars that are members of the Orion association. The fluorine abundances obtained for the young Orion members are found to be in agreement with the trend of [F/O] versus O observed for the disk and they are a good representation of the present day value in the Galactic disk. 

Extensive studies of nuclear reactions and the systematic behaviour of nuclei played a central role in developing a theory of the origin of the elements. The idea was to reproduce the abundances observed in the Solar System, an aim which inevitably raises the following question. 

The contents of this chapter will be the foundation of all subsequent discussions. Your depth of understanding of each of these subjects will grow as you continue through the book, but it is critical to have a grasp of these basic ideas before moving ahead. In the next chapter we will discuss the origin of the elements via nucleosynthesis in stars. 

Fig. I. (a) Atomic abundances relative to Si = Iff versus atomic weight for die sun and similar main-sequence stars, (b) Cross-section factor S (in MeV-vams) versus cenler-of-momcnlum energy (in MeV) for l C(rt. y lO Dashed and solid curves are theoretical extrapolations of Munster and Kellog Caltech data by Langanke and Koonin (see references). 1 After paper on "The Quest for the Origin of the Elements by William A. Fowler, presented in December 1983, when author received the Nobel Prize for Physics. Complete article in Science. 226, 922-935 (November 23. 1984) and in Les Prix Nobel en 1983," Elsevier, New York, 1984]...

Pcnrias. A. A. The Origin of the Elements. Les Prix Nobel er 1978. Nobel Foundation. Stockholm, also "Nobel Lectures." tin English). Elsevier. Amsterdam and New York t 979) also reprinted in Science, 205, 549-554 119791-Pool, R. "Basic Measurements Lead in Physics Nohel." Science. 327 (October 20. 1989). 

Mason, S.F. (1991). Chemical Evolution. Origin of the Elements, Molecules, and Living Systems. Clarendon Press, Oxford, U.K. 

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