Abundances in 78 metal-rich bulge spheroid stars from APOGEE

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Ernandes, H., Barbuy, B., Chiappini, C., Feltzing, S., Pérez-Villegas, A., Friaça, A. C. S., Souza, S. O., Nunes, R. P., Queiroz, A. B. A., Fernández-Trincado, J. G., de Abreu, A. L. Rocha, Plotnikova, A.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Ernandes, H.
Barbuy, B.
Chiappini, C.
Feltzing, S.
Pérez-Villegas, A.
Friaça, A. C. S.
Souza, S. O.
Nunes, R. P.
Queiroz, A. B. A.
Fernández-Trincado, J. G.
de Abreu, A. L. Rocha
Plotnikova, A.
author_facet Ernandes, H.
Barbuy, B.
Chiappini, C.
Feltzing, S.
Pérez-Villegas, A.
Friaça, A. C. S.
Souza, S. O.
Nunes, R. P.
Queiroz, A. B. A.
Fernández-Trincado, J. G.
de Abreu, A. L. Rocha
Plotnikova, A.
contents The inner Galaxy is the most complex region of the Milky Way, comprising the bulge, inner thin and thick discs, and inner halo; the formation of the bar transferred gas and stars from the disc inward. Accretion of dwarf galaxies also occurred over the Galaxy's lifetime, merging with the original bulge. In this work, we constrain the metal-rich stars of the earliest spheroidal bulge. To study the oldest bulge stars, distributed in a spheroid, we applied kinematical and dynamical criteria in the metal-rich range [Fe/H] > -0.8. This complements our previous analysis of a symmetric sample with [Fe/H] < -0.8. We derived individual abundances through spectral synthesis for C, N, O, Al, P, S, K, Mn, and Ce using stellar parameters from APOGEE DR17, and compared the results with literature data and chemical-evolution models. The alpha elements Mg, Si, and Ca, and iron-peak elements V, Cr, Co, and Ni follow the expected trends relative to the models. Mn shows secondary behaviour. S and K display significant star-to-star scatter but remain broadly compatible with predictions. Phosphorus and cerium show an excess around [Fe/H] $\sim$ -0.7, more pronounced than in the metal-poor sample, suggesting a distinctive signature of the earliest bulge population. Diagrams of [Mg/Mn] versus [Al/Fe] and [Ni/Fe] versus [(C+N)/O] indicate an in situ origin for most stars. At super-solar metallicities, a subset shows enhanced K and Mn (possibly S) with low [Ce/Fe], hinting at enrichment linked to the nuclear disc and bar, and tracing a chemically distinct population shaped by the innermost Galaxy.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_12415
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Abundances in 78 metal-rich bulge spheroid stars from APOGEE
Ernandes, H.
Barbuy, B.
Chiappini, C.
Feltzing, S.
Pérez-Villegas, A.
Friaça, A. C. S.
Souza, S. O.
Nunes, R. P.
Queiroz, A. B. A.
Fernández-Trincado, J. G.
de Abreu, A. L. Rocha
Plotnikova, A.
Astrophysics of Galaxies
The inner Galaxy is the most complex region of the Milky Way, comprising the bulge, inner thin and thick discs, and inner halo; the formation of the bar transferred gas and stars from the disc inward. Accretion of dwarf galaxies also occurred over the Galaxy's lifetime, merging with the original bulge. In this work, we constrain the metal-rich stars of the earliest spheroidal bulge. To study the oldest bulge stars, distributed in a spheroid, we applied kinematical and dynamical criteria in the metal-rich range [Fe/H] > -0.8. This complements our previous analysis of a symmetric sample with [Fe/H] < -0.8. We derived individual abundances through spectral synthesis for C, N, O, Al, P, S, K, Mn, and Ce using stellar parameters from APOGEE DR17, and compared the results with literature data and chemical-evolution models. The alpha elements Mg, Si, and Ca, and iron-peak elements V, Cr, Co, and Ni follow the expected trends relative to the models. Mn shows secondary behaviour. S and K display significant star-to-star scatter but remain broadly compatible with predictions. Phosphorus and cerium show an excess around [Fe/H] $\sim$ -0.7, more pronounced than in the metal-poor sample, suggesting a distinctive signature of the earliest bulge population. Diagrams of [Mg/Mn] versus [Al/Fe] and [Ni/Fe] versus [(C+N)/O] indicate an in situ origin for most stars. At super-solar metallicities, a subset shows enhanced K and Mn (possibly S) with low [Ce/Fe], hinting at enrichment linked to the nuclear disc and bar, and tracing a chemically distinct population shaped by the innermost Galaxy.
title Abundances in 78 metal-rich bulge spheroid stars from APOGEE
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.12415