Galactic chemical evolution with phylogenetic techniques – Prof Paula Jofré

This talk was part of the UH Centre for Astrophysics Research (CAR) 2023-2024 seminar series. For the ongoing programme, please see: https://www.herts.ac.uk/research/cent...

Date: 14 February 2024
Speaker: Prof Paula Jofré – Universidad Diego Portales
Title: Galactic Phylogenetics: Reconstructing chemical evolution with phylogenetic techniques

Abstract: When there is descent with modification, there is evolution. Studying the heritable markers that explain the diversity of present date data lies at the core evolutionary studies, and a widely used approach to do so is by analyzing phylogenetic trees.

It turns out that there is descent with modification in galactic chemical evolution. Chemical elements are produced inside stars and expelled into the interstellar medium via supernova and stellar winds, mixed and used to form new generations of stars. The chemical compositions of stars is thus inherited, and we use that hypothesis to reconstruct a narrative of cosmic events that explain the distribution of the chemical compositions of stellar populations. In this talk I will present current efforts to adapt and implement phylogenetic techniques to reconstruct the history of galactic chemical evolution. I will explain recent results, and discuss some next challenges.