Galactic chemical evolution

Abstract

In this paper we review the current ideas about the formation of our Galaxy. In particular, the main ingredients necessary to build chemical evolution models (star formation, initial mass function and stellar yields) are described and discussed. A critical discussion about the main observational constraints available is also presented. Finally, our model predictions concerning the evolution of the abundances of several chemical elements (H, D, He, C, N, O, Ne, Mg, Si, Ca and Fe) are compared with observations relative to the solar neighborhood and the whole disk. We show that from this comparison we can constrain the history of the formation and evolution of the Milky Way as well as the nucleosynthesis theories concerning the Big Bang and the stars.