On the origin of fluorine in the Milky Way

Abstract

The main astrophysical factories of fluorine ( 19 F) are thought to be Type II supernovae, Wolf‐ Rayet stars, and the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) of intermediate-mass stars. We present a model for the chemical evolution of fluorine in the Milky Way using a semi-analytic multizone chemical evolution model. For the first time, we demonstrate quantitatively the impact of fluorine nucleosynthesis in Wolf‐Rayet and AGB stars. The inclusion of these latter two fluorine production sites provides a possible solution to the long-standing discrepancy between model predictions and the fluorine abundances observed in Milky Way giants. Finally, fluorine is discussed as a possible probe of the role of supernovae and intermediate-mass stars in the chemical evolution history of the globular cluster ω Centauri. Ke yw ords: stars: abundances ‐ stars: evolution ‐ galaxies: evolution.