vice.single_stellar_population

Simulate the nucleosynthesis of a given element from a single star cluster of given mass and metallicity. This does not take into account galactic evolution - whether or not it is depleted from inflows or ejected in winds is not considered. Only the net mass of the given element produced by the star cluster is calculated.

Signature: vice.single_stellar_population(element, mstar = 1.0e+06, Z = 0.014, time = 10, dt = 0.01, m_upper = 100, m_lower = 0.08, postMS = 0.1, IMF = “kroupa”, RIa = “plaw”, delay = 0.15)

Parameters

elementstr [case-insensitive]

The symbol of the element to simulate the enrichment for.

mstarreal number [default1.0e+06]

The birth mass of the star cluster in solar masses.

Zreal number [default0.014]

The metallicity by mass of the stars in the cluster.

timereal number [default10]

The amount of time in Gyr to run the simulation for.

dtreal number [default0.01]

The size of each timestep in Gyr.

m_upperreal number [default100]

The upper mass limit on star formation in solar masses.

m_lowerreal number [default0.08]

The lower mass limit on star formation in solar masses.

postMSreal number [default0.1]

The ratio of a star’s post main sequence lifetime to its main sequence lifetime.

New in version 1.1.0: Prior to version 1.1.0, VICE approximated postMS = 0.

IMFstr [case-insensitive] or <function> [default“kroupa”]

The stellar initial mass function (IMF) to assume. Strings denote built-in IMFs. Functions must accept only one numerical parameter and will be interpreted as a custom, arbitrary stellar IMF.

Recognized built-in IMFs:

Note

Functions do not need to be normalized. VICE will take care of this automatically.

RIastr [case-insensitive] or <function> [default“plaw”]

The delay-time distribution for type Ia supernovae to adopt. Strings denote built-in distributions. Functions must accept only one numerical parameter and will be interpreted as a custom, arbitrary delay-time distribution.

Recognized built-in distributions:

  • “plaw”: \(R_\text{Ia} \sim t^{-1.1}\)

  • “exp”: \(R_\text{Ia} \sim e^{-t/\text{1.5 Gyr}}\)

Note

Functions do not need to return 0 at times smaller than the SN Ia minimum delay time. VICE will take care of this automatically.

Note

Functions do not need to be normalized. VICE will take care of this automatically.

delayreal number [default0.15]

The minimum delay time following the formation of a single stellar population before the onset of type Ia supernovae in Gyr.

agb_modelstring [case-insensitive] or None [defaultNone]

[DEPRECATED]

A keyword denoting which table of nucleosynthetic yields from AGB stars to adopt.

Recognized Keywords:

  • “cristallo11” [3]

  • “karakas10” [4]

Deprecated since version 1.2.0: Users should instead modify their AGB star yield settings through vice.yields.agb.settings. Users may specify either a built-in study or a function of stellar mass and metallicity.

Returns

masslist

The net mass of the element in solar mass produced by the star cluster at each timestep.

timeslist

The times in Gyr corresponding to each mass yield.

Raises

  • ValueError

    • The element is not built into VICE.

    • mstar < 0

    • Z < 0

    • time < 0 or time > 15 [VICE does not simulate enrichment on timescales significantly longer than the age of the universe]

    • dt < 0

    • m_upper < 0

    • m_lower < 0

    • m_lower > m_upper

    • postMS < 0 or > 1

    • built-in IMF is not recognized

    • delay < 0

    • agb_model is not built into VICE

  • LookupError

    • agb_model == “karakas10” and the atomic number of the element is larger than 29. The Karakas (2010), MNRAS, 403, 1413 study did not report yields for elements heavier than nickel.

  • ArithmeticError

    • A functional RIa evaluated to a negative value, inf, or NaN at any given timestep.

  • IOError [Only occurs if VICE’s file structure has been modified]

    • The AGB yield file is not found.

Example Code

>>> mass, times = vice.single_stellar_population("sr", Z = 0.008)
>>> mass[-1]
        0.04808964406448721
>>> mass, times = vice.single_stellar_population("fe")
>>> mass[-1]
        2679.816051685778