Phosphorus abundances and multi-element co-enrichment in nearby FGK stars
Abstract
The distribution of bio-essential elements is key to assessing the chemical fertility of galactic environments. We analyse phosphorus abundances for 233 nearby FGK stars from the Hypatia Catalog, separating thin- and thick-disk populations. We study [P/Fe] as a function of [Fe/H] and other elemental abundances using non-parametric tests and bootstrap resampling, and we examine residual correlations at fixed [Fe/H] together with molar ratios involving P. We find a [P/Fe]-[Fe/H] trend broadly similar to that of alpha elements, supporting a dominant origin in core-collapse supernovae, while deviations point to additional nucleosynthetic channels. Phosphorus shows strong positive correlations with several CHNOPS, alpha, and Fe-peak elements, especially in the thin disk. These co-enrichment patterns remain significant at fixed [Fe/H], indicating that they are not a trivial consequence of global metallicity. Thin-disk stars are also more enriched than thick-disk stars in many elements. The solar P/Mg and P/Si ratios are representative of the local stellar population, whereas solar P/O is relatively elevated. Overall, phosphorus emerges as a tracer of genuine multi-element co-enrichment and of the chemical fertility of the solar neighbourhood.
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BibTeX
@misc{esposito2026phosphorus,
title = {{Phosphorus abundances and multi-element co-enrichment in nearby FGK stars}},
author = {Dario Esposito and Giovanni Covone and Donato Giovannelli and Paola Manini and Christian Magliano and Laura Inno and Luca Cacciapuoti and Víctor M. Rivilla and Vito Saggese and Leonardo Testi and Emanuele Cristiano and Luca Tonietti},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2608.30484},
eprint = {2608.30484},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.30484},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Phosphorus abundances and multi-element co-enrichment in nearby FGK stars
AU - Dario Esposito
AU - Giovanni Covone
AU - Donato Giovannelli
AU - Paola Manini
AU - Christian Magliano
AU - Laura Inno
AU - Luca Cacciapuoti
AU - Víctor M. Rivilla
AU - Vito Saggese
AU - Leonardo Testi
AU - Emanuele Cristiano
AU - Luca Tonietti
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/31
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2608.30484
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.30484
AB - The distribution of bio-essential elements is key to assessing the chemical fertility of galactic environments. We analyse phosphorus abundances for 233 nearby FGK stars from the Hypatia Catalog, separating thin- and thick-disk populations. We study [P/Fe] as a function of [Fe/H] and other elemental abundances using non-parametric tests and bootstrap resampling, and we examine residual correlations at fixed [Fe/H] together with molar ratios involving P. We find a [P/Fe]-[Fe/H] trend broadly similar to that of alpha elements, supporting a dominant origin in core-collapse supernovae, while deviations point to additional nucleosynthetic channels. Phosphorus shows strong positive correlations with several CHNOPS, alpha, and Fe-peak elements, especially in the thin disk. These co-enrichment patterns remain significant at fixed [Fe/H], indicating that they are not a trivial consequence of global metallicity. Thin-disk stars are also more enriched than thick-disk stars in many elements. The solar P/Mg and P/Si ratios are representative of the local stellar population, whereas solar P/O is relatively elevated. Overall, phosphorus emerges as a tracer of genuine multi-element co-enrichment and of the chemical fertility of the solar neighbourhood.
ER -