Europium, Samarium, And Neodymium Isotopic Fractions In Metal-Poor Stars

6We have derived isotopic fractions of europium (Eu), samarium (Sm), and neodymium (Nd) in two metal-poor giants with differing neutron-capture nucleosynthetic histories. These isotopic fractions were measured from new very high resolution (R similar to 120,000), high signal-to-noise (S/N similar to 160 - 1000) spectra obtained with the 2dCoude spectrograph of McDonald Observatory's 2.7m Smith telescope. Synthetic spectra were generated using recent high-precision laboratory measurements of hyperfine and isotopic subcomponents of several transitions of these elements and matched quantitatively to the observed spectra. We interpret our isotopic fractions by the nucleosynthesis predictions of the stellar model, which models s-process nucleosynthesis in the physical conditions expected in a low-mass, thermally-pulsing star on the AGB, and the classical method, which assumes that s-process nucleosynthesis can be approximated by a steady neutron flux impinging upon Fe-peak seed nuclei. These two approaches predict the relative contributions to the Solar System n-capture abundances from the s- and r-processes and, by extension, the relative contributions of these two process to material in metal-poor stars. Our Eu isotopic fraction in HD 175305 is consistent with an r-process origin by the classical method and is consistent with both an r-process and s-process origin by the stellar model. Our Sm isotopic fraction in HD 175305 is consistent with a predominantly r-process origin by both methods, and our Sm isotopic fraction in HD 196944 is consistent with a pure s-process origin by both methods as well. Our Nd isotopic fractions in both stars are consistent with either r-process and s-process origins by both methods. The Eu and Sm isotopic fraction estimates argue for an r-process origin for the rare-earth elements in HD 175305 and an s-process origin for them in HD 196944, in excellent agreement with previous studies of the elemental abundance distributions in these stars. This study for the first time extends the n-capture origin of multiple rare earths in metal-poor stars from elemental abundances to the isotopic level, strengthening the r-process interpretation for HD 175305 and the s-process interpretation for HD 196944.