Fan Liu

Dr. Fan Liu


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

17Years (2010-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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6 May 2021 in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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SBSven Buder
Sven Buder
SSSanjib Sharma
Sanjib Sharma
JKJanez Kos
Janez Kos
AAAnish M Amarsi
Anish M Amarsi
TNThomas Nordlander
Thomas Nordlander
GCGALAH Collaboration
GALAH Collaboration
The ensemble of chemical element abundance measurements for stars, along with precision distances and orbit properties, provides high-dimensional data to study the evolution of the Milky Way. With this third data release of the Galactic Archaeology with HERMES (GALAH) survey, we publish 678 423 spectra for 588 571 mostly nearby stars (81.2 per cent of stars are within 75 stellar clusters. We derive stellar parameters Teff, log g, [Fe/H], vmic, vbroad, and vrad using our modified version of the spectrum synthesis code Spectroscopy Made Easy (sme) and 1D marcs model atmospheres. We break spectroscopic degeneracies in our spectrum analysis with astrometry from Gaia DR2 and photometry from 2MASS. We report abundance ratios [X/Fe] for 30 different elements (11 of which are based on non-LTE computations) covering five nucleosynthetic pathways. We describe validations for accuracy and precision, flagging of peculiar stars/measurements and recommendations for using our results. Our catalogue comprises 65 per cent dwarfs, 34 per cent giants, and 1 per cent other/unclassified stars. Based on unflagged chemical composition and age, we find 62 per cent young low-|$\alpha$|⁠, 9 per cent young high-|$\alpha$|⁠, 27 per cent old high-|$\alpha$|⁠, and 2 per cent stars with [Fe/H] ≤ −1. Based on kinematics, 4 per cent are halo stars. Several Value-Added-Catalogues, including stellar ages and dynamics, updated after Gaia eDR3, accompany this release and allow chrono-chemodynamic analyses, as we showcase.

19 December 2016 in The Astrophysical Journal
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Gang ZhaoGang Zhao
Gang Zhao
LMLyudmila I. Mashonkina
Lyudmila I. Mashonkina
HYH. L. Yan
H. L. Yan
SAS. Alexeeva
S. Alexeeva
CKChiaki Kobayashi
Chiaki Kobayashi
MZM. Zhai
M. Zhai
For the first time, we present an extensive study of stars with individual non-LTE (NLTE) abundances for 17 chemical elements from Li to Eu in a sample of stars uniformly distributed over the −2.62 ≤ [Fe/H] ≤ +0.24 metallicity range that is suitable for the Galactic chemical evolution research. The star sample has been kinematically selected to trace the Galactic thin and thick disks and halo. We find new results and improve earlier ones as follows: (i) the element-to-iron ratios for Mg, Si, Ca, and Ti form a metal-poor (MP) plateau at a similar height of 0.3 dex, and the knee occurs at common [Fe/H] ≃ −0.8. The knee at the same metallicity is observed for [O/Fe], and the MP plateau is formed at [O/Fe] = 0.61. (ii) The upward trend of [C/O] with decreasing metallicity exists at [Fe/H] < −1.2, supporting the earlier finding of Akerman et al. (iii) An underabundance of Na relative to Mg in the [Fe/H] < −1 stars is nearly constant, with the mean [Na/ Mg] ≃ −0.5. (iv) The K/Sc, Ca/Sc, and Ti/Sc ratios form well-defined trends, suggesting a common site of the K–Ti production. (v) Sr follows the Fe abundance down to [Fe/H] ≃ −2.5, while Zr is enhanced in MP stars. (vi) The comparisons of our results with some widely used Galactic evolution models are given. The use of the NLTE element abundances gives increased credit to the interpretation of the data in the context of the chemical evolution of the Galaxy.

26 November 2019 in Astronomy & Astrophysics
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beibei liubeibei liu
beibei liu
MLMichiel Lambrechts
Michiel Lambrechts
AJAnders Johansen
Anders Johansen
FLFan Liu
Fan Liu
JOJohansen
Johansen
We developed a pebble-driven core accretion model to study the formation and evolution of planets around stars in the stellar mass range of 0.08 M⊙–1 M⊙. By Monte Carlo sampling of the initial conditions, the growth and migration of a large number of individual protoplanetary embryos were simulated in a population synthesis manner. We tested two hypotheses for the birth locations of embryos: at the water ice line or log-uniformly distributed over entire protoplanetary disks. Two types of disks with different turbulent viscous parametersαtof 10−3and 10−4are also investigated to shed light on the role of outward migration of protoplanets. The forming planets are compared with the observed exoplanets in terms of mass, semimajor axis, metallicity, and water content. We find that gas giant planets are likely to form when the characteristic disk sizes are larger, the disk accretion rates are higher, the disks are more metal rich, and/or their stellar hosts are more massive. Our model shows that first, the characteristic mass of super-Earth is set by the pebble isolation mass. Super-Earth masses increase linearly with the mass of its stellar host, which corresponds to one Earth mass around a late M-dwarf star and 20 Earth masses around a solar-mass star. Second, the low-mass planets, up to 20 M⊕, can form around stars with a wide range of metallicities, while massive gas giant planets are preferred to grow around metal rich stars. Third, super-Earth planets that are mainly composed of silicates, with relatively low water fractions, can form from protoplanetary embryos at the water ice line in weakly turbulent disks where outward migration is suppressed. However, if the embryos are formed over a wide range of radial distances, the super-Earths would end up having a distinctive, bimodal composition in water mass. Altogether, our model succeeds in quantitatively reproducing several important observed properties of exoplanets and correlations with their stellar hosts.

10 August 2021 in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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Luca CasagrandeLuca Casagrande
Luca Casagrande
JLJane Lin
Jane Lin
ARAdam D Rains
Adam D Rains
FLFan Liu
Fan Liu
SBSven Buder
Sven Buder
TZTomaž Zwitter
Tomaž Zwitter
In order to accurately determine stellar properties, knowledge of the effective temperature of stars is vital. We implement Gaia and 2MASS photometry in the InfraRed Flux Method and apply it to over 360 000 stars across different evolutionary stages in the GALAH DR3 survey. We derive colour-effective temperature relations that take into account the effect of metallicity and surface gravity over the range |$4000\, \rm {K}\lesssim T_{\rm {eff}}\lesssim 8000\, \rm {K}$|⁠, from very metal-poor stars to supersolar metallicities. The internal uncertainty of these calibrations is of order 40–80 K depending on the colour combination used. Comparison against solar-twins, Gaia benchmark stars, and the latest interferometric measurements validates the precision and accuracy of these calibrations from F to early M spectral types. We assess the impact of various sources of uncertainties, including the assumed extinction law, and provide guidelines to use our relations. Robust solar colours are also derived.

29 January 2016 in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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FLFan Liu
Fan Liu
DYD. Yong
D. Yong
MAM. Asplund
M. Asplund
IRI. Ramírez
I. Ramírez
JMJ. Meléndez
J. Meléndez
We present a high-precision differential abundance analysis of 16 solar-type stars in the Hyades open cluster based on high-resolution, high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N ≈ 350–400) spectra obtained from the McDonald 2.7-m telescope. We derived stellar parameters and differential chemical abundances for 19 elements (C, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, S, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Ba) with uncertainties as low as ∼0.01–0.02 dex. Our main results include: (1) there is no clear chemical signature of planet formation detected among the sample stars, i.e. no correlations in abundances versus condensation temperature; (2) the observed abundance dispersions are a factor of ≈1.5–2 larger than the average measurement errors for most elements; (3) there are positive correlations, of high statistical significance, between the abundances of at least 90 per cent of pairs of elements. We demonstrate that none of these findings can be explained by errors due to the stellar parameters. Our results reveal that the Hyades is chemically inhomogeneous at the 0.02 dex level. Possible explanations for the abundance variations include (1) inhomogeneous chemical evolution in the proto-cluster environment, (2) supernova ejection in the proto-cluster cloud and (3) pollution of metal-poor gas before complete mixing of the proto-cluster cloud. Our results provide significant new constraints on the chemical composition of open clusters and a challenge to the current view of Galactic archaeology.

31 August 2016 in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
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NHNatalie R. Hinkel
Natalie R. Hinkel
PYPatrick A. Young
Patrick A. Young
MPMichael D. Pagano
Michael D. Pagano
SDSteven J. Desch
Steven J. Desch
AAAriel D. Anbar
Ariel D. Anbar
CSCaroline Soubiran
Caroline Soubiran
Stellar elemental abundances are important for understanding the fundamental properties of a star or stellar group, such as age and evolutionary history, as well as the composition of an orbiting planet. However, as abundance measurement techniques have progressed, there has been little standardization between individual methods and their comparisons. As a result, different stellar abundance procedures determine measurements that vary beyond the quoted error for the same elements within the same stars. The purpose of this paper is to better understand the systematic variations between methods and offer recommendations for producing more accurate results in the future. We invited a number of participants from around the world (Australia, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States) to calculate 10 element abundances (C, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Fe, Ni, Ba, and Eu) using the same stellar spectra for four stars (HD 361, HD 10700, HD 121504, and HD 202206). Each group produced measurements for each star using (1) their own autonomous techniques, (2) standardized stellar parameters, (3) a standardized line list, and (4) both standardized parameters and a line list. We present the resulting stellar parameters, absolute abundances, and a metric of data similarity that quantifies the homogeneity of the data. We conclude that standardization of some kind, particularly stellar parameters, improves the consistency between methods. However, because results did not converge as more free parameters were standardized, it is clear there are inherent issues within the techniques that need to be reconciled. Therefore, we encourage more conversation and transparency within the community such that stellar abundance determinations can be reproducible as well as accurate and precise.