Lithium in the Universe

Believed to be synthesized in the Big Bang, lithium is nevertheless less abundant in the universe than other elements and is generally destroyed in stars. The processes that may lead to the production of lithium are still poorly known, although it is thought that they could exist in asymptotic giant branch stars and possibly in nova explosions. This is a topic that I have been studying since many years.

I have co-discovered the super Li-rich nature of the Carbon star IY Hya as well as a super lithium-rich red-clump star in the open cluster Trumpler 5.

I have also compiled a catalogue of Li abundances and equivalent widths in a sample of galactic C-stars (see also here and here) and I looked at the explosive thermonuclear formation of Li 7 (see also here).