Transition probabilities of rare earth elements

This improved laboratory data set has been used to determine a new solar photospheric Ce abundance, log{epsilon}=1.61+/-0.01 ({sigma}=0.06 from 45 lines), a value in excellent agreement with the recommended meteoritic abundance, log{epsilon}=1.61+/-0.02.

Revised Ce abundances have also been derived for the r-process-rich metal-poor giant stars BD+17 3248, CS 22892-052, CS 31082-001, HD 115444, and HD 221170. Between 26 and 40 lines were used for determining the Ce abundance in these five stars, yielding a small statistical uncertainty of {+/-}0.01dex similar to the solar result. The relative abundances in the metal-poor stars of Ce and Eu, a nearly pure r-process element in the Sun, matches r-process-only model predictions for solar system material.