The chemical abundances of stars in the halo (CASH) project. III. A new classification scheme for carbon-enhanced metal-poor stars with s-process element enhancement

We present a detailed abundance analysis of 23 elements for a newly discovered carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) star, HE 0414-0343, from the Chemical Abundances of Stars in the Halo Project. Its spectroscopic stellar parameters are T_eff = 4863 K, ξ = 2.20 km s^-1, and [Fe/H] = -2.24. Radial velocity measurements covering seven years indicate HE 0414-0343 to be a binary. HE 0414-0343 has and is strongly enhanced in neutron-capture elements but its abundances cannot be reproduced by a solar-type s-process pattern alone. Traditionally, it could be classified as a "CEMP-r/s" star. Based on abundance comparisons with asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star nucleosynthesis models, we suggest a new physically motivated origin and classification scheme for CEMP-s stars and the still poorly understood CEMP-r/s. The new scheme describes a continuous transition between these two so-far distinctly treated subgroups: CEMP-sA, CEMP-sB, and CEMP-sC. Possible causes for a continuous transition include the number of thermal pulses the AGB companion underwent, the effect of different AGB star masses on their nucleosynthetic yields, and physics that is not well approximated in 1D stellar models such as proton ingestion episodes and rotation. Based on a set of detailed AGB models, we suggest the abundance signature of HE 0414-0343 to have arisen from a >1.3 M_o mass AGB star and a late-time mass transfer that transformed HE 0414-0343 into a CEMP-sC star. We also find that the [Y/Ba] ratio well parametrizes the classification and can thus be used to easily classify any future such stars.