Interpretation of the Stellar Metalltcity Distribution

The dispersion in metal abundances of stars of a given age is similar to that in the abundance distribution of dwarfs with lifetimes greater than the age of the Galaxy. Thus the latter distribution cannot be correctly interpreted unless the former dispersion is taken into account. With this consideration, dynamical models for the formation of the Galaxy by collapse, and models for chemical evolution that consider accretion of gas shed by halo stars, no longer predict too few moderately metal-poor G-K dwarfs in the solar neighborhood. Subject headings: abundances - stellar evolution