Here's What Everything Ever Is Made Of

Got me to wondering about explanations of/for the elemental abundance in our neighborhood... or any other, for that matter. (PN)

The first question that comes to my mind is about the matter which makes up planets. Star theory could suggest that the elements available for planetary formation in any "solar system" would be comprised of the materials generated by the the sun(s) of that system. Or maybe not. This article would suggest the elements available were concurrent with the formation of the Sun. Backing out a bit, this article is about formation of galaxies. And backing out to the edge (?) we have the Lambda-CDM model. (I note that dark matter -- CDM, as well as generic (?) -- has now been incorporated into some of these models. And until we know what we really mean by these terms, our understanding is a bit like the Sidney Harris cartoon. An interesting side-discussion about what physical constants represent, would, in a way correlate DM and DE with what we have plugged into our theories, much like constants, in more local equations. There are some interesting books that address constants; for ex: 1, 2, 3...)

So what theory (or theories) explains (or attempts to) elemental abundance?

A more general statement of the question is metallicity. This would suggest, again, heavier elemental formation happening soon after the Big Bang. The best example we have for any detailed study is our own solar system. Its formation and the formation of the heavier elements is still theoretical, but new clues emerge with the possibility of altering previous theories. (Maybe we are tin horns after all?)

We know a fair amount of local knowledge but are still theorizing about the larger, more universal questions. And these theories have become more complex as we discover, heretofore unknowns. It is obvious that all of our scientific models rest on the larger, overarching ones. Sudden turns in the road, like Dark Matter and Dark Energy should keep us humble in our quest to understand the universe. Understanding them, may turn our current models on their heads. At the least, they certainly show there are questions we didn't even know existed a few decades ago.

Lack of understanding on cosmological matters hasn't kept us from developing technological toys, though, which adds to our tin-hornishness. Ignorance is bliss? It would appear so in the short term. I guess we all will stay tuned. (Ah, but to what frequency?)