We measure abundances of 12 elements (Na, Mg, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni) in a sample of 86 metal-poor (-2<~[Fe/H]<~-1) subgiant stars in the solar neighborhood. Abundances are derived from high-resolution spectra taken with the Potsdam Echelle Polarimetric and Spectroscopic Instrument on the Large Binocular Telescope, modeled using iSpec and MOOG. By carefully quantifying the impact of photon-noise (<0.05dex for all elements), we robustly measure the intrinsic scatter of abundance ratios. At fixed [Fe/H], the rms intrinsic scatter in [X/Fe] ranges from 0.04 (Cr) to 0.16dex (Na), with a median of 0.08dex. Scatter in [X/Mg] is similar, and accounting for [{alpha}/Fe] only reduces the overall scatter moderately. We consider several possible origins of the intrinsic scatter with particular attention to fluctuations in the relative enrichment by core-collapse supernovae (CCSN) and Type Ia supernovae and stochastic sampling of the CCSN progenitor mass distribution. The stochastic sampling scenario provides a good quantitative explanation of our data if the effective number of CCSN contributing to the enrichment of a typical sample star is N~50. At the median metallicity of our sample, this interpretation implies that the CCSN ejecta are mixed over a gas mass ~6x10^4^M_{sun}_ before forming stars. The scatter of elemental abundance ratios is a powerful diagnostic test for simulations of star formation, feedback, and gas mixing in the early phases of the Galaxy.

Cone search capability for table J/ApJ/944/47/param (Spectroscopic and photometric stellar parameters (Table 2) and Abundances (Table 3))

Cone search capability for table J/ApJ/944/47/table1 (Observing details)