Masses and Ages for 230,000 LAMOST Giants, via Their Carbon and Nitrogen Abundances

We measure carbon and nitrogen abundances to a precision of less than or similar to 0.1 dex for 450,000 giant stars from their low-resolution (R similar to 1800) LAMOST DR2 survey spectra. We use these [C/M] and[N/M] measurements, together with empirical relations based on the APOKASC sample, to infer stellar masses and implied ages for 230,000 of these objects to 0.08 dex and 0.2 dex respectively. We use The. Cannon, a data-driven approach to spectral modeling, to construct a predictive model for LAMOST spectra. Our reference set comprises 8125 stars observed in common between the APOGEE and LAMOST surveys, taking seven APOGEE DR12 labels (parameters) as ground truth: T-eff, log g,[M/H],[alpha/M], [C/M],[N/M], and A(k). We add seven colors to the Cannon model, based on the g, r, i, J, H, K, W1, W2 magnitudes from APASS, 2MASS, and WISE, which improves our constraints on T-eff and log g by up to 20% and on A(k) by up to 70%. Cross-validation of the model demonstrates that, for high-S/N objects, our inferred labels agree with the APOGEE values to within 50 K in temperature, 0.04 mag in A(k), and <0.1 dex in log g,[M/H], [C/M],[N/M], and[alpha/M]. We apply the model to 450,000 giants in LAMOST DR2 that have not been observed by APOGEE. This demonstrates that precise individual abundances can be measured from low-resolution spectra. and represents the largest catalog to date of homogeneous stellar [C/M],[N/M], masses, and ages. As a result, we greatly increase the number and sky coverage of stars with mass and age estimates.