Related papers: Semi-empirical white dwarf initial-final mass rela…
White dwarf stars are the most common endpoint of stellar evolution. Therefore, these old, numerous and compact objects provide valuable information on the late stages of stellar evolution, the physics of dense plasma and the structure and…
I review our understanding of classic dynamical scaling relations, relating luminosity, size and kinematics of early-type galaxies. Using unbiased determinations of galaxy mass profiles from stellar dynamical models, a simple picture has…
Cosmological simulations still lack numerical resolution or physical processes to simulate dwarf galaxies in sufficient details. Accurate numerical simulations of individual dwarf galaxies are thus still in demand. We aim at (i) studying in…
Much of our knowledge of galaxies comes from analysing the radiation emitted by their stars. It depends on the stellar initial mass function (IMF) describing the distribution of stellar masses when the population formed. Consequently…
Star clusters are observed to form in a highly compact state and with low star-formation efficiencies, and only 10 per cent of all clusters appear to survive to middle- and old-dynamical age. If the residual gas is expelled on a dynamical…
We present velocity dispersion measurements of 20 Local Group stellar clusters (7 < log(age [yrs]) < 10.2) from integrated light spectra and examine the evolution of the stellar mass-to-light ratio, Upsilon_*. We find that the clusters…
We consider tidal masses and ages of Milky Way open clusters, as well as a simple model of their distribution. Our aim is to investigate the space of model parameters and the correspondence between modelled and observed two-dimensional…
Given the importance of white dwarfs (WDs) in many fields of modern astrophysics, the precise knowledge of the actual degree of accuracy of the associated theoretical predictions is a primary task. In the first paper of a series dedicated…
We will discuss the evolution of star clusters with an large initial binary fraction, up to 95%. The initial binary population is chosen to follow the invariant orbital-parameter distributions suggested by Kroupa (1995). The Monte Carlo…
We highlight the impact of cluster-mass-dependent evolutionary rates upon the evolution of the cluster mass function during violent relaxation, that is, while clusters dynamically respond to the expulsion of their residual star-forming gas.…
We review the theory of electron-conduction opacity, a fundamental ingredient in the computation of low-mass stellar models; shortcomings and limitations of the existing calculations used in stellar evolution are discussed. We then present…
Accurate determinations of stellar mass functions and ages of stellar populations are crucial to much of astrophysics. We analyse the evolution of stellar mass functions of coeval main sequence stars including all relevant aspects of…
Most globular clusters have half-mass radii of a few pc with no apparent correlation with their masses. This is different from elliptical galaxies, for which the Faber-Jackson relation suggests a strong positive correlation between mass and…
We present detailed theoretical mass-radius relations for massive white dwarf stars with oxygen-neon cores. This work is motivated by recent observational evidence about the existence of white dwarf stars with very high surface gravities.…
We review progress in numerical simulations of star cluster formation. These simulations involve the bottom-up assembly of clusters through hierarchical mergers, which produces a fractal stellar distribution at young (~0.5 Myr) ages. The…
Galaxy evolution is sensitive to how stars inject feedback into their surroundings. In particular, stellar feedback from star clusters strongly affects gas motions and the baryonic cycle, with more massive clusters having stronger effects.…
Observations indicate blue globular clusters have half-light radii systematically larger than those of red globular clusters. In this paper, we test whether the different metallicity-dependent stellar evolution timescales and mass-loss…
White dwarfs are the final remnants of low- and intermediate-mass stars. Their evolution is essentially a cooling process that lasts for $\sim 10$ Gyr. Their observed properties provide information about the history of the Galaxy, its dark…
We review recent advances in our understanding of the origin of the initial mass function (IMF). We emphasize the use of numerical simulations to investigate how each physical process involved in star formation affects the resulting IMF. We…
Open and globular star clusters have served as benchmarks for the study of stellar evolution due to their supposed nature as simple stellar populations of the same age and metallicity. After a brief review of some of the pioneering work…