Related papers: The universality hypothesis: binary and stellar po…
Binary population synthesis is the method by which predictions of varied observables of stellar populations can be made from theoretical models of binary stellar evolution. Binary stars have many more possible evolutionary outcomes compared…
The Stellar Initial Mass Function (IMF) characterizes the mass distribution of newly formed stars in various cosmic environments, serving as a fundamental assumption in astrophysical research. Recent findings challenge the prevalent notion…
It is currently impossible to determine the abundances and ages of the stellar populations of distant, dense stellar systems star by star. Therefore, methods to analyze the composite light of stellar systems are required. I review the…
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…
The properties of old globular cluster systems in galaxy halos are used to infer quantitative constraints on aspects of generic star (cluster) formation. First, the spatial distribution of globulars in three large galaxies, together with…
The highest-mass stars have the lowest frequency in the stellar IMF, and they are also the most easily observed stars. Thus, the counting statistics for OB stars provide important tests for the fundamental nature and quantitative parameters…
Determining the properties of old stellar populations (those with age >1 Gyr) has long involved the comparison of their integrated light, either in the form of photometry or spectroscopic indexes, with empirical or synthetic templates. Here…
The stellar initial mass function (IMF) is commonly interpreted to be a scale-invariant probability density distribution function (PDF) such that many small clusters yield the same IMF as one massive cluster of the same combined number of…
Galactic globular clusters consist of two main stellar populations, the pristine (1P) and polluted (2P) stars. The fraction of 1P stars in clusters, $F_{1P}$, is a decreasing function of the cluster present-day mass, $m_{prst}$. The…
Three component models of the IMF are made to consider possible origins for the observed relative variations in the numbers of brown dwarfs, solar-to-intermediate mass stars, and high mass stars. Three distinct physical processes are noted.…
Knowledge of the binary population in stellar groupings provides important information about the outcome of the star forming process in different environments (see, e.g., Blaauw 1991, and references therein). Binarity is also a key…
Several recent observational studies have concluded that the initial mass function (IMF) of stars varies systematically with galaxy properties such as velocity dispersion. In this paper, we investigate the effect of linking the circular…
We review the multiple population (MP) phenomenon of globular clusters (GCs): i.e., the evidence that GCs typically host groups of stars with different elemental abundances and/or distinct sequences in photometric diagrams. Most Galactic…
The evolution of AGB stars is notoriously complex. The confrontation of AGB population models with observed stellar populations is a useful alternative to the detailed study of individual stars in efforts to converge towards a reliable…
We report on empirical trends between the dynamically determined stellar initial mass function (IMF) and stellar population properties for a complete, volume-limited sample of 260 early-type galaxies from the Atlas3D project. We study…
The measured star-formation rates (SFRs) of galaxies comprise an important constraint on galaxy evolution and also on their cosmological boundary conditions. Any available tracer of the SFR depends on the shape of the mass-distribution of…
Stars do not form continuously distributed over star forming galaxies. They form in star clusters of different masses. This nature of clustered star formation is taken into account in the theory of the integrated galactic stellar initial…
The total mass of distant star clusters is often derived from the virial theorem, using line-of-sight velocity dispersion measurements and half-light radii. Although most stars form in binary systems, this is mostly ignored when…
The stellar initial mass function (IMF) describes the distribution in stellar masses produced from a burst of star formation. For more than fifty years, the implicit assumption underpinning most areas of research involving the IMF has been…
The galactic population of globular clusters are old, dense star systems, with a typical cluster containing $10^4 - 10^6$ stars. As an old population of stars, globular clusters contain many collapsed and degenerate objects. As a dense…