Related papers: On the self-consistency of evolutionary synthesis …
In this review we address the uncertainties implicit in evolutionary synthesis model computations. After describing the general structure of synthesis codes, we discuss several source of uncertainties that may affect their results. In…
During this last decade our knowledge of the evolutionary properties of stars has significantly improved. This result has been achieved thanks to our improved understanding of the physical behavior of stellar matter in the thermal regimes…
Evolutionary synthesis models are a fundamental tool to interpret the properties of observed stellar systems. In order to achieve a meaningful comparison between models and real data, it is necessary to calibrate the models themselves, i.e.…
We show autoconsistent chemical and spectro-photometric evolution models applied to spiral and irregular galaxies. Evolutionary synthesis models usually used to explain the stellar component spectro-photometric data, are combined with…
In this contribution we investigate how to describe the results and usage of evolutionary synthesis models. In particular, we look for an explicit and quantitative description of the parameter space of synthesis models and the evaluation of…
Many aspects of the evolution of stars, and in particular the evolution of binary stars, remain beyond our ability to model them in detail. Instead, we rely on observations to guide our often phenomenological models and pin down uncertain…
Comparison with artificial galaxy models is essential for translating the incomplete and low signal-to-noise data we can obtain on astrophysical stellar populations to physical interpretations which describe their composition, physical…
The basic assumptions behind Population Synthesis and Spectral Evolution models are reviewed. The numerical problems encountered by the standard population synthesis technique when applied to models with truncated star formation rates are…
The current state-of-the-art of population synthesis is reviewed. The field is currently undergoing major revisions with the recognition of several key processes as new critical ingredients. Stochastic effects can artificially enhance or…
We summarize the principles and fundamental ingredients of evolutionary synthesis models, which are stellar evolution, stellar atmospheres, the IMF, star-formation histories, nebular emission, and also attenuation from the ISM and IGM. The…
Stellar population synthesis can be approached as an inverse problem. The physical information is extracted from the observations through an inverse model. The process requires the transformation of the observational errors into model…
The theory of stellar evolution plays a central role in astrophysics as stellar models are used to infer properties for Galactic and Extragalactic stellar populations as well as exoplanetary systems. However, despite decades of experience,…
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…
During the last few years, the Geneva stellar evolution group has released new grids of stellar models, including the effect of rotation and with updated physical inputs (Ekstr\"om et al. 2012; Georgy et al. 2013a,b). To ease the comparison…
Since the early 1970s, stellar population modelling has been one of the basic tools for understanding the physics of unresolved systems from observation of their integrated light. Models allow us to relate the integrated spectra (or…
Evolutionary synthesis models (ESM) have been extensively used to obtain the star formation history in galaxies by means of SED fitting. Implicit in this use of ESM is that (a) for given evolutionary parameters, the shape of the SED is…
Models for the formation and evolution of galaxies readily predict physical properties such as the star formation rates, metal enrichment histories, and, increasingly, gas and dust content of synthetic galaxies. Such predictions are…
Evolution has fascinated quantitative and physical scientists for decades: how can the random process of mutation, recombination, and duplication of genetic information generate the diversity of life? What determines the rate of evolution?…
Synthesis models predict the integrated properties of stellar populations. Several problems exist in this field, mostly related to the fact that integrated properties are distributed. To date, this aspect has been either ignored (as in…
The fundamental properties of stellar clusters, such as the age or the total initial mass in stars, are often inferred from population synthesis models. The predicted properties are then used to constrain the physical mechanisms involved in…