Related papers: The effect of diffusion on the Red Giant luminosit…
The discrepancy between cosmological Li abundance inferred from Population II dwarf stars and that derived from WMAP/BBNS is still far from being solved.We investigated, as an alternative route, the use of Li abundances in Population II…
The location of Galactic Globular Clusters' (GC) stars on the horizontal branch (HB) should mainly depend on GC metallicity, the "first parameter", but it is actually the result of complex interactions between the red giant branch (RGB)…
Photometric redshifts have been determined for the galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field. The resulting redshift distribution shows two peaks: one at z~0.6 and one at z~2.2. Luminosity functions derived from the redshifts show strong luminosity…
A catalog including a set of the most recent Color Magnitude Diagrams (CMDs) is presented for a sample of 61 Galactic Globular Clusters (GGCs). We used this data-base to perform an homogeneous systematic analysis of the evolved sequences…
Mass loss on the red giant branch (RGB) influences stellar evolution, properties of stellar populations, and Galactic chemical enrichment, yet remains poorly constrained observationally. Current models provide limited insight into how…
Fast radio burst (FRB) discoveries are occurring rapidly, with thousands expected from upcoming surveys. The dispersion measures (DM) observed for FRB include important information on cosmological distances and the ionization state of the…
We analyze the possibility of using observational data on nearby dwarf galaxies -- their luminosity functions and spatial distributions -- to constrain deviations of the cosmological power spectrum from the standard one. Specifically, we…
We show that element diffusion can produce large fluctuations in the initial helium abundance of the star-forming clouds. Diffusion time-scale, which in stars is much larger than the Hubble time, can fall below 10^8 years in the neutral gas…
The tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) provides a key standard candle for extragalactic distance measurements and for refining the Hubble constant. We test its robustness by quantifying how metallicity, $\alpha$-element enhancement, age,…
Theoretical predictions of Red Giant Branch stars' effective temperatures, colors, luminosities and surface chemical abundances are a necessary tool for the astrophysical interpretation of the visible--near infrared integrated light from…
We present observational estimates of DV(Bump-HB) in a sample of 28 Galactic Globular Clusters (GGCs) observed by HST. The photometric accuracy and the sizable number of stars measured in each cluster allowed us to single out the RGB Bump…
We study the redshift evolution of the luminosity function (LF) and redshift selection effect of long gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs). The method is to fit the observed peak flux and redshift distributions, simultaneously. To account for the…
The red-giant branch bump provides valuable information for the investigation of the internal structure of low-mass stars. Because current models are unable to accurately predict the occurrence and efficiency of mixing processes beyond…
We explore the effects of dust in cosmologically distributed intervening galaxies on the high redshift universe using a generalised model where dust content evolves with cosmic time. The absorbing galaxies are modelled as exponential disks…
We employ realistic constraints on astrophysical and instrumental selection effects to model the Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) redshift distribution using {\it Swift} triggered redshift samples acquired from optical afterglows (OA) and the TOUGH…
We derive a new expression for the coefficient $D_{\mathrm{h}}$ of diffusion by horizontal turbulence in rotating stars. This new estimate can be up to two orders of magnitude larger than given by a previous expression. As a consequence the…
The near-infrared behavior of the red giant branch (RGB hereafter) as a function of abundance is examined with an unprecedented large sample of 27 Galactic globular clusters with Two Micron All Sky Survey photometry. We propose a new…
We employ realistic constraints on selection effects to model the Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) redshift distribution using {\it Swift} triggered redshift samples acquired from optical afterglows and the TOUGH survey. Models for the Malmquist bias,…
Most inhomogeneities in the chemical composition of GC stars are due to primordial enrichment. The model today most credited is that the winds lost by high mass Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars, evolving during the first $\simlt$200Myr…
Depending on the topology of the magnetic field and characteristics of turbulent motions, diffusion can significantly affect the distribution of elements, in particular helium, in the intracluster medium (ICM). As has been noted previously,…