Red Giant Branch stars: the theoretical framework

Abstract

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 unresolved stellar populations, the Color-Magnitude-Diagrams of resolved stellar clusters and galaxies, and spectroscopic determinations of red giant chemical abundances. On the other hand, the comparison with empirical constraints provides a stringent test for the accuracy of present generations of red giant models. We review the current status of red giant stars' modelling, discussing in detail the still existing uncertainties affecting the model input physics (e.g., electron conduction opacity, treatment of the superadiabatic convection), and the adequacy of the physical assumptions built into the model computations. We compare theory with several observational features of the Red Giant Branch in galactic globular clusters, such as the luminosity function bump, the luminosity of the Red Giant Branch tip and the envelope chemical abundance patterns, to show the level of agreement between current stellar models and empirical data concerning the stellar luminosities, star counts, and surface chemical abundances.

71 pages, 18 figures, PASP review (in press)

References in corpus (13)

• Towards Better Age Estimates for Stellar Populations: The Y^2 Isochrones for Solar Mixture
• The O-Na and Mg-Al Anticorrelations in Turn-Off and early Subgiants in Globular Clusters
• Predictions for self-pollution in globular cluster stars
• New Analyses of Star-to-Star Abundance Variations Among Bright Giants in the Mildly Metal-Poor Globular Cluster M5
• A step toward the calibration of the RGB Tip as a Standard Candle
• Models for Old, Metal-Poor Stars with Enhanced alpha-Element Abundances. III. Isochrones and Isochrone Population Functions
• Cluster AgeS Experiment: The Age and Distance of the Globular Cluster omega Centauri Determined from Observations of the Eclipsing Binary OGLEGC17
• On the helium flash in low-mass Population III Red Giant stars
• The shape of the Red Giant Branch Bump as a diagnostic of partial mixing processes in low-mass stars
• Calibration of the CH and CN Variations Among Main Sequence Stars in M71 and in M13
• A contribution of 26Al to the O-Al anticorrelation in globular cluster red giants
• DDO Photometry of M71: Carbon and Nitrogen Patterns Among Evolving Giants
• A Superwind from Early Post-Red Giant Stars?

Cited by in corpus (132)

• A large stellar evolution database for population synthesis studies. I. Scaled solar models and isochrones
• Measurements of the Hubble Constant: Tensions in Perspective
• GYRE: An open-source stellar oscillation code based on a new Magnus Multiple Shooting Scheme
• Updated Electron-Conduction Opacities: The Impact on Low-Mass Stellar Models
• Age and Metallicity Distribution of the Galactic Bulge from Extensive Optical and Near-IR Stellar Photometry
• Tip of the Red Giant Branch Distances. II. Zero-Point Calibration
• Chemical Abundances for 855 Giants in the Globular Cluster Omega Centauri (NGC 5139)
• Horizontal Branch Stars: The Interplay between Observations and Theory, and Insights into the Formation of the Galaxy
• The CosmoVerse White Paper: Addressing observational tensions in cosmology with systematics and fundamental physics
• What is a globular cluster? An observational perspective
• Elemental Abundance Ratios in Stars of the Outer Galactic Disk. I. Open Clusters
• Mixed modes in red giants: a window on stellar evolution
• The extended halo of Centaurus A: uncovering satellites, streams, and substructures
• On the Shoulders of Giants: Properties of the Stellar Halo and the Milky Way Mass Distribution
• A New Cepheid Distance to the Giant Spiral M101 Based On Image Subtraction of HST/ACS Observations
• Population effects on the red giant clump absolute magnitude: The K-band
• Verifying asteroseismically determined parameters of Kepler stars using hipparcos parallaxes: self-consistent stellar properties and distances
• Mg isotopic ratios in giant stars of the globular cluster NGC 6752
• A large stellar evolution database for population synthesis studies. V. Stellar models and isochrones with CNONa abundance anticorrelations
• The calibration of the RGB Tip as a Standard Candle: Extension to Near Infrared colors and higher metallicity
• The Carnegie-Chicago Hubble Program. I. An Independent Approach to the Extragalactic Distance Scale Using only Population II Distance Indicators
• Solar structure and evolution
• Color transformations and bolometric corrections for Galactic halo stars: alpha-enhanced vs scaled-solar results
• The Initial Helium Abundance of the Galactic Globular Cluster System
• The brightness of the Red Giant Branch tip: Theoretical framework, a set of reference models, and predicted observables
• Variable Stars in the Unusual, Metal-Rich Globular Cluster NGC 6388
• The distance of M33 and the stellar population in its outskirts
• "Retired" Planet Hosts: Not So Massive, Maybe Just Portly After Lunch
• A New Technique for Probing Convection in Pulsating White Dwarf Stars
• Old-Aged Stellar Population Distance Indicators
• Discovery of a close pair of faint dwarf galaxies in the halo of Centaurus A
• The Dragonfly Nearby Galaxies Survey. III. The Luminosity Function of the M101 Group
• Structural glitches near the cores of red giants revealed by oscillations in g-mode period spacings from stellar models
• Particle-physics constraints from the globular cluster M5: Neutrino Dipole Moments
• The Red Giant Branch Tip and Bump of the Leo II dwarf spheroidal galaxy
• The Leo Elliptical NGC 3379: A Metal-Poor Halo Emerges
• GALACTICNUCLEUS: A high-angular-resolution JHKs imaging survey of the Galactic centre II. First data release of the catalogue and the most detailed CMDs of the GC
• Old puzzle, new insights: a lithium rich giant quietly burning helium in its core
• Coping with loss: Stability of mass transfer from post-main sequence donor stars
• Tip of the Red Giant Branch distances to galaxies with composite stellar populations
• The distance to the Leo I dwarf spheroidal galaxy from the Red Giant Branch Tip
• Fe and Al Abundances for 180 Red Giants in the Globular Cluster Omega Centauri (NGC 5139)
• Abundance Anomalies and Rotational Evolution of Low Mass Red Giants: A Maximal Mixing Approach
• On the Use of Blanketed Atmospheres as Boundary Conditions for Stellar Evolutionary Models
• Cumulative physical uncertainty in modern stellar models I. The case of low-mass stars
• Population Synthesis in the Blue II. The Spectroscopic Age of 47 Tucanae
• Carbon Abundances of Faint Stars in M13 - Evidence for Two Abundance Altering Mechanisms
• A tidally disrupting dwarf galaxy in the halo of NGC 253
• Acoustic Signatures of the Helium Core Flash
• The Red Giant Branch Luminosity Function Bump
• Three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of red giant stars: semi-global models for the interpretation of interferometric observations
• Helium in first and second-generation stars in Globular Clusters from spectroscopy of red giants
• Theoretical Uncertainties in Red Giant Branch Evolution: The Red Giant Branch Bump
• Constraints on the Distance Moduli, Helium and Metal Abundances, and Ages of Globular Clusters from their RR Lyrae and Non-Variable Horizontal-Branch Stars. I. M3, M15, and M92
• Models for extremely metal-poor halo stars
• Study of Lithium Rich Giants with the GALAH Spectroscopic Survey
• On the red-giant luminosity bump
• Stellar models with mixing length and T(tau) relations calibrated on 3D convection simulations
• HST Photometry for the Halo Stars in the Leo Elliptical NGC 3377
• On the magnitude difference between the main sequence turn off and the red giant branch bump in Galactic globular clusters
• Star formation history and metallicity in the Galactic inner bulge revealed by the red giant branch bump
• Effective temperatures of red giants in the APOKASC catalogue and the mixing length calibration in stellar models
• Stellar models with the ML2 theory of convection
• Stellar models with calibrated convection and temperature stratification from 3D hydrodynamics simulations
• Hubble Space Telescope Observations of NGC 253 Dwarf Satellites: Discovery of Three Ultra-faint Dwarf Galaxies
• On the asymptotic acoustic-mode phase in red-giant stars and its dependence on evolutionary state
• The ISLAnds Project III: Variable Stars in Six Andromeda Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies
• Diagnostics of Stellar Modelling from Spectroscopy and Photometry of Globular Clusters
• The Aarhus red giants challenge II. Stellar oscillations in the red giant branch phase
• On the missing second generation AGB stars in NGC6752
• Convective boundary mixing in low- and intermediate-mass stars I. Core properties from pressure-mode asteroseismology
• Surface convection and red giants radii measurements
• Stellar Nucleosynthesis in the Hyades Open Cluster
• Synthetic photometry for carbon-rich giants. III. Tracing the sequence of mass-losing galactic C-type Miras
• On the Red Giant Branch: Ambiguity in the Surface Boundary Condition Leads to ~100 K Uncertainty in Model Effective Temperatures
• Carbon abundances and 12C/13C from globular cluster giants
• The Araucaria Project: The Distance to NGC 300 from the Red Giant Branch Tip using HST/ACS imaging
• From Canonical to Enhanced Extra Mixing in Low-Mass Red Giants: Tidally Locked Binaries
• The Stellar Content and Star Formation History of the late-type spiral galaxy NGC 300 from Hubble Space Telescope observations
• Evolutionary implications of the new triple-alpha nuclear reaction rate for low mass stars
• Galactic Globular and Open Cluster Fiducial Sequences in the Pan-STARRS1 Photometric System
• The ACS LCID project IV: detection of the RGB bump in isolated galaxies of the Local Group
• Spectroscopic versus Photometric Metallicities: Milky Way Dwarf Spheroidal Companions as a Test Case
• Helium White Dwarfs in Cataclysmic Variables
• Electron conduction opacities at the transition between moderate and strong degeneracy: Uncertainties and impact on stellar models
• The subgiant HR 7322 as an asteroseismic benchmark star
• A Maximum Likelihood Calibration of the Tip of the Red Giant Branch Luminosity from High Latitude Field Giants using Gaia Early Data Release 3 Parallaxes
• New proton-capture rates on carbon isotopes and their impact on the astrophysical ${}^{12}\mathrm{C}/{}^{13}\mathrm{C}$ ratio
• DASCH Discovery of Large Amplitude ~10-100 Year Variability in K Giants
• A theoretical analysis of the systematic errors in the Red Clump distance to the LMC
• Subgiants as probes of galactic chemical evolution
• The star formation history of the Sculptor Dwarf Irregular Galaxy
• An Empirical Calibration of the Tip of the Red Giant Branch Distance Method in the Near Infrared. I. HST WFC3/IR F110W and F160W Filters
• The impact of an updated ${}^{14}N(p,\gamma {)}^{15}O$ reaction rate on advanced evolutionary stages of low-mass stellar models
• Characterizing Observed Extra Mixing Trends in Red Giants using the Reduced Density Ratio from Thermohaline Models
• Improved calibration of the radii of cool stars based on 3D simulations of convection: implications for the solar model
• A Robust Test of Evolution near the Tip of the Red Giant Branch and Missing Giants in NGC 2808
• Burst Neutrinos from Nitrogen Flash
• Accretion of sub-stellar companions as the origin of chemical abundance inhomogeneities in globular clusters
• The Analysis of Isochrone Fitting Methods for Red Giant Branch Photometry, and Tip Red Giant Branch Distance Determination
• HST-ACS photometry of the isolated dwarf galaxy VV124=UGC4879. Detection of the Blue Horizontal Branch and identification of two young star clusters
• Chemical analysis of eight giant stars of the globular cluster NGC 6366
• Chemical Abundances in the Globular Clusters NGC 6229 and NGC 6779
• The red giant branch phase transition: Implications for the RGB luminosity function bump and detections of Li-rich red clump stars
• Near-Infrared Properties of Metal-poor Globular Clusters in the Galactic Bulge Direction
• From Theory to Observations and viceversa: theoretical uncertainties and observational constraints
• Uncertainties and systematics in stellar evolution models of Red Giant Stars
• The $Hubble$ Missing Globular Cluster Survey. I. Survey overview and the first precise age estimate for ESO452-11 and 2MASS-GC01
• Sunscreen: Photometric Signatures of Galaxies Partially Cloaked in Dyson Spheres
• Elemental abundances of intermediate age open cluster NGC 3680
• Asymmetries on red giant branch surfaces from CHARA/MIRC optical interferometry
• Calibrating and standardizing the Tip of the Red Giant Branch in the Small Magellanic Cloud using small-amplitude red giants
• Population gradients and photometric metallicities in early- and transition-type dwarf galaxies: Clues from the Sculptor group
• Benchmarking the effective temperature scale of red giant branch stellar models: the case of the metal-poor halo giant HD 122563
• Structural and Photometric Properties of the Andromeda Satellite Dwarf Galaxy Lacerta I from Deep Imaging with WIYN pODI
• The Chicago Carnegie Hubble Program: Improving the Calibration of SNe Ia with JWST Measurements of the Tip of the Red Giant Branch
• Stellar hydrodynamics caught in the act: Asteroseismology with CoRoT and Kepler
• Stellar models: firm evidence, open questions and future developments
• Galactic or extragalactic chemical tagging for NGC3201? Discovery of an anomalous CN-CH relation
• On the formation of globular clusters: comparison with observations
• Inconsistent metallicity spreads in first generation stars of globular clusters from high resolution spectroscopy and HST photometry
• Neutrinos and Asteroseismology of Stars over the Helium Flash
• On the Missing Red Giants near the Galactic Center
• A Review on Resolving the Hubble Tension via Late-Universe Physics
• Realising efficient computation of individual frequencies for red-giant models
• A comparison of abundance analyses of first generation stars in multiple populations in 47 Tuc and NGC 3201
• Radial pulsations of red giant branch stars
• Determining distances using asteroseismic methods
• New Way to Date Globular Clusters: Brown Dwarf Cooling Sequences
• Stellar Evolutionary Models: challenges from observations of stellar systems
• Calibrating the Tip of the Red Giant Branch and measuring Magellanic Cloud distances to 2% exclusively with Gaia
• Detection horizon for the neutrino burst from the stellar helium flash