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arXiv · 1603.05283

Evolution of Thermally Pulsing Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars V: Constraining the Mass Loss and Lifetimes of Intermediate Mass, Low Metallicity AGB Stars

Philip Rosenfield·Paola Marigo·Léo Girardi·Julianne J. Dalcanton·Alessandro Bressan·Benjamin F. Williams·Andrew Dolphin
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Abstract

Thermally-Pulsing Asymptotic Giant Branch (TP-AGB) stars are relatively short lived (less than a few Myr), yet their cool effective temperatures, high luminosities, efficient mass-loss and dust production can dramatically effect the chemical enrichment histories and the spectral energy distributions of their host galaxies. The ability to accurately model TP-AGB stars is critical to the interpretation of the integrated light of distant galaxies, especially in redder wavelengths. We continue previous efforts to constrain the evolution and lifetimes of TP-AGB stars by modeling their underlying stellar populations. Using Hubble Space Telescope (HST) optical and near-infrared photometry taken of 12 fields of 10 nearby galaxies imaged via the ACS Nearby Galaxy Survey Treasury and the near-infrared HST/SNAP follow-up campaign, we compare the model and observed TP-AGB luminosity functions as well as the number ratio of TP-AGB to red giant branch stars. We confirm the best-fitting mass-loss prescription, introduced by Rosenfield et al. 2014, in which two different wind regimes are active during the TP-AGB, significantly improves models of many galaxies that show evidence of recent star formation. This study extends previous efforts to constrain TP-AGB lifetimes to metallicities ranging -1.59 < [Fe/H] < -0.56 and initial TP-AGB masses up to ~ 4 Msun, which include TP-AGB stars that undergo hot-bottom burning.

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Philip Rosenfield, Paola Marigo, Léo Girardi, Julianne J. Dalcanton, Alessandro Bressan, Benjamin F. Williams, Andrew Dolphin. 2016-03-16. Evolution of Thermally Pulsing Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars V: Constraining the Mass Loss and Lifetimes of Intermediate Mass, Low Metallicity AGB Stars. https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637x%2F822%2F2%2F73

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