We discuss the dust chemistry and growth in the circumstellar envelopes (CSEs) of Thermally Pulsing Asymptotic Giant Branch (TP-AGB) star models computed with the COLIBRI code, at varying initial mass and metallicity (Z=0.001, 0.008, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06
). A relevant result of our analysis deals with the silicate production in M-stars. We show that, in order to reproduce the observed trend between terminal velocities and mass-loss rates in Galactic M-giants, one has to significantly reduce the efficiency of chemisputtering by H2 molecules, usually considered as the most effective dust destruction mechanism. This indication is also in agreement with the most recent laboratory results, which show that silicates may condense already at T=1400 K, instead than at Tcond=1000 K, as obtained by models that include chemisputtering. From the analysis of the total dust ejecta, we find that the total dust-to-gas ejecta of intermediate-mass stars are much less dependent on metallicity than usually assumed. In a broader context, our results are suitable to study the dust enrichment of the interstellar medium provided by TP-AGB stars in both nearby and high redshift galaxies.
We extend the formalism presented in our recent calculations of dust ejecta from the Thermally Pulsing Asymptotic Giant Branch (TP-AGB) phase, to the case of super-solar metallicity stars. The TP-AGB evolutionary models are computed with the COLIBRI
code. We adopt our preferred scheme for dust growth. For M-giants, we neglect chemisputtering by H$_2$ molecules and, for C-stars we assume a homogeneous growth scheme which is primarily controlled by the carbon over oxygen excess. At super-solar metallicities, dust forms more efficiently and silicates tend to condense significantly closer to the photosphere (r~1.5 R$_*$) - and thus at higher temperatures and densities - than at solar and sub-solar metallicities (r~2-3 R$_*$). In such conditions, the hypothesis of thermal decoupling between gas and dust becomes questionable, while dust heating due to collisions plays an important role. The heating mechanism delays dust condensation to slightly outer regions in the circumstellar envelope. We find that the same mechanism is not significant at solar and sub-solar metallicities. The main dust products at super-solar metallicities are silicates. We calculate the total dust ejecta and dust-to-gas ejecta, for various values of the stellar initial masses and initial metallicities Z=0.04, 0.06. Merging these new calculations with those for lower metallicities it turns out that, contrary to what often assumed, the total dust-to-gas ejecta of intermediate-mass stars exhibit only a weak dependence on the initial metal content.
We build a sample of 298 spectroscopically-confirmed galaxies at redshift z~2, selected in the z-band from the GOODS-MUSIC catalog. By exploiting the rest frame 8 um luminosity as a proxy of the star formation rate (SFR) we check the accuracy of the
standard SED-fitting technique, finding it is not accurate enough to provide reliable estimates of the galaxy physical parameters. We then develop a new SED-fitting method that includes the IR luminosity as a prior and a generalized Calzetti law with a variable RV . Then we exploit such a new method to re-analyze our galaxy sample, and to robustly determine SFRs, stellar masses and ages. We find that there is a general trend of increasing attenuation with the SFR. Moreover, we find that the SFRs range between a few to 1000 solar mass per year, the masses from one billion to 400 billion solar masses, while the ages from a few tens of Myr to more than 1 Gyr. We discuss how individual age easurements of highly attenuated objects indicate that dust must form within a few tens of Myr and be copious already at ~100 Myr. In addition, we find that low luminous galaxies harbor, on average, significantly older stellar populations and are also less massive than brighter ones; we discuss how these findings and the well known downsizing scenario are consistent in a framework where less massive galaxies form first, but their star formation lasts longer. Finally, we find that the near-IR attenuation is not scarce for luminous objects, contrary to what is customarily assumed; we discuss how this affects the interpretation of the observed mass-to-light ratios.
(Abridged) In the recent controversy about the role of TP-AGB stars in evolutionary population synthesis (EPS) models of galaxies, one particular aspect is puzzling: TP-AGB models aimed at reproducing the lifetimes and integrated fluxes of the TP-AGB
phase in Magellanic Cloud (MC) clusters, when incorporated into EPS models, are found to overestimate the TP-AGB contribution in resolved star counts and integrated spectra of galaxies. In this paper, we call attention to a particular evolutionary aspect that in all probability is the main cause of this conundrum. As soon as stellar populations intercept the ages at which RGB stars first appear, a sudden change in the lifetime of the core He-burning phase causes a temporary boost in the production rate of subsequent evolutionary phases, including the TP-AGB. For a timespan of about 0.1 Gyr, triple TP-AGB branches develop at slightly different initial masses, causing their frequency and contribution to the integrated luminosity of the stellar population to increase by a factor of 2. The boost occurs just in the proximity of the expected peak in the TP-AGB lifetimes, and for ages of 1.6 Gyr. Coincidently, this relatively narrow age interval happens to contain the few very massive MC clusters that host most of the TP-AGB stars used to constrain stellar evolution and EPS models. This concomitance makes the AGB-boosting particularly insidious in the context of present EPS models. The effect brings about three main consequences. (1) Present estimates of the TP-AGB contribution to the integrated light of galaxies derived from MC clusters, are biased towards too large values. (2) The relative TP-AGB contribution of single-burst populations falling in this critical age range cannot be accurately derived by the fuel consumption theorem. (3) A careful revision of AGB star populations in intermediate-age MC clusters is urgently demanded.
We present the dust ejecta of the new stellar models for the Thermally Pulsing Asymptotic Giant Branch (TP-AGB) phase computed with the COLIBRI code. We use a formalism of dust growth coupled with a stationary wind for both M and C-stars. In the orig
inal version of this formalism, the most efficient destruction process of silicate dust in M-giants is chemisputtering by H2 molecules. For these stars we find that dust grains can only form at relatively large radial distances (r~5 R*), where they cannot be efficiently accelerated, in agreement with other investigations. In the light of recent laboratory results, we also consider the alternative case that the condensation temperature of silicates is determined only by the competition between growth and free evaporation processes (i.e. no chemisputtering). With this latter approach we obtain dust condensation temperatures that are significantly higher (up to Tcond~1400 K) than those found when chemisputtering is included (Tcond~900 K), and in better agreement with condensation experiments. As a consequence, silicate grains can remain stable in inner regions of the circumstellar envelopes (r~2 R*), where they can rapidly grow and can be efficiently accelerated. With this modification, our models nicely reproduce the observed trend between terminal velocities and mass loss rates of Galactic M-giants. For C-stars the formalism is based on the homogeneous growth scheme where the key role is played by the carbon over oxygen excess. The models reproduce fairly well the terminal velocities of Galactic stars and there is no need to invoke changes in the standard assumptions. At decreasing metallicity the carbon excess becomes more pronounced and the efficiency of dust formation increases. This trend could be in tension with recent observational evidence in favour of a decreasing efficiency, at decreasing metallicity.
We present a large set of theoretical isochrones, whose distinctive features mostly reside on the greatly improved treatment of the thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch (TP-AGB) phase. Essentially, we have coupled the TP-AGB tracks described in
Paper I, at their stages of pre-flash quiescent H-shell burning, with the evolutionary tracks for the previous evolutionary phases from Girardi et al. (2000). Theoretical isochrones for any intermediate value of age and metallicity are then derived by interpolation in the grids. We take care that the isochrones keep, to a good level of detail, the several peculiarities present in these TP-AGB tracks. Theoretical isochrones are then converted to about 20 different photometric systems -- including traditional ground-based systems, and those of recent major wide-field surveys such as SDSS, OGLE, DENIS, 2MASS, UKIDSS, etc., -- by means of synthetic photometry applied to an updated library of stellar spectra, suitably extended to include C-type stars. Finally, we correct the predicted photometry by the effect of circumstellar dust during the mass-losing stages of the AGB evolution, which allows us to improve the results for the optical-to-infrared systems, and to simulate mid- and far-IR systems such as those of Spitzer and AKARI. Access to the data is provided both via a web repository of static tables (http://stev.oapd.inaf.it/dustyAGB07 and CDS), and via an interactive web interface (http://stev.oapd.inaf.it/cmd) that provides tables for any intermediate value of age and metallicity, for several photometric systems, and for different choices of dust properties.
