The Impact of Rotation on the Evolution of Low-Mass Stars

TL;DR

This paper introduces a rotating stellar model for low-mass stars, improving predictions of their evolution and observable properties, and compares these with actual observations of globular clusters.

Contribution

It presents the first continuous rotating stellar model from pre-main sequence to horizontal branch, addressing discrepancies between models and observations.

Findings

Predicted luminosity functions align better with observations.

Surface rotation velocities on the horizontal branch are characterized.

Rotational effects significantly influence stellar evolution predictions.

Abstract

High precision photometry and spectroscopy of low-mass stars reveal a variety of properties standard stellar evolution cannot predict. Rotation, an essential ingredient of stellar evolution, is a step towards resolving the discrepancy between model predictions and observations. The first rotating stellar model, continuously tracing a low-mass star from the pre-main sequence onto the horizontal branch, is presented. The predicted luminosity functions of globular clusters and surface rotation velocities on the horizontal branch are discussed.