3 - Stellar Populations, Stellar Evolution, and Stellar Atmospheres

Summary

Everything we know about galaxies and the stars that form within them comes from the photons we detect across the electromagnetic spectrum. Gaining the greatest possible knowledge from the light we detect is thus key to understanding young stellar populations. To do this requires a detailed model of the physical processes producing the luminous signal we detect and quantify. In this chapter we will concentrate on the details of stars and stellar populations. We will address how we can model stars and predict how they appear, and thus how we derive the star-formation rate of observed galaxies by comparing theoretical predictions to observations. We will discuss the current understanding in this area and highlight significant recent advances that have modified this understanding. First we discuss the evolution of stars, followed by modelling of their atmospheres. Then we consider how we can combine these to create model stellar populations and eventually synthesize a predicted spectrum. Finally we discuss other factors and caveats that must be considered in spectral synthesis, before looking towards the future of this field.