Color functions of stellar systems

Abstract

Model calculations of the photometric evolution of rather dense stellar systems, such as globular clusters, are presented. On “luminosity-effective temperature” diagrams of these systems, low-mass stars are concentrated near the minimum and maximum temperatures for a given luminosity and are deficient in the intermediate region. This sort of double-peaked distribution of the stars can be avoided in open models with ejection of excess metals into the surrounding medium. The distributions of the stars with respect to effective temperature on a “ luminosity-effective temperature” diagram are sensitive to the history of star formation in the system and to possible time variations in the initial mass function. In open systems with a single-peak distribution function, the asymmetry in the distribution varies over wide limits with the lower bound for the initial mass function and this can be used to establish whether the first generations of stars might have been more massive than in the present epoch.