Far-UV radiation from hot subdwarf stars in early-type galaxies

Far-ultraviolet (FUV) excess is crucial to our understanding of early-type galaxies and it is widely believed that the FUV radiation originates mainly from hot subwarf stars. Hot subdwarf stars may form from binary interactions or from single star evolution. In the binary channel, a star near the tip of the first giant branch (FGB) may get its envelope removed by its companion via stable Roche lobe overflow or common envelope ejection, and then evolves to a hot subdwarf star (Han et al. 2002, 2003, 2007). Such a process does not depend much on metallicity.