Stellar evolution of low and intermediate-mass stars. I. Mass loss on the AGB and its consequences for stellar evolution.

We have performed extensive stellar evolution calculations for initial masses between 1 and 7 M_sun_ all the way from the main sequence through the AGB towards the stage of white dwarfs. Mass loss has been taken into account with different descriptions for the RGB, AGB and post-AGB phase. On the AGB we considered mass loss with a formula based on dynamical calculations of the atmospheres of Mira-like stars. Our results are consistent with empirical initial-final mass relations. It is shown that hot bottom burning and mass loss are closely connected. The overluminosity as well as the nucleosynthesis of hot bottom burning models can depend sensitively on mass loss. Furthermore, we discuss the influence of mass loss on the internal structure reached at the tip of the AGB, and emphasize that post-AGB timescales will depend strongly on the AGB history, i.e. on the initial mass and the applied mass-loss law.