Low- and Intermediate-Mass Stars

Low- and intermediate-mass stars with masses less than about 8M _⊙ are common inhabitants of galaxies throughout the Universe. These stars evolve through core hydrogen and helium burning and eventually end their lives as distended red giant stars that experience copious mass loss. Single stellar evolution predicts that the final fate of a low- and intermediate-mass star is a carbon-oxygen (C-O) white dwarf which does not experience any further nuclear burning. Low- and intermediate-mass stars produce substantial dust and gas, which may be enriched in the products of nucleosynthesis and plays an important role in the chemical evolution of galaxies. This chapter examines the theoretical evolution of low- and intermediate-mass stars from the main sequence to the asymptotic giant branch, which is the last nuclear burning phase for these stars. The chapter finishes with a brief discussion of the initial-final mass distribution.