The combination of asteroseismologically-measured masses with abundances from detailed analyses of stellar atmospheres challenges our fundamental knowledge of stars and our ability to model them. Ancient red-giant stars in the Galactic thick disc are proving to be most troublesome in this regard. They are older than 5 Gyr, a lifetime corresponding to an initial stellar mass of about 1.2 M . So why do the masses of a sizeable fraction of thick-disc stars exceed 1.3 M , with some as massive as 2.3 M ? We answer this question by considering duplicity in the thick-disc stellar population using a binary population-nucleosynthesis model. We examine how mass transfer and merging affect the stellar mass distribution and surface abundances of carbon and nitrogen. We show that a few per cent of thick-disc stars can interact in binary star systems and become more massive than 1.3 M . Of these stars, most are single because they are merged binaries. Some stars more massive than 1.3 M form in binaries by wind mass transfer. We compare our results to a sample of the APOKASC data set and find reasonable agreement except in the number of these thick-disc stars more massive than 1.3 M . This problem is resolved by the use of a logarithmically-flat orbital-period distribution and a large binary fraction.

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Context. Classical novae are thermonuclear explosions that take place in the envelopes of accreting white dwarfs in stellar binary systems. The material transferred onto the white dwarf piles up under degenerate conditions, driving a thermonuclear runaway. In those outbursts, about 10 −7 − 10 −3 M ⊙ , enriched in CNO and, sometimes, other intermediate-mass elements (e.g., Ne, Na, Mg, or Al, for ONe novae) are ejected into the interstellar medium. The large concentrations of metals spectroscopically inferred in the nova ejecta reveal that the (solar-like) material transferred from the secondary mixes with the outermost layers of the underlying white dwarf. Aims. Most theoretical models of nova outbursts reported to date yield, on average, outflows characterized by O > C, from which only oxidized condensates (e.g, O-rich grains) would be expected, in principle. Methods. To specifically address whether CO novae can actually produce C-rich dust, six different hydrodynamic nova models have been evolved, from accretion to the expansion and ejection stages, with different choices for the composition of the substrate with which the solar-like accreted material mixes. Updated chemical profiles inside the H-exhausted core have been used, based on stellar evolution calculations for a progenitor of 8 M ⊙ through H and He-burning phases. Results. We show that these profiles lead to C-rich ejecta after the nova outburst. This extends the possible contribution of novae to the inventory of presolar grains identified in meteorites, particularly in a number of carbonaceous phases (i.e., nanodiamonds, silicon carbides and graphites).

Many aspects of the evolution of stars, and in particular the evolution of binary stars, remain beyond our ability to model them in detail. Instead, we rely on observations to guide our often phenomenological models and pin down uncertain model parameters. To do this statistically requires population synthesis. Populations of stars modelled on computers are compared to populations of stars observed with our best telescopes. The closest match between observations and models provides insight into unknown model parameters and hence the underlying astrophysics. In this brief review, we describe the impact that modern big-data surveys will have on population synthesis, the large parameter space problem that is rife for the application of modern data science algorithms, and some examples of how population synthesis is relevant to modern astrophysics. a Supported by STFC Rutherford fellowship ST/L003910/1 and Churchill College, Cambridge. b Supported by STFC Rutherford grant ST/M003892/1. Reprinted from The Impact of Binaries on Stellar Evolution, Beccari G. & Boffin H.M.J. (Eds.

A grid of evolutionary sequences of stars in the mass range 1.2-7M ⊙ , with solar-like initial composition is presented. We focus on this mass range in order to estimate the masses and calculate the CNO surface abundances of a sample of observed red giants. The stellar models are calculated from the zero-age main sequence till the early asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase. Stars of M 2.2M ⊙ are evolved through the core helium flash. In this work, an approach is adopted that improves the mass determination of an observed sample of 21 RGB and early AGB stars. This approach is based on comparing the observationally derived effective temperatures and absolute magnitudes with the calculated values based on our evolutionary tracks in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. A more reliable determination of the stellar masses is achieved by using evolutionary tracks extended to the range of observation. In addition, the predicted CNO surface abundances are compared to the observationally inferred values in order to show how far standard evolutionary calculation can be used to interpret available observations and to illustrate the role of convective mixing. We find that extra mixing beyond the convective boundary determined by the Schwarzschild criterion is needed to explain the observational oxygen isotopic ratios in low mass stars. The effect of recent determinations of proton capture reactions and their uncertainties on the 16 O/ 17 O and 14 N/ 15 N ratios is also shown. It is found that the 14 N(p, γ) 15 O reaction is important for predicting the 14 N/ 15 N ratio in red giants.