Integrated light stellar population synthesis of globular clusters using non-local thermodynamic equilibrium modelling

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dc.contributor.advisor Short, C. Ian (Christopher Ian), 1965-
dc.creator Young, Mitchell E.
dc.date.accessioned 2019-03-14T14:25:02Z
dc.date.available 2019-03-14T14:25:02Z
dc.date.issued 2018
dc.identifier.other QB853.5 Y68 2018
dc.identifier.uri http://library2.smu.ca/handle/01/28224
dc.description xxix, 274 leaves : illustrations (chiefly colour) ; 29 cm
dc.description Includes abstract and appendices.
dc.description Includes bibliographical references (leaves 158-165).
dc.description.abstract We present an investigation of McWilliam & Bernstein's 2008 globular cluster (GC) stellar population synthesis method, focusing on the impact of non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) modeling effects. For this purpose, we have generated comprehensive, fully NLTE libraries of individual stellar spectra and GC integrated light (IL) spectra. The stellar library spans large ranges in T<sub>eff</sub>, log g, and [M/H], reproduced for 0.5 and 1 M<sub>☉</sub> and two degrees of &alpha;-enhancement. The IL library spans 9 to 15 Gyr in age, and -1.790 to -0.253 in [M/H]. The IL spectral library is used to investigate Johnson-Cousins-Bessel UBV IJK IL colours, sensitivity of IL spectral features to cluster age or metallicity, and deriving the ages and metallicities of 11 GCs for which IL spectra are acquired from Colucci, Bernstein &amp; McWilliam (2017). The IL colours confirm previously reported trends of GC reddening with increasing age or metallicity, and demonstrate that NLTE colours are bluer than LTE by up to a few tens of millimagnitudes, as are &alpha;-enhanced colours. We find a dependence of a few millimagnitudes on the discretization resolution of population CMDs when using the 25-30 boxes suggested in the literature. This dependence is minimized when the number of boxes increased to 40-50. We find 240 spectral features sensitive to either cluster age or metallicity, of which 209 are newly identified as potential GC diagnostic features. These features represent 19 different species, including Fe I, Fe II, Ca I, and Ti I. Chi-squared minimization is used to determine the best fit to the observed GC IL spectra, deriving ages for six of the 11 clusters, and metallicities for all of them. The uncertainties of both the ages and metallicities are reduced by a factor of two to three times when fit with NLTE IL spectra when compared with those from fitting LTE spectra. en_CA
dc.description.provenance Submitted by Greg Hilliard (greg.hilliard@smu.ca) on 2019-03-14T14:25:02Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Young_Mitchell_PHD_2018.pdf: 5490289 bytes, checksum: c503233aab7201236e0bffc61ef3ec7d (MD5) en
dc.description.provenance Made available in DSpace on 2019-03-14T14:25:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Young_Mitchell_PHD_2018.pdf: 5490289 bytes, checksum: c503233aab7201236e0bffc61ef3ec7d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-11-22 en
dc.language.iso en en_CA
dc.publisher Halifax, N.S. : Saint Mary's University
dc.subject.lcc QB853.5
dc.subject.lcsh Stars -- Globular clusters
dc.subject.lcsh Stars -- Atmospheres
dc.subject.lcsh Astronomical photometry
dc.title Integrated light stellar population synthesis of globular clusters using non-local thermodynamic equilibrium modelling en_CA
dc.type Text en_CA
thesis.degree.name Doctor of Philosophy in Astronomy
thesis.degree.level Doctoral
thesis.degree.discipline Astronomy and Physics
thesis.degree.grantor Saint Mary's University (Halifax, N.S.)
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