Star formation histories of dwarf galaxies from the Colour-Magnitude diagrams of their resolved stellar populations

In this tutorial paper we summarize how the star formation (SF) history of a galactic region can be derived from the colour-magnitude diagram (CMD) of its resolved stars. The procedures to build synthetic CMDs and to exploit them to derive the SF histories (SFHs) are described, as well as the corresponding uncertainties. The SFHs of resolved dwarf galaxies of all morphological types, obtained from the application of the synthetic CMD method, are reviewed and discussed. In short: 1) Only early-type galaxies show evidence of long interruptions in the SF activity; late-type dwarfs present rather continuous, or gasping, SF regimes; 2) A few early-type dwarfs have experienced only one episode of SF activity concentrated at the earliest epochs, whilst many others show extended or recurrent SF activity; 3) No galaxy experiencing now its first SF episode has been found yet; 4) No frequent evidence of strong SF bursts is found; 5) There is no significant difference in the SFH of dwarf irregulars and blue compact dwarfs, except for the current SF rates. Implications of these results on the galaxy formation scenarios are briefly discussed.Comment: 29 pages. Tutorial Review to appear in the special issue "Dwarf-Galaxy Cosmology" in Advances in Astronom

Star formation rate in the solar neighborhood

This thesis develops a method for obtaining the star formation histories of a mixed, resolved population through the use of color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs). The method is applied to the derivation of the local star formation rate, modeling observations of the Hipparcos satellite wigth synthetic CMDs computed for different star formation histories with an updated stellar evolution library. Parallax and photometric uncertainties are included explicitly and corrected using the Bayesian Richardson-Lucy algorithm. We find that the solar neighborhood star formation rate has a characteristic timescale for variation of about 6 Gyr, with a maximum activity close to 3 Gyr ago. This suggests a global, rather than local, star forming event. The summary and conclusions are included here, the full thesis is available at the URL listed above.Comment: PhD thesis/Physics 2006, University of Pisa, 167 pages, complete pdf version is available at: http://etd.adm.unipi.it/theses/available/etd-04032006-122227

A Model for Configuration Management of Open Software Systems

The article proposes a model for the configuration management of open systems. The model aims at validation of configurations against given specifications. An extension of decision graphs is proposed to express specifications. The proposed model can be used by software developers to validate their own configurations across different versions of the components, or to validate configurations that include components by third parties. The model can also be used by end-users to validate compatibility among different configurations of the same application. The proposed model is first discussed in some application scenarios and then formally defined. Moreover, a type discipline is given to formally define validation of a configuration against a system specificationComment: 13 page

Predicted properties of Galactic and Magellanic Classical Cepheids in the SDSS filters

We present the first extensive and detailed theoretical scenario for the interpretation of Cepheid properties observed in the SDSS filters. Three sets of nonlinear convective pulsation models, corresponding to the chemical compositions of Cepheids in the Milky Way, the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Small Magellanic Cloud respectively, are transformed into the SDSS bands by relying on updated model atmospheres. The resulting observables, namely the instability strip boundaries and the light curves, as well as the Period-Luminosity, the Wesenheit and the Period-Luminosity-Colour relations, are discussed as a function of the metal content, for both the fundamental and the first overtone mode. The fundamental PL relations are found to deviate from linear relations when computed over the whole observed Cepheid period range, especially at the shorter wavelenghts, confirming previous findings in the Johnson-Cousins bands. The obtained slopes are found to be mildly steeper than the ones of the semiempirical and the empirical relations available in the literature and covering roughly the same period range, with the discrepancy ranging from about 13% in u-band to about 3% in z.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA

Star Formation History in two fields of the Small Magellanic Cloud Bar

The Bar is the most productive region of the Small Magellanic Cloud in terms of star formation but also the least studied one. In this paper we investigate the star formation history of two fields located in the SW and in the NE portion of the Bar using two independent and well tested procedures applied to the color-magnitude diagrams of their stellar populations resolved by means of deep HST photometry. We find that the Bar experienced a negligible star formation activity in the first few Gyr, followed by a dramatic enhancement from 6 to 4 Gyr ago and a nearly constant activity since then. The two examined fields differ both in the rate of star formation and in the ratio of recent over past activity, but share the very low level of initial activity and its sudden increase around 5 Gyr ago. The striking similarity between the timing of the enhancement and the timing of the major episode in the Large Magellanic Cloud is suggestive of a close encounter triggering star formation.Comment: 30 pages, 22 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Pre-Main sequence Turn-On as a chronometer for young clusters: NGC346 as a benchmark

We present a novel approach to derive the age of very young star clusters, by using the Turn-On (TOn). The TOn is the point in the color-magnitude diagram (CMD) where the pre-main sequence (PMS) joins the main sequence (MS). In the MS luminosity function (LF) of the cluster, the TOn is identified as a peak followed by a dip. We propose that by combining the CMD analysis with the monitoring of the spatial distribution of MS stars it is possible to reliably identify the TOn in extragalactic star forming regions. Compared to alternative methods, this technique is complementary to the turn-off dating and avoids the systematic biases affecting the PMS phase. We describe the method and its uncertainties, and apply it to the star forming region NGC346, which has been extensively imaged with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). This study extends the LF approach in crowded extragalactic regions and opens the way for future studies with HST/WFC3, JWST and from the ground with adaptive optics.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

On the origin of the helium-rich population in the peculiar globular cluster Omega Centauri

In this contribution we discuss the origin of the extreme helium-rich stars which inhabit the blue main sequence (bMS) of the Galactic globular cluster Omega Centauri. In a scenario where the cluster is the surviving remnant of a dwarf galaxy ingested by the Milky Way many Gyr ago, the peculiar chemical composition of the bMS stars can be naturally explained by considering the effects of strong differential galactic winds, which develop owing to multiple supernova explosions in a shallow potential well.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure, to appear in the Proceedings of IAU Symposium No. 268, Light Elements in the Universe (C. Charbonnel, M. Tosi, F. Primas, C. Chiappini, eds., Cambridge Univ. Press