Evolutionary population synthesis: the effect of binary systems

Abstract

We present in this contribution our set of multi-wavelength synthesis models including the evolution of single and binary stars. The main results we have obtained can be summarized as follows: (a) massive close-binary systems will start to experience mass transfer episodes after the first 4Myr of the starburst evolution; (b) as a result of these mass transfer processes, stars of relatively low initial mass can lose completely their envelope and become a Wolf-Rayet star. In this way, the formation of WR stars is extended over longer than 15 Myr, and does not stop at 6Myr as predicted by models including only single stars; (c) WR stars can thus be coeval with red supergiants, which peak at around 10 Myr for solar metallicities; (d) the accretion of mass will originate relatively massive stars at ages for which they should have already disappeared; these stars, together with the WR stars formed in rather evolved clusters, increase the production of ionizing photons, so that the Hβ equivalent width will not drop as rapidly as predicted by models considering only individual stars; and (e) the mass transfer to compact companions will produce an additional source of high-energy radiation in the form of high-mass X-ray binaries, not predicted either by standard synthesis models.