From theory to observations andvice versa: theoretical uncertainties and observational constraints

Abstract

During these last decades, our knowledge of evolutionary and structural properties of stars of different mass and chemical composition is significantly improved. This result has been achieved as a consequence of our improved capability in understanding and describing the physical behavior of matter in the different thermal regimes characteristic of the various stellar mass ranges and evolutionary stages. This notwithstanding, current generation of stellar models is still affected by significant and, usually, not negligible uncertainties. These uncertainties are related to our poor knowledge of some physical proceses occurring in the real stars such as, for instance, some thermodynamical processes, nuclear reaction rates, as well as the efficiency of mixing processes. These drawbacks of stellar models have to be properly taken into account when comparing theory with observations in order to derive relevant information about the properties of both resolved and unresolved stellar populations. On the other hand, observations of both field and cluster stars can provide fundamental benchmarks for constraining the reliability and accuracy of the theoretical framework. In the following we review some important evolutionary and structural properties of very-low and low-mass stars, as well as the most important uncertainties affecting the stellar models for such stars. We show what are the main sources of uncertainty along the main evolutionary stages, and discuss the present level of agreement between theory and observations.