Initial-Final Mass Relation from the analysis of open cluster stars

During stellar evolution, stars lose part of their mass through stellar winds and pulsations, processes particularly significant during the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) phase. The efficiency of this mass loss, especially in later stages, remains poorly understood and cannot yet be predicted from first principles. As a result, the final mass of a white dwarf cannot be derived theoretically from the star’s initial mass alone. To overcome this problem, a semi-empirical relation known as the Initial–Final Mass Relation (IFMR) is generally employed. It connects the initial Main Sequence mass to the final white dwarf mass, allowing for estimation of the total mass lost during stellar evolution. Conversely, it also enables inference of the progenitor mass from an observed white dwarf, providing insight into earlier stellar stages. Two semi-empirical approaches are commonly used to derive the IFMR: one based on white dwarfs in open clusters, and the other on white dwarfs in wide binaries or double-degenerate systems. This work adopts the open cluster method, taking advantage of the homogeneity in age, chemical composition, and distance from us shared by their member stars. The aim of this thesis is to perform a homogeneous evaluation taking advantage of the recent data from the Gaia satellite. The Gaia satellite measures distances to open clusters using the parallax method with unprecedented precision. The analysis is based entirely on the observational data of the third release of Gaia, Gaia DR3. Applying consistent selection criteria, we identified nine open clusters with ages from 260 Myr to 4 Gyr suitable for our analysis. By employing consistent cluster ages, multiple cooling models, and rigorous data selection, this study provides a reliable and internally consistent semi-empirical determination of the IFMR.