More than 80% of the stars in the Universe are expected to have initial masses below eight to ten times the mass of our sun. These low mass stars, including our sun, become cool red giants during one of the final evolutionary stages of their life: the Asymptotic Giant Branch (or AGB) phase. AGB stars are among the main producers of carbon and heavy (s-process) elements in the Universe. These elements are synthesized inside the star and mixed to the stellar atmosphere where stellar winds are responsible for the loss of more than 50% of the stellar mass, hence, AGB stars are strong polluters of the interstellar medium. The ejected material can clump together into dusty particles which may serve as ingredients for the birth of new stars and planets. When most of the AGB stellar envelope is lost, the AGB star stops releasing nuclear energy from interior processes and swaps its giant face for a planetary nebulae look, whereafter it fades away as a white dwarf.<p><p>The dredge-up of carbon and s-process elements into the AGB atmosphere causes an important chemical anomaly among them: initial oxygen-rich stars (M stars) are transformed into carbon-rich stars (C stars). As a consequence, a group of oxygen-rich AGB stars exists which makes the transition between M and C stars. These transition stars are classified as S.<p><p>Although AGB stars are identified as producers of heavy elements, their nucleosynthesis and mixing processes are weakly constrained due to large uncertainties on their estimated temperature, gravity and chemical composition. Stronger constraints on the atmospheric parameter space, hence interior processes, of AGB stars can be obtained by investigating the atmosphere of S stars. Since they are transition objects on the AGB, they trace the rise of the s-process. S stars are less numerous than C stars, but their optical spectra are brighter making it easier to identify atomic and molecular lines. Therefore, S stars belong to the most interesting objects along the AGB to perform this task.<p><p><p><p>From a practical point of view, the spectra of S stars are extremely difficult to study since they are dominated by different, overlapping molecular bands, and the spectral shape may vary strongly from star to star due to their transition status. Therefore, tailored model atmospheres for S stars are of utmost importance to understand the spectroscopic, and even photometric, changes in terms of variations in the atmospheric parameters. A comparison between the models and observations aims not only at constraining the atmospheric parameter space of S stars, it will also test the reliability of 1D state-of-the-art model atmospheres for such complex stars.<p><p><p><p>From an evolutionary point of view, the S-star family is contaminated with stars who gained their atmospheric enrichment in heavy elements from a companion star. Evidences were found that these binary S stars are not at all located on the AGB, hence, they are labelled as extrinsic S stars while S stars on the AGB are labelled as intrinsic. The difference in evolutionary stages between intrinsic and extrinsic S stars was already found 20 years ago, however, a separation in terms of surface temperature, gravity and chemical composition is not well-established due to the lack of S-star model atmospheres. Such a distinction in atmospheric parameters will facilitate the discovery of these intruders and even help to calibrate stellar evolutionary models of single and binary stars.<p>To achieve these goals, the first step consists in the construction of a grid of model atmospheres for S stars. The grid will be used to quantify the influence of atmospheric parameters on the model structure and emergent flux. These results will be analyzed to derive precise atmospheric parameters of observed S stars, using a set of well-defined photometric and spectroscopic indices. Once the best model atmosphere has been selected for all observed S stars, their atmospheric parameters will be discussed in view of their evolutionary stage. The best-fitting model atmosphere will also be used to derive abundances from spectral syntheses. The abundance profiles are compared with stellar evolution model prediction to constrain nucleosynthesis and mixing processes inside S stars. Derived abundances of unstable elements will be used to estimate, for the first time, the age of AGB stars. Finally, their abundance profile will be discussed as a function of their time spent on the AGB. / Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

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