The initial-final mass relation of stars

The author studied the relationship between the zero-age mass of a Pop I st ar and the mass of its degenerate core at the point in the star's evolution when the binding energy of its envelope changes from negative to positive. The relation is found to be consistent with the initial-final mass relatio n of Weidemann and Koester, and also agrees with the distribution of masses of planetary nebula nuclei observed by Zhang and Kwok. A similar relation is obtained for Pop II stars. The final mass for a Pop II star is greater b y 10% similar to 20% than that for a Pop I star for the same initial mass.