Evolution of Peculiar Red Giant Stars

Red giant stars are evolutionarily advanced objects in the closing stages of their nuclear burning lifetime. Observed with increasing spectral coverage they display a variety of unusual phenomena. Many are characterized by peculiar (non-solar) surface chemical compositions which provide otherwise unobtainable clues to interior nucleosynthesis, mixing and evolution. Others may have received their chemical peculiarities by mass transfer from a companion. This book reports on the proceedings of the International Astronomical Union Colloquium 106. It contains discussions on many aspects of these stars, combining theory and observation to interpret these objects in terms of their evolutionary history. There are 20 review papers, 69 abstracts and short contributed papers and a complete transcript of the valuable summary panel discussion. Professional astronomers will find this book useful as a reference work which incorporates current research on the modelling and evolution of these unstable stars.