The underlying astrophysical mechanisms of the objects known as asymptotic giant branch stars - the structures that occur during the dramatic period prior to a star's death - is the main theme of this text. Over the past three decades, asymptotic giant branch stars have become a topic of their own, and the contributions to this volume all focus on these entities themselves, rather than their connections to other fields of astronomy. Among the many topics covered are new methods of high- quality infrared observation and the more detailed and realistic simulations made possible by increasingly fast computers. This collection should be useful to graduate students who work in the field, teachers who want to address the subject in their courses, and to astronomers from various backgrounds who are interested in the astrophysics of AGB stars.

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Preface Chapter 1: Introduction: H.J. Habing and H. Olofsson N.B.: This chapter is not yet completed! 1.1 Bits of history 1.2 The structure of AGB stars 1.3 Observational characteristics of AGB stars 1.4 Distinctive properties of AGB stars Chapter 2: Evolution, Nucleosynthesis and Pulsation: P. Wood and J. Lattanzio 2.1 Basic observational properties 2.2 Pre-AGB evolution 2.3 Stellar evolution on the AGB 2.4 Evolution beyond the AGB: planetary nebula nuclei and white dwarfs 2.5 Nucleosynthesis in AGB stars 2.6 Variability 2.7 Conclusions and outlook Chapter 3: Synthetic AGB Evolution: M. Groenewegen, P. Marigo 3.1 The role of synthetic evolutionary models 3.2 A historical overview 3.3 The main ingredients of a synthetic AGB model 3.4 Stellar yields 3.5 From one star to population synthesis 3.6 Observational constraints 3.7 conclusions and outlook Chapter 4: Atmospheres: B. Gustafsson and S. H ofner 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Observations 4.3 Physics and characteristic conditions 4.4 The microscopic state of matter 4.5 The radiation .eld 4.6 The modelling of AGB star atmospheres 4.7 Dynamics 4.8 Mass loss 4.9 Abundances and other fundamental paramters 4.10 Conclusions and outlook Chapter 5: Molecule and grain formation: T. Miller 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Chemical processes for molecule and dust formation 5.3 Detailed models- carbon-rich envelopes 5.4 Detailed models- oxygen-rich envelopes 5.5 Complications 5.6 Conclusions and outlook Chapter 6: Dynamics and instabilities in dusty winds: Y. Simis and P. Woitke 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Modelling the AGB wind 6.3 Instabilities and structure in the out.ow 6.4 Conclusions and outlook Chapter 7: Circumstellar envelopes: H. Olofsson 7.1 Introduction 7.2 A 'standard' gas AGB-CSE 7.3 Circumstellar line observations 7.4 A 'standard' dustAGB-CSE 7.5 Circumstellar dust observations 7.6 Morphology and kinematics of AGB-CSEs 7.7 Mass-loss rate estimators 7.8 Mass-loss rate 7.9 Conclusions and outlook Chapter 8: AGB stars as tracers of a galactic population: H.J. Habing and P.A. Whitelock 8.1 Introduction 8.2 The Milky Way galaxy and its companions 8.3 M31 and its companions 8.4 The remaining members of the Local Group 8.5 AGB stars in galaxies outside of the Local Group 8.6 Conclusions and outlook Chapter 9: AGB stars in Binaries and their Progeny: A. Jorissen 9.1 The binary-AGB connection 9.2 AGB stars in binary systems 9.3 Impact of binarity on intrinsic properties of AGB stars 9.4 The progeny of AGB stars in binary system 9.5 Conclusions and outlook Chapter 10: Post-AGB stars: C.Waelkens and R.Waters 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Observational de.nition of a post-AGB star 10.3 Observed properties of post-AGB stars: the central star 10.4 Observed properties of post-AGB stars: the envelope 10.5 Binary post-AGB stars 10.6 Confrontation of observations with theory 10.7 Conclusions and outlook Index List of acronyms Some biographical notes about the authors