{
  "abstract": "Interpreting the observed properties of intermediate-mass stars requires accounting for rotation, binarity, intrinsic population diversity, and measurement uncertainty. We combine these effects in population-synthesis models of 1.4-2.5 M$_{\\odot}$ stars that include pulsation properties of $δ$ Sct variables. The synthetic populations successfully reproduce the distributions of stars observed in young associations, validating the mapping between intrinsic and observed stellar properties. Using these models, we infer a semi-empirical $δ$ Sct instability strip by matching synthetic and observed populations. The resulting instability strip is systematically hotter than widely used theoretical prescriptions, implying that $δ$ Sct stars are on average 0.1 M$_{\\odot}$ more massive than previously assumed, with 95% of the population spanning approximately 1.50-2.30 M$_{\\odot}$. We then investigate the $δ$ Sct period-luminosity relation and reproduce its recently identified second ridge with mixture models in which roughly one-third of stars have the fifth or sixth radial overtone as their dominant mode; the fraction increases in younger populations. In contrast, unresolved binarity does not account for the second ridge. Finally, we predict the population-wide distribution of asteroseismic large separations, $Δν$, finding a peak between 6 and 7 d$^{-1}$, in agreement with recent observations. We also demonstrate that $Δν$ is most reliably measured with the échelle technique, while autocorrelation methods can produce spurious detections when used in isolation. These results show that population synthesis provides a powerful framework for interpreting populations of $δ$ Sct stars and for linking stellar evolution, pulsation, and observation.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2607.22060",
  "author_total": 2,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Simon J. Murphy"
    },
    {
      "name": "Anuj Gautam"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ba1dwhef6xpg7.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2607.22060",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "ba1dwhef6xpg7",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.22060",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-SA-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "astro-ph.SR"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2607.22060",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-11",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ba1dwhef6xpg7.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:21:07Z",
      "native_id": "2607.22060",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.22060"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "arxiv:astro-ph.SR",
      "subfield": "stellar"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Population synthesis of delta Scuti stars: the instability strip, period-luminosity relation, and large-separation distribution",
  "title_text": "Population synthesis of delta Scuti stars: the instability strip, period-luminosity relation, and large-separation distribution",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:21:07Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ba1dwhef6xpg7",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}