The manner in which nuclear reactions replace gravitational contraction as the source of stellar luminosity is investigated for model stars of population I composition in the mass range 0.5 <M/M0 < 15 0. By following in detail the depletion of C" from high initial values down to values corresponding to equilibrium with N'4 in the C-N cycle, the approach to the main sequence in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram and the time to reach the main sequence, for stars with M 1.25 M0, are found to differ significantly from data reported previously.
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Jr. Iben Icko (1965) studied this question.