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Accurate determinations of stellar mass functions and ages of stellarpopulations are crucial to much of astrophysics. We analyse the evolution ofstellar mass functions of coeval main sequence stars including all relevantaspects of single- and binary-star evolution. We show that the slope of theupper part of the mass function in a stellar cluster can be quite different tothe slope of the initial mass function. Wind mass loss from massive stars leadsto an accumulation of stars which is visible as a peak at the high mass end ofmass functions, thereby flattening the mass function slope. Mass accretion andmergers in close binary systems create a tail of rejuvenated binary products.These blue straggler stars extend the single star mass function by up to afactor of two in mass and can appear up to ten times younger than their parentstellar cluster. Cluster ages derived from their most massive stars that areclose to the turn-off may thus be significantly biased. To overcome suchdifficulties, we propose the use of the binary tail of stellar mass functionsas an unambiguous clock to derive the cluster age because the location of theonset of the binary tail identifies the cluster turn-off mass. It is indicatedby a pronounced jump in the mass function of old stellar populations and by thewind mass loss peak in young stellar populations. We further characterise thebinary induced blue straggler population in star clusters in terms of theirfrequency, binary fraction and apparent age.

Evolution of Mass Functions of Coeval Stars through Wind Mass Loss and Binary Interactions