We present full evolutionary calculations appropriate for the study of hydrogen-rich DA white dwarfs .
This is done by evolving white dwarf progenitors from the zero age main sequence , through the core hydrogen burning phase , the helium burning phase and the thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch phase to the white dwarf stage .
Complete evolutionary sequences are computed for a wide range of stellar masses and for two different metallicities : Z = 0.01 , which is representative of the solar neighborhood , and Z = 0.001 , which is appropriate for the study of old stellar systems , like globular clusters .
During the white dwarf cooling stage we compute self-consistently the phase in which nuclear reactions are still important , the diffusive evolution of the elements in the outer layers and , finally , we also take into account all the relevant energy sources in the deep interior of the white dwarf , like the release of latent heat and the release of gravitational energy due to carbon-oxygen phase separation upon crystallization .
We also provide colors and magnitudes for these sequences , based on a new set of improved non-gray white dwarf model atmospheres , which include the most up-to-date physical inputs like the Ly \alpha quasi-molecular opacity .
The calculations are extended down to an effective temperature of 2,500 K. Our calculations provide a homogeneous set of evolutionary cooling tracks appropriate for mass and age determinations of old DA white dwarfs and for white dwarf cosmochronology of the different Galactic populations .