Evolution track in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram of the standard 4.0 M_⊙  model at solar metallicity. Each phase is indicated by a different color: pre-main sequence (cyan), main sequence (black), Hertzsprung gap and red giant branch (green), core helium-burning phase (blue), and asymptotic giant branch (red). Black triangles show the points that we have selected to describe the tracks (see Sect. 3.1)