2005ApJ...632..590M

In this paper we present an extended set of nonlinear convective pulsation models at varying metallicity and ΔY/ΔZ ratio. The predicted instability strip and bolometric light curves are discussed by comparing the new models with our previous ones. In particular, the dependence on both metal and helium abundances is investigated. By transforming the bolometric light curves into the observational bands, we are able to derive both period-color-luminosity and Wesenheit relations for each selected chemical composition. Synthetic period-luminosity relations are obtained by populating the instability strip according to specific assumptions on the number of pulsators and the mass distribution. These theoretical results are compared with recent accurate data by Sandage et al. and Kervella et al. in order to test the predictive capabilities of the models. We confirm our previous results that the theoretical metallicity correction to the Key Project Cepheid distance scale depends on both the period range and ΔY/ΔZ ratio, becoming important for periods longer than 20 days and ΔY/ΔZ>1.5.