  IAC-pop is a code designed to solve the star formation history (SFH) of a
complex stellar population system, like a galaxy, from the analysis of the
color-magnitude diagram (CMD). It uses a genetic algorithm to minimize a chi2
merit function comparing the star distributions in the observed CMD and the CMD
of a synthetic stellar population. A parametrization of the CMDs is used, which
is the main input of the code. In fact, the code can be applied to any problem
in which a similar parametrization of an experimental set of data and models
can be made. The method internal consistency and robustness against several
error sources, including observational effects, data sampling and stellar
evolution library differences, are tested. It is found that the best stability
of the solution and the best way to estimate errors is obtained by several runs
of IAC-pop with varying the input data parametrization. The routine MinnIAC is
used to control this process. IAC-pop is offered for free use and can be
downloaded from the site http://iac-star.iac.es/iac-pop. The routine MInnIAC is
also offered under request, but support can not be provided for its use. The
only requirement for the use of IAC-pop and MinnIAC is referencing this paper
and crediting as indicated in the site.
