How is accretion used during stellar evolution?

Accretion plays a crucial role in stellar evolution by allowing stars to gather mass from their surrounding environment, primarily during their formation phase. As gas and dust collapse under gravity, they form a protostar that grows by accreting material from the protoplanetary disk. This process continues throughout a star's life, influencing its mass, temperature, and ultimately its evolutionary path. For more massive stars, accretion can also lead to the development of fusion processes that dictate their lifecycle and eventual fate, such as supernovae or black holes.