Related papers: IMF biases created by binning and unresolved syste…
We review our current knowledge on the IMF in nearby environments, massive star forming regions, super star clusters, starbursts and alike objects from studies of integrated light, and discuss the various techniques used to constrain the…
The interplay between the ISM and the massive stars formed in clusters and, more generally, in recent events of star formation is reviewed via the global effects each has on the other. The pre-existing environment affects the properties of…
From a study of the integrated light properties of 200 globular clusters (GCs) in M31, Strader et al. found that the mass-to-light ratios are lower than what is expected from simple stellar population (SSP) models with a `canonical' stellar…
Observational constraints on the theory of the IMF are reviewed. These observations include the new result that star formation is very rapid, usually going from start to finish in only 1 or 2 dynamical times on a wide range of scales. This…
Confounding variables are a well known source of nuisance in biomedical studies. They present an even greater challenge when we combine them with black-box machine learning techniques that operate on raw data. This work presents two case…
Clustering algorithms may unintentionally propagate or intensify existing disparities, leading to unfair representations or biased decision-making. Current fair clustering methods rely on notions of fairness that do not capture any…
Here I discuss recent work on brown dwarfs, massive stars and the IMF in general. The stellar IMF can be well described by an invariant two-part power law in present-day star-formation events within the Local Group of galaxies. It is nearly…
In recent years, machine learning algorithms have become ubiquitous in a multitude of high-stakes decision-making applications. The unparalleled ability of machine learning algorithms to learn patterns from data also enables them to…
The initial mass function (IMF) is an important, yet enigmatic aspect of the star formation process. The two major open questions regarding the IMF are: is the IMF constant regardless of environment? Is the IMF a universal property of star…
We have used multi-wavelength Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 data of the starbursting spiral galaxy M83 in order to measure variations in the upper end of the stellar initial mass function (uIMF) using the production rate of ionizing photons…
In this chapter, we review some historical understanding and recent advances on the Initial Mass Function (IMF) and the Core Mass Function (CMF), both in terms of observations and theories. We focus mostly on star formation in clustered…
Studies of gravitational microlensing effects require the estimation of their detection efficiency as soon as one wants to quantify the massive compact objects along the line of sight of source targets. This is particularly important for…
Three component models of the IMF are made to consider possible origins for the observed relative variations in the numbers of brown dwarfs, solar-to-intermediate mass stars, and high mass stars. Three distinct physical processes are noted.…
Massive binary stars undergo qualitatively different evolution when the two components are similar in mass ('twins'), and the abundance of twin binaries is therefore important to understanding a wide range of astrophysical phenomena. We…
Binary stars are thought to be a controlling factor in globular cluster evolution, since they can heat the environmental stars by converting their binding energy to kinetic energy during dynamical interactions. Through such interaction, the…
Because direct measurements require resolved stellar populations including low-mass stars, determining the stellar initial mass function (IMF) has been a historically difficult problem even within our own Galaxy and impossible everywhere…
The total extragalactic background radiation can be an important test of the global star formation history (SFH). Using direct observational estimates of the SFH, along with standard assumptions about the initial mass function (IMF), we…
When reading peer-reviewed scientific literature describing any analysis of empirical data, it is natural and correct to proceed with the underlying assumption that experiments have made good faith efforts to ensure that their analyses…
We propose to interpret the stellar IMF as a property of the turbulence in the star--forming gas. Gravitationally unstable density enhancements in the turbulent flow collapse and form stars. Their mass distribution can be derived…
Large surveys of the local Universe have shown that galaxies with different intrinsic properties, such as colour, luminosity and morphological type display a range of clustering amplitudes. Galaxies are therefore not faithful tracers of the…