Related papers: Quantifying the Universality of the Stellar Initia…
The evolution of star clusters is largely affected by the tidal field generated by the host galaxy. It is thus in principle expected that under the assumption of an "universal" initial cluster mass function the properties of the evolved…
Several recent studies have shown that the star cluster initial mass function (CIMF) can be well approximated by a power law, with indications for a steepening or truncation at high masses. This contribution considers the evolution of such…
The mass function of clusters of galaxies is determined from 400 deg^2 of early commissioning imaging data of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey; ~300 clusters in the redshift range z = 0.1 - 0.2 are used. Clusters are selected using two…
The initial sizes and masses of massive star clusters provide information about the cluster formation process and also determine how cluster populations are modified and destroyed, which have implications for using clusters as tracers of…
Stars form predominantly in groups usually denoted as clusters or associations. The observed stellar groups display a broad spectrum of masses, sizes and other properties, so it is often assumed that there is no underlying structure in this…
Star clusters are studied widely both as benchmarks for stellar evolution models and in their own right. Cluster age and mass distributions within galaxies are probes of star formation histories, and of cluster formation and disruption…
Whether or not the initial star cluster mass function is established through a universal, galactocentric-distance-independent stochastic process, on the scales of individual galaxies, remains an unsolved problem. This debate has recently…
We employ a large sample of 20171 optically-selected groups and clusters at 0.15 < z < 0.4 in the SDSS to investigate how the stacked stellar mass fraction varies across a wide range of total mass, $M_{500}$. Our study improves upon…
The stellar initial mass function (IMF) in star clusters is reviewed. Uncertainties in the observations are emphasized. We suggest there is a distinct possibility that cluster IMFs vary systematically with density or pressure. Dense…
A complete accounting of nearby objects -- from the highest-mass white dwarf progenitors down to low-mass brown dwarfs -- is now possible, thanks to an almost complete set of trigonometric parallax determinations from Gaia, ground-based…
We present predictions for the two-point correlation function of galaxy clustering as a function of stellar mass, computed using two new versions of the GALFORM semi-analytic galaxy formation model. These models make use of a high…
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…
I use a sample of more than 120,000 stars in the solar neighbourhood with parallaxes, magnitudes and colours estimated with unprecedented accuracy by the second data release of the Gaia mission to derive the initial mass function of the…
The current status of both the observational evidence and the theory of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is reviewed, with particular attention to the two basic, apparently universal features shown by all observations of nearby…
We present a method for investigating variations in the upper end of the stellar Initial Mass Function (IMF) by probing the production rate of ionizing photons in unresolved, compact star clusters with ages <~10 Myr and with different…
We present near-infrared $J$, $H$, and $K$ images of four embedded stellar clusters in the Galaxy. We find a significant fraction of pre-main-sequence stars present in at least one of the clusters. For the clusters dominated by…
All measurements of cosmic star formation must assume an initial distribution of stellar masses -- the stellar initial mass function -- in order to extrapolate from the star-formation rate measured for typically rare, massive stars (> 8…
The mass returned to the ambient medium by aging stellar populations over cosmological times sums up to a significant fraction (20% - 30% or more) of their initial mass. This continuous mass injection plays a fundamental role in phenomena…
We investigate the variation in the upper end of stellar initial mass function (uIMF) in 375 young and compact star clusters in five nearby galaxies within $\sim 5$ Mpc. All the young stellar clusters (YSCs) in the sample have ages…
The distribution of stellar masses that form in one star-formation event in a given volume of space is called the initial mass function (IMF). The IMF has been estimated from low-mass brown dwarfs to very massive stars. Combining IMF…