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Related papers: On the function describing the stellar initial mas…

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We propose that the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is universal in the sense that its functional form arises as a consequence of the statistics of random supersonic flows. A model is developed for the origin of the stellar IMF, that…

Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-24 Paolo Padoan , Ake Nordlund , Bernard J. T. Jones

The stellar initial mass function (IMF) is predicted to depend upon the temperature of gas in star-forming molecular clouds. The introduction of an additional parameter, $T_{IMF}$ , into photometric template fitting, allows galaxies to be…

It is usually assumed that the stellar initial mass function (IMF) takes a universal form and that there exists a direct mapping between this and the distribution of natal core masses (the core mass function, CMF). The IMF and CMF have been…

We summarize recent observational and theoretical progress aimed at understanding the origin of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) with specific focus on galactic star-forming regions. We synthesize data from various efforts to…

The functional form of the galaxy-wide stellar initial mass function is of fundamental importance for understanding galaxies. So far this stellar initial mass function has been assumed to be identical to the IMF observed directly in star…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2010-11-11 Jan Pflamm-Altenburg , Carsten Weidner , Pavel Kroupa

Stars form from dense molecular cores, and the mass function of these cores (the CMF) is often found to be similar to the form of the stellar initial mass function (IMF). This suggests that the form of the IMF is the result of the form of…

We review recent advances in our understanding of the origin of the initial mass function (IMF). We emphasize the use of numerical simulations to investigate how each physical process involved in star formation affects the resulting IMF. We…

Astrophysics · Physics 2007-05-23 Ian A. Bonnell , Richard B. Larson , Hans Zinnecker

We investigate the origin of a bottom-heavy stellar initial mass function (IMF) recently observed in elliptical galaxies by using chemical evolution models with a non-universal IMF. We adopt the Kroupa IMF with the three slopes (alpha_1,…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-17 Kenji Bekki

The stellar initial mass function (IMF) is among the most fundamental distributions in astrophysics, defined as the mass spectrum of stars produced in a single star-formation event. Even in the solar neighbourhood, where measurements can be…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2026-04-15 Yu-Ting Wang , Chao Liu , Jiadong Li

The stellar initial mass functions (IMFs) for the Galactic bulge, the Milky Way, other galaxies, clusters of galaxies, and the integrated stars in the Universe are composites from countless individual IMFs in star clusters and associations…

Astrophysics · Physics 2008-11-26 Bruce G. Elmegreen

The stellar initial mass function (IMF) describes the distribution in stellar masses produced from a burst of star formation. For more than fifty years, the implicit assumption underpinning most areas of research involving the IMF has been…

An essential component of galaxy formation theory is the stellar initial mass function (IMF), that describes the parent distribution of stellar mass in star forming regions. We present observational evidence in a sample of early-type…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-05 I. Ferreras , F. La Barbera , R. R. de Carvalho , I. G. de la Rosa , A. Vazdekis , J. Falcon-Barroso , E. Ricciardelli

We introduce a new multi-power-law distribution for the Initial Mass Function (IMF) to explore its potential properties. It follows on prior work that introduced mechanisms accounting for mass accretion in star formation, developed within…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2020-04-22 Christopher Essex , Shantanu Basu , Janett Prehl , Karl Heinz Hoffmann

The stellar initial mass function (IMF), which is often assumed to be universal across unresolved stellar populations, has recently been suggested to be "bottom-heavy" for massive ellipticals. In these galaxies, the prevalence of…

The initial mass function (IMF) describes the distribution of stellar masses in a population of newly born stars and is amongst the most fundamental concepts in astrophysics. It is not only the direct result of the star formation process…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2026-02-12 Amery Gration , Robert G. Izzard , Payel Das

We measure the high-mass stellar initial mass function (IMF) from resolved stars in M33 young stellar clusters. Leveraging \textit{Hubble Space Telescope's} high resolving power, we fully model the IMF probabilistically. We first model the…

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.…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-10 Bruce G. Elmegreen

Recent studies seem to suggest that the stellar initial mass function (IMF) in early-type galaxies might be different from a classical Kroupa or Chabrier IMF, i.e. contain a larger fraction of the total mass in low-mass stars. From a…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2016-08-05 Clio Bertelli Motta , Paul C. Clark , Simon C. O. Glover , Ralf S. Klessen , Anna Pasquali

The stellar initial mass function (IMF) is a fundamental property in the measurement of stellar masses and galaxy star formation histories. In this work we focus on the most massive galaxies in the nearby universe…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2022-06-29 Meng Gu , Jenny Greene , Andrew B. Newman , Christina Kreisch , Matthew Quenneville , Chung-Pei Ma , John P. Blakeslee

This contribution describes the difficult task of inferring the IMF from local star-count data, by discussing the mass-luminosity relation, unresolved binary, triple and quadruple systems, abundance and age spreads and Galactic structure,…

Astrophysics · Physics 2007-05-23 Pavel Kroupa