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The stellar initial mass function (IMF) seems to be variable and not universal, as argued in the literature in the last three decades. Several relations among the low-mass end of the IMF slope and other stellar population, photometric or…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2021-01-13 C. E. Barbosa , C. Spiniello , M. Arnaboldi , L. Coccato , M. Hilker , T. Richtler

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…

The initial mass function (IMF) is one of the most important functions in astrophysics because it is key to reconstructing the cosmological matter cycle, understanding the formation of super-massive black holes, and deciphering the light…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2024-12-30 Pavel Kroupa , Eda Gjergo , Tereza Jerabkova , Zhiqiang Yan

Growing evidence in recent years suggests a systematic variation of the stellar initial mass function (IMF), being top-heavy for starburst galaxies and possibly bottom-heavy for massive ellipticals. Galaxy chemical evolution simulations…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2019-09-11 Zhiqiang Yan , Tereza Jerabkova , Pavel Kroupa , Alejandro Vazdekis

The stellar initial mass function (IMF) is expressed by $\phi(m) \propto m^{-\alpha}$ with the slope $\alpha$, and known as the poorly-constrained but very important function in studies of star and galaxy formation. There are no sensible…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2023-04-13 Shohei Aoyama , Masami Ouchi , Yuichi Harikane

The Stellar Initial Mass Function (IMF) characterizes the mass distribution of newly formed stars in various cosmic environments, serving as a fundamental assumption in astrophysical research. Recent findings challenge the prevalent notion…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2024-05-29 Zhiqiang Yan , Jiadong Li , Pavel Kroupa , Tereza Jerabkova , Eda Gjergo , Zhi-Yu Zhang

A number of recent studies have proposed that the stellar initial mass function (IMF) of early type galaxies varies systematically as a function of galaxy mass, with higher mass galaxies having bottom heavy IMFs. These bottom heavy IMFs…

The stellar initial mass function (IMF) is thought to be bottom-heavy in the cores of the most massive galaxies, with an excess of low mass stars compared to the Milky Way. However, studies of the kinematics of quiescent galaxies at 2<z<5…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2024-09-10 Pieter van Dokkum , Charlie Conroy

Several recent studies have provided evidence for a `bottom-heavy' stellar initial mass function (IMF) in massive elliptical galaxies. Here we investigate the influence of the IMF shape on the recently discovered color-magnitude relation…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-17 Paul Goudfrooij , J. M. Diederik Kruijssen

We investigated a volume-limited sample of LAMOST main-sequence stars with masses from 0.25 to 1 $M_{\odot}$ and distances of 150-350 pc to explore how the stellar initial mass function (IMF) varies with metallicity. We corrected the…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2025-11-07 Dan Qiu , Chao Liu , Jennifer A. Johnson , Jiadong Li , Bo Zhang

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

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

Star formation rates (SFR) larger than 1000 Msun/ yr are observed in extreme star bursts. This leads to the formation of star clusters with masses > 10^6 Msun in which crowding of the pre-stellar cores may lead to a change of the stellar…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2015-05-20 Carsten Weidner , Pavel Kroupa , Jan Pflamm-Altenburg

The spectral absorption lines in early-type galaxies contain a wealth of information regarding the detailed abundance pattern, star formation history, and stellar initial mass function (IMF) of the underlying stellar population. Using our…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-05 Charlie Conroy , Pieter van Dokkum

Observational studies are showing that the galaxy-wide stellar initial mass function are top-heavy in galaxies with high star-formation rates (SFRs). Calculating the integrated galactic stellar initial mass function (IGIMF) as a function of…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-17 Carsten Weidner , Pavel Kroupa , Jan Pflamm-Altenburg , Alexandre Vazdekis

Star formation in the early Universe has left its imprint on the chemistry of observable stars in galaxies. We derive elemental abundances and the slope of the low-mass end of the initial mass function (IMF) for a sample of 25 very massive…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2024-04-08 Mark den Brok , Davor Krajnović , Eric Emsellem , Wilfried Mercier , Matthias Steinmetz , Peter M. Weilbacher

Observational and theoretical arguments increasingly suggest that the initial mass function (IMF) of stars may depend systematically on environment, yet most galaxy formation models to date assume a universal IMF. Here we investigate…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2018-11-26 Thales A. Gutcke , Volker Springel

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…

Astrophysics · Physics 2007-05-23 Bruce G. Elmegreen

We discuss the star formation history of the Galaxy, based on the observations of extremely metal-poor stars (EMP) in the Galactic halo, to gain an insight into the evolution and structure formation in the early universe. The initialmass…

Astrophysics · Physics 2008-11-26 Yutaka Komiya , Takuma Suda , Asao Habe , Masayuki Y. Fujimoto

In the solar neighborhood, the Initial Mass Function (IMF) follows is canonically described by the Salpeter power-law slope for the high-mass range. The stellar IMF may directly result from a Core Mass Function (CMF) through accretion,…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2026-05-06 B. Thomasson , I. Joncour , E. Moraux , F. Motte , T. Yoo , A. Ginsburg