Related papers: How does a low-mass cut-off in the stellar IMF aff…
Any predictive theory of star formation must explain observed variations (or lack thereof) in the initial mass function. Recent work suggests that we might expect quantitative variations in the IMF as a function of metallicity (Larson 2005)…
It has been shown recently that the dynamical V-band mass-to-light ratios of compact stellar systems with masses from 10^6 to 10^8 Solar masses are not consistent with the predictions from simple stellar population (SSP) models. Top-heavy…
Theoretical considerations lead to the expectation that stars should not have masses larger than about m_{max*}=60-120Msun, while the observational evidence has been ambiguous. Only very recently has a physical stellar mass limit near…
The initial mass function (IMF) of metal-free stars that form in the initial starburst of massive (virial temperatures >10^4K) metal-free protogalaxies is studied. In particular, we focus on the effect of H2 photodissociation by…
We review recent determinations of the present day and initial mass functions in various components of the Galaxy, disk, spheroid, young and globular clusters. As a general feature, the IMF is well described by a power-law form for $m\ga 1…
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…
Low-mass stars (M<0.4Msun) are thought to comprise the bulk of the stellar mass of galaxies but they constitute only of order a percent of the bolometric luminosity of an old stellar population. Directly estimating the number of low-mass…
We highlight the impact of cluster-mass-dependent evolutionary rates upon the evolution of the cluster mass function during violent relaxation, that is, while clusters dynamically respond to the expulsion of their residual star-forming gas.…
Observations of star-forming galaxies at high-z have suggested discrepancies in the inferred star formation rates (SFRs) either between data and models, or between complementary measures of the SFR. These putative discrepancies could all be…
Accurate specification of a likelihood function is becoming increasingly difficult in many inference problems in astronomy. As sample sizes resulting from astronomical surveys continue to grow, deficiencies in the likelihood function lead…
We report on empirical trends between the dynamically determined stellar initial mass function (IMF) and stellar population properties for a complete, volume-limited sample of 260 early-type galaxies from the Atlas3D project. We study…
The characteristic mass M_c and slope Gamma of the IMF are reviewed for clusters, field regions, galaxies, and regions formed during cosmological times. Local star formation has a somewhat uniform M_c and Gamma. Statistical variations in…
The initial cluster mass function (ICMF) in spiral galaxy discs is constrained and compared with data for old globular clusters and young clusters in starbursts. It is found that the observed ages and luminosities of the brightest clusters…
We use stellar and dynamical mass profiles, combined with a stellar population analysis, of 32 brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) at redshifts of 0.05 $\leq z \leq$ 0.30, to place constraints on their stellar Initial Mass Function (IMF). We…
When estimating the abundances which result from a given star formation event, it is customary to treat the IMF as a series of weight factors to be applied to the stellar yields, as a function of mass, implicitly assuming one is dealing…
Abridged: We have undertaken a series of hydrodynamical simulations of multiple star formation in small turbulent molecular clouds. Our goal is to determine the sensitivity of the properties of the resulting stars and brown dwarfs to…
In this work we explore the effects of adopting initial mass functions (IMFs) variable in time on the chemical evolution of the Galaxy. In order to do that we adopt a chemical evolution model which assumes two main infall episodes for the…
While the stellar Initial Mass Function (IMF) appears to be close to universal within the Milky Way galaxy, it is strongly suspected to be different in the primordial Universe, where molecular hydrogen cooling is less efficient and the gas…
We present new GRIFFIN project hydrodynamical simulations that model the formation of galactic star cluster populations in low-metallicity ($Z=0.00021$) dwarf galaxies, including radiation, supernova and stellar wind feedback of individual…
We measure the velocity dispersions of six, galactic globular clusters using spatially integrated spectra, to test for the effects of internal dynamical evolution in the stellar mass-to-light ratios, Upsilon_*, of star clusters. In…