Related papers: Exploring the IMF of star clusters: a joint SLUG a…
We investigate a novel Bayesian analysis method, based on the Stochastically Lighting Up Galaxies (slug) code, to derive the masses, ages, and extinctions of star clusters from integrated light photometry. Unlike many analysis methods, slug…
We explore the possibility of using UV spectroscopy in combination with broad-band photometry as diagnostic tools for understanding the shape of the Initial Mass Function (IMF) in unresolved stellar populations. Building on our previous…
We present SLUG, a new code to "Stochastically Light Up Galaxies". SLUG populates star clusters by randomly drawing stars from an initial mass function (IMF) and then following their time evolution with stellar models and an…
The universality of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is tested using Bayesian statistics with a sample of eight young Galactic stellar clusters (IC 348, ONC, NGC 2024, NGC 6611, NGC 2264, $\rho$ Ophiuchi, Chameleon I, and Taurus). We…
Recent observations indicate a lower Halpha to FUV ratio in dwarf galaxies than in brighter systems, a trend that could be explained by a truncated and/or steeper IMF in small galaxies. However, at low star formation rates (SFRs), the…
The stellar initial mass function (IMF) is commonly interpreted to be a scale-invariant probability density distribution function (PDF) such that many small clusters yield the same IMF as one massive cluster of the same combined number of…
Recent studies based on the integrated light of distant galaxies suggest that the initial mass function (IMF) might not be universal. Variations of the IMF with galaxy type and/or formation time may have important consequences for our…
The effects of stochasticity on the luminosities of stellar populations are an often neglected but crucial element for understanding populations in the low mass or low star formation rate regime. To address this issue, we present SLUG, a…
Stellar population synthesis techniques for predicting the observable light emitted by a stellar population have extensive applications in numerous areas of astronomy. However, accurate predictions for small populations of young stars, such…
We describe a novel method for determining the demographics of a population of star clusters, for example distributions of cluster mass and age, from unresolved photometry. This method has a number of desirable properties: it fully exploits…
We investigate whether the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is universal, or whether it varies significantly among young stellar clusters in the Milky Way. We propose a method to uncover the range of variation of the parameters that…
The stellar initial mass function (IMF) is central to our interpretation of astronomical observables and to our understanding of most baryonic processes within galaxies. The universality of the IMF, suggested by observations in our own…
We analyze the stellar initial mass functions (IMF) of a large sample of early type galaxies (ETGs) provided by MaNGA. The large number of IFU spectra of individual galaxies provide high signal-to-noise composite spectra that are essential…
The universality or non-universality of the initial mass function (IMF) has significant implications for determining star formation rates and star formation histories from photometric properties of stellar populations. We reexamine whether…
We present observational evidence of the correlation between the high-mass slope of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) in young star clusters and their stellar surface density, $\sigma_{*}$. When the high-mass end of the IMF is…
We have undertaken the largest systematic study of the high-mass stellar initial mass function (IMF) to date using the optical color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of 85 resolved, young (4 Myr < t < 25 Myr), intermediate mass star clusters…
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 deep Hubble Space Telescope (HST) NICMOS 2 F160W band observations of the central 56*57" (14pc*14.25pc) region around R136 in the starburst cluster 30 Dor (NGC 2070) located in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Our aim is to derive the…
The initial mass function (IMF) succinctly characterizes a stellar population, provides a statistical measure of the end result of the star-formation process, and informs our under- standing of the structure and dynamical evolution of…
Systematic variations of the IMF in early-type galaxies, and their connection with possible drivers such as velocity dispersion or metallicity, have been much debated in recent years. Strong lensing over galaxy scales combined with…