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Related papers: $M_*/L$ gradients driven by IMF variation: Large i…

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We extend our initial study of the connection between the UV colour of galaxies and both the inferred stellar mass-to-light ratio, $\Upsilon_*$, and a mass-to-light ratio referenced to Salpeter initial mass function (IMF) models of the same…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2015-06-23 Dennis Zaritsky , Armando Gil de Paz , Alexandre Y. K. Bouquin

We explore the assumption, widely used in many astrophysical calculations, that the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is universal across all galaxies. By considering both a canonical Salpeter-like IMF and a non-universal IMF, we are able…

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…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2020-11-25 S. I. Loubser , H. Hoekstra , A. Babul , Y. M. Bahé , M. Donahue

Using new long-slit spectroscopy obtained with X-Shooter at ESO-VLT, we study, for the first time, radial gradients of optical and Near-Infrared IMF-sensitive features in a representative sample of galaxies at the very high-mass end of the…

The measured star-formation rates (SFRs) of galaxies comprise an important constraint on galaxy evolution and also on their cosmological boundary conditions. Any available tracer of the SFR depends on the shape of the mass-distribution of…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2021-12-22 Pavel Kroupa , Tereza Jerabkova

Several recent observational studies have concluded that the initial mass function (IMF) of stars varies systematically with galaxy properties such as velocity dispersion. In this paper, we investigate the effect of linking the circular…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-18 Sean L. McGee , Ryosuke Goto , Michael L. Balogh

A robust stellar initial mass function (IMF) is crucial in any studies related to star formation. However, the direct measurement of the stellar IMF is confined to the local universe, limited by the resolving power of telescopes. Recently,…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2026-02-12 Sung Kei Li

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 James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has uncovered an abundance of $z>10$ galaxies bright in the ultraviolet (UV) that has challenged traditional theoretical models at high redshifts. Recently, various new models have emerged to address…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2025-02-19 Anne Hutter , Elie R Cueto , Pratika Dayal , Stefan Gottlöber , Maxime Trebitsch , Gustavo Yepes

We present the first constraints on stellar mass-to-light ratio gradients in an early-type galaxy (ETG) using multiple dynamical tracer populations to model the dark and luminous mass structure simultaneously. We combine the kinematics of…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2017-12-27 Lindsay Oldham , Matthew Auger

Recent papers have found that the inferred slope of the high-mass ($>1.5$ M$_\odot$) IMF for field stars in the solar vicinity has a larger value ($\sim 1.7-2.1$) than the slopes ($\sim 1.2-1.7$; Salpeter= 1.35) inferred from numerous…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2018-07-23 Antonio Parravano , David Hollenbach , Christopher F. McKee

Statistical sampling from the stellar initial mass function (IMF) for all star-forming regions in the Galaxy would lead to the prediction of ~1000 Msun stars unless there is a rapid turn-down in the IMF beyond several hundred solar masses.…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-10-31 Bruce G. Elmegreen

The heavyweight stellar initial mass function (IMF) observed in the cores of massive early-type galaxies (ETGs) has been linked to formation of their cores in an initial swiftly-quenched rapid starburst. However, the outskirts of ETGs are…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2017-04-19 Padraig D. Alton , Russell J. Smith , John R. Lucey

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

We analyze the stellar mass-to-light ratio (M/L) gradients in a large sample of local galaxies taken from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, spanning a wide range of stellar masses and morphological types. As suggested by the well known…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2015-05-28 C. Tortora , N. R. Napolitano , A. J. Romanowsky , Ph. Jetzer , V. F. Cardone , M. Capaccioli

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…

We explore the relation between the dynamical mass-to-light ratio ($M/L$) and rest-frame color of massive quiescent galaxies out to z~2. We use a galaxy sample with measured stellar velocity dispersions in combination with Hubble Space…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2015-06-23 Jesse van de Sande , Mariska Kriek , Marijn Franx , Rachel Bezanson , Pieter G. van Dokkum

The hypothesis of a universal initial mass function (IMF) -- motivated by observations in nearby stellar systems -- has been recently challenged by the discovery of a systematic variation of the IMF with the central velocity dispersion,…

Does the IMF vary? Is it significantly different in metal-rich environments than in metal-poor ones? Theoretical work predicts this to be the case. But in order to provide robust empirical evidence for this, the researcher must understand…

Astrophysics · Physics 2007-05-23 Pavel Kroupa

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…