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The stellar mass distribution in star-forming regions, stellar clusters and associations, the Initial Mass Function (IMF), appears to be invariant across different star-forming environments, and is consistent with the IMF observed in the…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2024-12-03 Sunder S. K. Singh-Bal , George A. Blaylock-Squibbs , Richard J. Parker , Simon P. Goodwin

The stellar initial mass function (IMF) integrated over an entire galaxy is an integral over all separate star-formation events. Since most stars form in star clusters with different masses the integrated IMF becomes an integral of the…

Astrophysics · Physics 2007-05-23 C. Weidner , P. Kroupa

The stellar initial mass function (IMF) describes the mass distribution of stars at the time of their formation and is of fundamental importance for many areas of astrophysics. The IMF is reasonably well constrained in the disk of the Milky…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2015-05-20 Pieter van Dokkum , Charlie Conroy

It is frequently debated in literature whether a "standard" Initial Mass Function (IMF) - meaning an IMF of the kind usually adopted to explain the chemical evolution in the local Solar Neighbourhood - can account for the observed metal…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-10 L. Portinari , A. Moretti , C. Chiosi , J. Sommer-Larsen

The connection between the pre-stellar core mass function (CMF) and the stellar initial mass function (IMF) lies at the heart of all star formation theories. In this paper, we study the earliest phases of star formation with a series of…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2019-05-22 Evangelia Ntormousi , Patrick Hennebelle

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 origin of the stellar Initial Mass Function (IMF) and how it may vary with galactic environment is a matter of debate. Certain star formation theories involve a close connection between the IMF and the Core Mass Function (CMF) so it is…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2025-02-18 Alva V. I. Kinman , Maya A. Petkova , Jonathan C. Tan , Giuliana Cosentino , Yu Cheng

The stellar initial mass function (IMF) determines the relative number of stars born at a given mass. Despite the tremendous effort to establish a universal IMF, the astronomical literature offers a wealth of diverse evidence for IMF…

Astrophysics · Physics 2007-05-23 Frank Eisenhauer

We show that the ambipolar-diffusion--initiated fragmentation of molecular clouds leads simply and naturally to an initial core mass function (CMF) which is very similar to the initial stellar mass function (IMF) and in excellent agreement…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2015-05-13 Matthew W. Kunz , Telemachos Ch. Mouschovias

Many studies have revealed that the core mass function (CMF) in high-mass star-forming regions is top-heavy. In this work, we start from the canonical initial mass function (IMF) to inversely synthesize the observed CMFs of high-mass star…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2025-03-18 J. W. Zhou , Pavel Kroupa , Sami Dib

Our understanding of stellar systems depends on the adopted interpretation of the IMF, phi(m). Unfortunately, there is not a common interpretation of the IMF, which leads to different methodologies and diverging analysis of observational…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2013-07-02 Miguel Cervino , Carlos Romann-Zuniga , Valentina Luridiana , Amelia Bayo , Nestor Sanchez , Enrique Perez

The stellar initial mass function (IMF) plays a crucial role in determining the number of surviving stars in galaxies, the chemical composition of the interstellar medium, and the distribution of light in galaxies. A key unsolved question…

[abridged] Stars are thought to be formed predominantly in clusters. The clusters are formed following a cluster initial mass function (CMF) similar to the stellar initial mass function (IMF). Both the IMF and the CMF favour low-mass…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2012-05-31 M. R. Haas , P. Anders

We investigate the relation of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) and the dense core mass function (CMF), using stellar masses and positions in 14 well-studied young groups. Initial column density maps are computed by replacing each…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2011-06-24 Manon Michel , Helen Kirk , Philip C. Myers

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

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

The turnover in the stellar initial mass function (IMF) at low mass suggests the presence of two independent mass functions that combine in different ways above and below a characteristic mass given by the thermal Jeans mass in the cloud.…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-10-31 Bruce Elmegreen

The observed similarities between the mass function of prestellar cores (CMF) and the stellar initial mass function (IMF) have led to the suggestion that the IMF is already largely determined in the gas phase. However, theoretical arguments…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2015-05-30 Paolo Padoan , AAke Nordlund

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

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