Related papers: The metallicity dependence of the stellar initial …
Understanding the processes that determine the stellar Initial Mass Function (IMF) is a critical unsolved problem, with profound implications for many areas of astrophysics. In molecular clouds, stars are formed in cores, gas condensations…
Among the key parameters defining the ISM of galaxies is the fraction of the metals that are locked up in dust: the metals-to-dust ratio. This ratio bears not only on the ISM and its evolution, but particularly on the origin of cosmic dust.…
Using self-consistent chemodynamical simulations including star formation, supernova feedback, and chemical enrichment, I show the dependence of cosmic star formation and chemical enrichment histories on the initial mass function (IMF). The…
In spite of decades of theoretical efforts, the physical origin of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is still debated. We aim at understanding the influence of various physical processes such as radiative stellar feedback, magnetic…
Recent results have suggested that the well known mass-metallicity relation has a strong dependence on the star formation rate, to the extent that a three dimensional `fundamental metallicity relation' exists which links the three…
Because direct measurements require resolved stellar populations including low-mass stars, determining the stellar initial mass function (IMF) has been a historically difficult problem even within our own Galaxy and impossible everywhere…
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…
Star formation is regulated through a variety of feedback processes. In this study, we treat feedback by metal injection and a UV background as well as by X-ray irradiation. Our aim is to investigate whether star formation is significantly…
Several independent lines of evidence suggest that the stellar initial mass function (IMF) in early-type galaxies becomes increasingly `bottom-heavy' with increasing galaxy mass and/or velocity dispersion, sigma. Here we consider evidence…
The stellar initial mass function (IMF) of early-type galaxies is the combination of the IMF of the stellar population formed in-situ and that of accreted stellar populations. Using as an observable the effective IMF $\alpha_{IMF}$, defined…
From time to time, and quite more frequently in recent years, claims appear favoring a variable Initial Mass Function (IMF), one way or another, either in time or space. In this chapter we add our two pennies of wisdom, illustrating how the…
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…
Observed variations in the slope of the initial stellar mass function are shown to be consistent with a model in which the protostellar gas is randomly sampled from hierarchical clouds at a rate proportional to the square root of the local…
Recent results on the non-universality of the Initial Mass Function (IMF) have shown strong evidence of IMF variations with galaxy velocity dispersion, with a corresponding impact on other stellar population parameters, line indices and…
Observations of galaxies in the local Universe have shown that both the ionized gas and the stars of satellites are more metal-rich than of equally massive centrals. To gain insight into the connection between this metallicity enhancement…
There is good evidence that the centers of massive early-type galaxies have a bottom-heavy stellar initial mass function (IMF) compared to the IMF of the Milky Way. Here we study the radial variation of the IMF within such galaxies, using a…
The expected metal enrichment of the intra-cluster medium (ICM) and the partition of metals between cluster galaxies and the hot ICM depends on the stellar Initial Mass Function (IMF). The choice of the IMF in simulations of clusters has…
Deviations from a universal, MW-like, Stellar Initial Mass Function (IMF) have been reported for distant galaxies, although the physical reason behind the observed variations is still matter of ongoing debate. In this paper, we present an…
The initial mass function (IMF) of stars is a key quantity affecting almost every field of astrophysics, yet it remains unclear what physical mechanisms determine it. We present the first runs of the STARFORGE project, using a new numerical…
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…