Related papers: Flashlights: Prospects for constraining the Initia…
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…
We present new observations of the three nearest early-type galaxy (ETG) strong lenses discovered in the SINFONI Nearby Elliptical Lens Locator Survey (SNELLS). Based on their lensing masses, these ETGs were inferred to have a stellar…
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…
Using samples drawn from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we study for the first time the relation between large-scale environments (Clusters, Groups and Voids) and the stellar Initial Mass Function (IMF). We perform an observational approach…
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…
The stellar initial mass function (IMF) is critical to our understanding of star formation and the effects of young stars on their environment. On large scales, it enables us to use tracers such as UV or Halpha emission to estimate the star…
Evidence from different probes of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) of massive early-type galaxies (ETGs) has repeatedly converged on IMFs more bottom-heavy than in the Milky Way (MW). This consensus has come under scrutiny due to…
We present the results of numerical experiments designed to evaluate the usefulness of near-infrared luminosity functions for constraining the Initial Mass Function (IMF) of young stellar populations. From this numerical modeling, we find…
Theoretical arguments and indirect observational evidence suggest that the stellar initial mass function (IMF) may evolve with time, such that it is more weighted toward high mass stars at higher redshift. Here we test this idea by…
The detection of numerous and relatively bright galaxies at redshifts z > 9 has prompted new investigations into the star-forming properties of high-redshift galaxies. Using local forms of the initial mass function (IMF) to estimate stellar…
The current status of both the observational evidence and the theory of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is reviewed, with particular attention to the two basic, apparently universal features shown by all observations of nearby…
A new window to observing individual stars and other small sources at cosmological distances was opened recently, with the detection of several caustic-crossing events in galaxy cluster fields. Many more such events are expected soon from…
Mass measurements and absorption line studies indicate that the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is bottom-heavy in the central regions of many early-type galaxies, with an excess of low mass stars compared to the IMF of the Milky Way.…
Large high-quality samples of HII regions and their parent Giant Molecular Clouds (GMC) are now available for local galaxies. It is therefore possible to investigate links between the CO and H$\alpha$ luminosity functions and whether…
The long-standing assumption that the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is universal has recently been challenged by a number of observations. Several studies have shown that a "heavy" IMF (e.g., with a Salpeter-like abundance of low mass…
The James Webb Space Telescope has discovered high luminosity galaxies that appear to be "too many" and "too massive" compared to predictions of the Standard LCDM cosmology, suggesting that star formation in the early universe is more rapid…
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…
Strong gravitational lensing can provide accurate measurements of the stellar mass-to-light ratio $\Upsilon$ in low-redshift ($z$ $\lesssim$ 0.05) early-type galaxies, and hence probe for possible variations in the stellar initial mass…
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)…
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…