Related papers: On the variation of the Initial Mass Function
We investigate the most plausible stellar Initial Mass Function (IMF) and the main origin of the tilt of the Fundamental Plane (FP) for old, massive early-type galaxies. We consider a sample of 13 bright galaxies of the Coma cluster and…
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…
As a young massive cluster in the Central Molecular Zone, the Arches cluster is a valuable probe of the stellar Initial Mass Function (IMF) in the extreme Galactic Center environment. We use multi-epoch Hubble Space Telescope observations…
The dwarf spheroidal galaxy in Ursa Minor is apparently dark-matter dominated, and is of very low surface brightness, with total luminosity only equal to that of a globular cluster. Indeed its dominant stellar population is old and…
Research on the high-mass end of the initial mass function (IMF) has been limited due to a scarcity of samples. Recently, Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST), as the most efficient spectroscopic telescope, has…
Given a flurry of recent claims for systematic variations in the stellar initial mass function (IMF), we carry out the first inventory of the observational evidence using different approaches. This includes literature results, as well as…
We perform a spectroscopic study to constrain the stellar Initial Mass Function (IMF) by using a large sample of 24,781 early-type galaxies from the SDSS-based SPIDER survey. Clear evidence is found of a trend between IMF and central…
Our recent determination of a Salpeter slope for the IMF in the field of 30 Doradus (Selman and Melnick 2005) appears to be in conflict with simple probabilistic counting arguments advanced in the past to support observational claims of a…
In this paper, basic observational properties of elliptical galaxies such as the integrated spectra, the chemical abundances and the enhancement of $\alpha$-elements inferred from broad-band colors and line strength indices $Mg_2$ and $< Fe…
Recent studies seem to suggest that the stellar initial mass function (IMF) in early-type galaxies might be different from a classical Kroupa or Chabrier IMF, i.e. contain a larger fraction of the total mass in low-mass stars. From a…
Several recent studies have shown that the star cluster initial mass function (CIMF) can be well approximated by a power law, with indications for a steepening or truncation at high masses. This contribution considers the evolution of such…
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…
The H alpha equivalent width (EW) is the ratio of the H alpha flux to the continuum at 6565{\AA}. In normal star forming galaxies the H alpha flux is dominated by reprocessed photons from stars with masses greater than 10 M_o and the…
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…
We demonstrate that the mass of the most massive star in a cluster correlates non-trivially with the cluster mass. A simple algorithm according to which a cluster is filled up with stars that are chosen randomly from the standard IMF but…
To fully understand the star formation process, we are compelled to study it in a variety of environments. Of particular interest are how star formation and the resulting initial mass function (IMF) vary as a function of metallicity. We…
Recent observational and theoretical studies indicate that the stellar initial mass function (IMF) varies systematically with the environment (star formation rate - SFR, metallicity). Although the exact dependence of the IMF on those…
[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…
The stellar initial mass function (IMF) is commonly assumed to be an invariant probability density distribution function of initial stellar masses being represented by the canonical IMF. As a consequence the galaxy-wide IMF (gwIMF), defined…
The total extragalactic background radiation can be an important test of the global star formation history (SFH). Using direct observational estimates of the SFH, along with standard assumptions about the initial mass function (IMF), we…