Related papers: Confidence Limits of Evolutionary Synthesis Models
Observed variations in the IMF are reviewed with an emphasis on environmental density. The remote field IMF studied in the LMC by several authors is clearly steeper than most cluster IMFs, which have slopes close to the Salpeter value.…
The interplay between the ISM and the massive stars formed in clusters and, more generally, in recent events of star formation is reviewed via the global effects each has on the other. The pre-existing environment affects the properties of…
The stellar initial mass function (IMF) is an underlying distribution function which determines many important observables, from the number of ionizing photons in a population of some age and metallicity, through the creation rate of…
The stellar initial mass function (IMF) is a fundamental property of star formation, offering key insight into the physics driving the process as well as informing our understanding of stellar populations, their by-products, and their…
The evolution of star clusters is determined by several internal and external processes. Here we focus on two dominant internal effects, namely energy exchange between stars through close encounters (two-body relaxation) and mass-loss of…
We examine self-consistent parameterizations of the high-mass stellar population and resulting feedback, including mechanical, radiative, and chemical feedback, as we understand them locally. To date, it appears that the massive star…
Using HST/ACS observations of resolved stellar populations in nearby galaxies, I explore the constraints one can place on the field star IMF from star formation histories (SFHs) derived from synthetic color-magnitude diagram (CMD) fitting.…
We propose to interpret the stellar IMF as a property of the turbulence in the star--forming gas. Gravitationally unstable density enhancements in the turbulent flow collapse and form stars. Their mass distribution can be derived…
The degree of influence that environment and mass have on the stellar populations of early-type galaxies is uncertain. In this paper we present the results of a spectroscopic analysis of the stellar populations of early-type galaxies aimed…
Recent results indicate the stellar initial mass function is not a strong function of star-forming environment or ``initial conditions'' (e.g. Meyer et al. 2000). Some studies suggest that a universal IMF may extend to sub-stellar masses…
(...) We search for an explanation of the disagreement between the observed integrated colours of 650 local Galactic clusters and the theoretical colours of present-day SSP models. We check the hypothesis that the systematic offsets between…
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 stellar initial mass function (IMF) is believed to be non-universal among early-type galaxies (ETGs). Parameterizing the IMF with the so-called IMF mismatch parameter $\alpha_{\rm IMF}$, which is a measure of the stellar mass-to-light…
Identifying the processes that determine the initial mass function of stars (IMF) is a fundamental problem in star formation theory. One of the major uncertainties is the exact chemical state of the star forming gas and its influence on the…
For a number of reasons, the properties of integrated stellar populations are distributed. Traditional synthesis models usually return the mean value of such distribution, and a perfect fitting to observational data is sought for to infer…
(abridged) We develop a model which describes the coevolution of the mass function of dense cores and of the IMF in a protocluster clump. In the model, cores injected in the clump evolve under the effect of gas accretion. Accretion onto the…
We present new evolutionary synthesis models for Simple Stellar Populations for a wide range of ages and metallicities. The models are based on the Padova isochrones. The core of the spectral library is provided by the medium resolution…
Star clusters are found in all sorts of environments and their formation and evolution is inextricably linked to the star formation process. Their eventual destruction can result from a number of factors at different times, but the process…
We present new Keck spectroscopy of early-type galaxies in three galaxy clusters at z~0.5. We focus on the fundamental plane (FP) relation, and combine the kinematics with structural parameters determined from HST images. The galaxies obey…
Elemental abundances of stars are the result of the complex enrichment history of their galaxy. Interpretation of observed abundances requires flexible modeling tools to explore and quantify the information about Galactic chemical evolution…