Related papers: The IMF in Starbursts
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…
Here I discuss recent work on brown dwarfs, massive stars and the IMF in general. The stellar IMF can be well described by an invariant two-part power law in present-day star-formation events within the Local Group of galaxies. It is nearly…
We review our current knowledge on the IMF in nearby environments, massive star forming regions, super star clusters, starbursts and alike objects from studies of integrated light, and discuss the various techniques used to constrain the…
A survey of results concerning the IMF derived from star counts is presented, including work up to, but not including, that presented in these proceedings. The situation regarding low-mass stars in the field and in clusters, high-mass stars…
The starburst IMF is probably as much of theoretical interest and practical relevance as it is a subject of observational controversy. In this conference paper we review the most common methods (star counts, dynamical masses, and line…
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…
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 observed distribution of IMF shapes can be understood as statistical sampling from a universal IMF and variations that result from stellar-dynamical processes. However, young star clusters appear to have an IMF biased towards low-mass…
Few topics in astronomy initiate such vigorous discussion as whether or not the initial mass function (IMF) of stars is universal, or instead sensitive to the initial conditions of star formation. The distinction is of critical importance:…
Some ultra-compact dwarf galaxies have large dynamical mass to light (M/L) ratios and also appear to contain an overabundance of LMXB sources, and some Milky Way globular clusters have a low concentration and appear to have a deficit of…
Observational constraints on the theory of the IMF are reviewed. These observations include the new result that star formation is very rapid, usually going from start to finish in only 1 or 2 dynamical times on a wide range of scales. This…
The distribution of stellar masses that form in one star-formation event in a given volume of space is called the initial mass function (IMF). The IMF has been estimated from low-mass brown dwarfs to very massive stars. Combining IMF…
The combination of a finite time-scale for star formation, rapid early stellar evolution and rapid stellar-dynamical processes imply that the stellar IMF cannot be inferred for any star cluster independently of its age (the Cluster IMF…
(abridged) The {stellar IMF} has been found to be essentially invariant. While some apparent differences are seen, the uncertainties inherent to this game do not allow a firm conclusion to be made that the IMF varies systematically with…
The massive-star IMF is found to be invariable. However, integrated IMFs probably depend on galactic mass.
The current knowledge on the stellar IMF is documented. It appears to become top-heavy when the star-formation rate density surpasses about 0.1Msun/(yr pc^3) on a pc scale and it may become increasingly bottom-heavy with increasing…
The stellar initial mass function (IMF) describes how many stars form at which mass. Despite recent observational progress, many fundamental properties of the IMF are still unknown. Specifically the question, whether starbursts are biased…
Observations of the stellar initial mass function are reviewed. The flattening at low mass is evidence for a characteristic mass in star formation, which could be the minimum stellar mass for the onset of deuterium burning or the thermal…
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…
Evidence supporting the hypothesis of an invariant stellar Initial Mass Function is strong and varied. The intra-cluster medium in rich clusters of galaxies is one of the few contrary locations where recent interpretations of the chemical…