Related papers: Embedded Clusters and the IMF

Low-mass stars (M<0.4Msun) are thought to comprise the bulk of the stellar mass of galaxies but they constitute only of order a percent of the bolometric luminosity of an old stellar population. Directly estimating the number of low-mass…

We review computational approaches to understanding the origin of the Initial Mass Function (IMF) during the formation of star clusters. We examine the role of turbulence, gravity and accretion, equations of state, and magnetic fields in…

Ultra compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs) are dense stellar systems at the border between massive star-clusters and small galaxies. Their on average high optical mass-to-light (M/L) ratio cannot be explained by stellar populations with the…

The functional form of the galaxy-wide stellar initial mass function is of fundamental importance for understanding galaxies. So far this stellar initial mass function has been assumed to be identical to the IMF observed directly in star…

We review recent advances in our understanding of the origin of the initial mass function (IMF). We emphasize the use of numerical simulations to investigate how each physical process involved in star formation affects the resulting IMF. We…

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 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 highest-mass stars have the lowest frequency in the stellar IMF, and they are also the most easily observed stars. Thus, the counting statistics for OB stars provide important tests for the fundamental nature and quantitative parameters…

In this contribution we evaluate the minimal cluster mass for which the effects of an incomplete sampling of the Initial Mass Function (IMF) cannot be neglected. This minimal cluster mass corresponds to the situation in which the integrated…

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 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…

At the earliest evolutionary stages, massive star-forming regions are deeply embedded within their natal cores and not observable at optical and near-infrared wavelengths. Interferometric high-spatial resolution mm dust continuum…

We have undertaken the largest systematic study of the high-mass stellar initial mass function (IMF) to date using the optical color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of 85 resolved, young (4 Myr < t < 25 Myr), intermediate mass star clusters…

We present near-infrared J, H, and K_s images and K-band spectroscopy of two newly discovered stellar clusters at different stages of evolution. Our spectra suggest the presence of massive YSOs in the heavily embedded cluster in the…

Magnetic fields play vital roles in intracluster media (ICMs), but estimating their strengths and distributions from observations is a major challenge. Faraday rotation measures (RMs) are widely applied to this task, so it is critical to…

Recent (sub)millimeter continuum surveys of nearby star-forming regions have revealed a wealth of new, cold cloud fragments. Those which are small-scale (diameter < 10000 AU), starless, and gravitationally bound are good candidates for…

We present the new technique for the determination of the low-mass slope of the stellar mass function from the pixel-space fitting of integrated light spectra. This technique is the extension of the NBursts full spectral fitting technique.…

The universality of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is tested using Bayesian statistics with a sample of eight young Galactic stellar clusters (IC 348, ONC, NGC 2024, NGC 6611, NGC 2264, $\rho$ Ophiuchi, Chameleon I, and Taurus). We…

In previous papers of the series we used a combination of optical and near-infrared colours to derive constraints on the relative age structure in globular cluster systems. Here, we present the details, strength and limitations of our…

The detection of intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs) in Galactic globular clusters (GCs) has so far been controversial. In order to characterize the effectiveness of integrated-light spectroscopy through integral field units, we analyze…