Related papers: Understanding the Stellar Initial Mass Function
Our understanding of galaxy properties and evolution is contingent on knowing the initial mass function (IMF), and yet to date, the IMF is constrained only to local galaxies. Individual stars are now becoming routinely detected at…
The stellar initial mass function (IMF) describes the distribution of stellar masses that form in a given star formation event. The long main-sequence lifetimes of low-mass stars mean that the IMF in this regime (below $\sim 1…
We use recent microlensing observations toward the central bulge of the Galaxy to probe the overall stellar plus brown dwarf initial mass function (IMF) in these regions well within the brown dwarf domain. We find that the IMF is consistent…
The stellar initial mass function (sIMF) is often treated as a stochastic probability distribution, yet such an interpretation implies Poisson noise that is inconsistent with growing observational evidence. In particular, the observed…
Star-forming clumps dominate the rest-frame ultraviolet morphology of galaxies at the peak of cosmic star formation. If turbulence driven fragmentation is the mechanism responsible for their formation, we expect their stellar mass function…
The properties of Population III (Pop III) stars impact many aspects of primeval structure formation such as the onset of cosmological reionization and early chemical enrichment. However, in spite of over twenty years of numerical…
We investigate how the dynamical state of a turbulently supported, 1000 solar mass, molecular cloud affects the properties of the cluster it forms, focusing our discussion on the star formation efficiency (SFE) and the initial mass function…
The galaxy-wide stellar initial mass function (IGIMF) of a galaxy is thought to depend on its star formation rate (SFR). Using a catalogue of observational properties of early-type galaxies (ETGs) and a relation that correlates the…
We investigate the dependence of stellar properties on the mean thermal Jeans mass in molecular clouds. We compare the results from the two largest hydrodynamical simulations of star formation to resolve the fragmentation process down to…
(shortened) In this contribution an average or Galactic-field IMF is defined, stressing that there is evidence for a change in the power-law index at only two masses: near 0.5 Msun and 0.08 Msun. Using this supposed universal IMF, the…
In spite of decades of theoretical efforts, the physical origin of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is still debated. Particularly crucial is the question of what sets the peak of the distribution. To investigate this issue we…
Abridged: We have undertaken a series of hydrodynamical simulations of multiple star formation in small turbulent molecular clouds. Our goal is to determine the sensitivity of the properties of the resulting stars and brown dwarfs to…
We calculate the integrated galactic initial stellar mass function (IGIMF) in the presence of IMF variations in clusters. IMF Variations for a population of clusters are taken into account in the form of Gaussian distributions of the IMF…
We study the evolution of the mass function in young and dense star clusters by means of direct N-body simulations. Our main aim is to explain the recent observations of the relatively flat mass function observed near the centre of the…
The dichotomy between a universal mass function (IMF) and a variable IMF which depends on local physical parameters characterises observational and theoretical stellar astronomy. In this contribution the available distributions of…
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…
The 30 Doradus star-forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud is a nearby analogue of large star-formation events in the distant Universe. We determine the recent formation history and the initial mass function (IMF) of massive stars in…
The stellar initial mass function at high redshift is an important defining property of the first stellar systems to form and may also play a role in various dark matter problems. We here determine the faint stellar luminosity function in…
Stars and dark matter account for most of the mass of early-type galaxies, but uncertainties in the stellar population and the dark matter profile make it challenging to distinguish between the two components. Nevertheless, precise…
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…