Related papers: The IntraCluster Medium: An Invariant Stellar IMF
The turnover in the stellar initial mass function (IMF) at low mass suggests the presence of two independent mass functions that combine in different ways above and below a characteristic mass given by the thermal Jeans mass in the cloud.…
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…
We present a uniform analysis of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) from integrated light spectroscopy of 15 compact stellar systems (11 globular clusters in M31 and 4 ultra compact dwarfs in the Virgo cluster, UCDs) and two brightest…
The current status of both the observational evidence and the theory of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is reviewed, with particular attention to the two basic, apparently universal features shown by all observations of nearby…
We review current theories for the origin of the Stellar Initial Mass Function (IMF) with particular focus on the extent to which the IMF can be considered universal across various environments. To place the issue in an observational…
We investigate whether the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is universal, or whether it varies significantly among young stellar clusters in the Milky Way. We propose a method to uncover the range of variation of the parameters that…
In this work, we derive the stellar initial mass function (IMF) from the superposition of mass distributions of dense cores, generated through gravoturbulent fragmentation of unstable clumps in molecular clouds (MCs) and growing through…
There is good evidence that the centers of massive early-type galaxies have a bottom-heavy stellar initial mass function (IMF) compared to the IMF of the Milky Way. Here we study the radial variation of the IMF within such galaxies, using a…
We re-examine the respective roles played by supernovae (SNe) Types Ia and II in enriching the intracluster medium (ICM) of galaxy clusters, in light of the recent downward shift of the ASCA abundance ratios of alpha-elements to iron…
To investigate possible variations in the stellar initial mass function (IMF) in red-sequence galaxies, we have obtained infrared spectroscopy with Subaru/FMOS for a sample of 92 red-sequence galaxies in the Coma cluster. Velocity…
[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…
When a detailed model of a stellar population is unavailable, it is most common to assume that stellar masses are independently and identically distributed according to some distribution: the universal initial mass function (IMF). However,…
We present results from Tree+SPH simulations of a galaxy cluster, aimed at studying the metal enrichment of the intra--cluster medium (ICM). The simulation code includes a fairly advanced treatment of star formation, as well as the release…
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…
Standard analytical chemical evolution modelling of galaxies has been assuming the stellar initial mass function (IMF) to be invariant and fully sampled allowing fractions of massive stars to contribute even in dwarf galaxies with very low…
Theoretical arguments and indirect observational evidence suggest that the stellar initial mass function (IMF) may evolve with time, such that it is more weighted toward high mass stars at higher redshift. Here we test this idea by…
We test whether the universal initial mass function (UIMF) or the integrated galaxial IMF (IGIMF) can be employed to explain the metallicity distribution (MD) of giants in the Galactic bulge. We make use of a single-zone chemical evolution…
The debate about the universality of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) revolves around two competing lines of evidence. While measurements in the Milky Way, an archetypal spiral galaxy, seem to support an invariant IMF, the observed…
We attempt to evaluate whether the integrated galactic IMF (IGIMF) is expected to be steeper than the IMF within individual clusters through direct evaluation of whether there is a systematic dependence of maximum stellar mass on cluster…
Although the stellar initial mass function (IMF) has only been directly determined in star clusters it has been manifoldly applied on galaxy-wide scales. But taking the clustered nature of star formation into account the galaxy-wide IMF is…