Related papers: The Stellar Initial Mass Function: Constraints fro…

Context: Stars form in the cold dense cores of interstellar molecular clouds and the detailed knowledge of the spectrum of masses of such cores is clearly a key for the understanding of the origin of the IMF. To date, observations have…

Observed variations in the slope of the initial stellar mass function are shown to be consistent with a model in which the protostellar gas is randomly sampled from hierarchical clouds at a rate proportional to the square root of the local…

We address the turbulent fragmentation scenario for the origin of the stellar initial mass function (IMF), using a large set of numerical simulations of randomly driven supersonic MHD turbulence. The turbulent fragmentation model…

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…

Observations have indicated that the prestellar core mass function (CMF) is similar to the stellar initial mass function (IMF), except for an offset towards larger masses. This has led to the idea that there is a one-to-one relation between…

Stars form in clustered environments, but how they form when the available resources are shared is still not well understood. A related question is whether the IMF is in fact universal across galactic environments, a galactic initial mass…

Stars form from dense molecular cores, and the mass function of these cores (the CMF) is often found to be similar to the form of the stellar initial mass function (IMF). This suggests that the form of the IMF is the result of the form of…

The distributions of stars and prestellar cores by mass (initial and dense core mass functions, IMF/DCMF) are among the key factors regulating star formation and are the subject of detailed theoretical and observational studies. Results…

Recent work has suggested that the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is not universal, but rather is correlated with galaxy stellar mass, stellar velocity dispersion, or morphological type. In this paper, we investigate variations of the…

In the solar neighborhood, the Initial Mass Function (IMF) follows is canonically described by the Salpeter power-law slope for the high-mass range. The stellar IMF may directly result from a Core Mass Function (CMF) through accretion,…

Observations of mergers of multi-compact object systems offer insights to the formation processes of massive stars in globular clusters. Simulations of stellar clusters, may be used to understand and interpret observations. Simulations…

We investigate the relation of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) and the dense core mass function (CMF), using stellar masses and positions in 14 well-studied young groups. Initial column density maps are computed by replacing each…

(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…

We examine variations of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) in extreme environments within the formalism derived by Hennebelle \& Chabrier. We focus on conditions encountered in progenitors of massive early type galaxies and starburst…

The origin of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is one of the most debated issues in astrophysics. Here, we explore the possible link between the quasi-universal filamentary structure of star-forming molecular clouds and the origin of…

Recent evidence based independently on spectral line strengths and dynamical modelling point towards a non-universal stellar Initial Mass Function (IMF), probably implying an excess of low-mass stars in elliptical galaxies with a high…

The local stellar mass density is observed to be significantly lower than the value obtained from integrating the cosmic star formation history (SFH), assuming that all the stars formed with a Salpeter initial mass function (IMF). Even…

We study the initial mass function (IMF) of one of the most massive Galactic star-forming regions NGC 3603 to answer a fundamental question in current astrophysics: is the IMF universal, or does it vary? Using our very deep, high angular…

In a probabilistic framework of the interpretation of the initial mass function (IMF), the IMF cannot be arbitrarily normalized to the total mass, M, or number of stars, N, of the system. Hence, the inference of M and N when partial…

The stellar initial mass function (IMF) is critical to our understanding of star formation and the effects of young stars on their environment. On large scales, it enables us to use tracers such as UV or Halpha emission to estimate the star…