scholarly journals The role of interstellar filaments in the origin of the stellar initial mass function: Insights from Herschel observations

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (A29B) ◽  
pp. 708-708
Author(s):  
Philippe André ◽  
Vera Könyves ◽  
Arabindo Roy ◽  
Doris Arzoumanian
Keyword(s):  
Power Law ◽  
Gravitational Instability ◽  
Mass Function ◽  
Mass Scale ◽  
Initial Mass Function ◽  
Initial Mass ◽  
Critical Threshold ◽  
Stellar Initial Mass Function ◽  
The Imf

AbstractThe origin of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is one of the most debated issues in astrophysics. Two major features of the IMF are 1) a fairly robust power-law slope at the high-mass end (Salpeter 1955), and 2) a broad peak around ~ 0.3 M⊙ corresponding to a characteristic stellar mass scale (cf. Elmegreen et al. 2008). In recent years, the dominant theoretical model proposed to account for these features has been the “gravo-turbulent fragmentation” picture (e.g., Hennebelle & Chabrier 2008; Hopkins 2012) whereby the properties of interstellar turbulence lead to the Salpeter power law and gravity sets the characteristic mass scale (Jeans mass). We discuss modifications to this picture based on extensive submillimeter continuum imaging observations of nearby molecular clouds with the Herschel Space Observatory which emphasize the importance of filamentary geometry (André et al. 2010; Könyves et al. 2015). The Herschel results point to the key role of the quasi-universal filamentary structure pervading the cold interstellar medium and support a scenario in which star formation occurs in two main steps (cf. André et al. 2014): first, the dissipation of kinetic energy in large-scale turbulent MHD flows generates ~ 0.1 pc-wide filaments (Arzoumanian et al. 2011) in the cold ISM; second, the densest filaments grow and fragment into prestellar cores (and ultimately protostars) by gravitational instability above a critical threshold ~ 16 M⊙/pc in mass per unit length or ~ 160 M⊙/pc2 in gas surface density (AV ∼ 8). In our observationally-driven scenario, the dense cores making up the peak of the prestellar core mass function (CMF) - likely responsible for the peak of the IMF - result from gravitational fragmentation of filaments near the critical threshold for global gravitational instability. The power-law tail of the CMF/IMF arises from the growth of the Kolmogorov-like power spectrum of initial density fluctuations [P(k) ∝ k−1.6±0.3] measured along Herschel filaments (Roy et al. 2015), in agreement with the model by Inutsuka (2001), and from the power-law distribution of line masses observed for supercritical filaments.

scholarly journals Fragmentation and the Initial Mass Function

1989 ◽  
Vol 120 ◽  
pp. 44-55
Author(s):  
Richard B. Larson
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Power Law ◽  
Mass Function ◽  
Initial Mass Function ◽  
Initial Mass ◽  
Solar Mass ◽  
Universal Feature ◽  
Basic Features ◽  
The Imf

A central problem in the theory of star formation is to understand the spectrum of masses, or Initial Mass Function, with which stars are formed. The fundamental role of the IMF in galactic evolution has been described by Tinsley (1980), and an extensive review of evidence concerning the IMF and its possible variability has been presented by Scalo (1986). Although the IMF derived from the observations is subject to many uncertainties, two basic features seem reasonably well established. One is that the typical stellar mass, defined such that equal amounts of matter condense into stars above and below this mass, is within a factor of 3 of one solar mass. A theory of star formation should therefore be able to explain why most stars are formed with masses of order one solar mass. The second apparently universal feature is that the IMF for relatively massive stars can be approximated by a power law with a slope not greatly different from that originally proposed by Salpeter (1955). Thus we also need to understand why the IMF always has a similar power-law tail toward higher masses.

scholarly journals Variation in the Stellar Initial Mass Function from the Chromospheric Activity of M Dwarfs in Early-type Galaxies

2021 ◽  
Vol 923 (1) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Pieter van Dokkum ◽  
Charlie Conroy
Keyword(s):  
Mass Function ◽  
Initial Mass Function ◽  
Initial Mass ◽  
Early Type ◽  
M Dwarfs ◽  
Low Mass Stars ◽  
Chromospheric Activity ◽  
Stellar Initial Mass Function ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
The Imf

Abstract Mass measurements and absorption-line studies indicate that the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is bottom-heavy in the central regions of many early-type galaxies, with an excess of low-mass stars compared to the IMF of the Milky Way. Here we test this hypothesis using a method that is independent of previous techniques. Low-mass stars have strong chromospheric activity characterized by nonthermal emission at short wavelengths. Approximately half of the UV flux of M dwarfs is contained in the λ1215.7 Lyα line, and we show that the total Lyα emission of an early-type galaxy is a sensitive probe of the IMF with a factor of ∼2 flux variation in response to plausible variations in the number of low-mass stars. We use the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope to measure the Lyα line in the centers of the massive early-type galaxies NGC 1407 and NGC 2695. We detect Lyα emission in both galaxies and demonstrate that it originates in stars. We find that the Lyα to i-band flux ratio is a factor of 2.0 ± 0.4 higher in NGC 1407 than in NGC 2695, in agreement with the difference in their IMFs as previously determined from gravity-sensitive optical absorption lines. Although a larger sample of galaxies is required for definitive answers, these initial results support the hypothesis that the IMF is not universal but varies with environment.

scholarly journals Stellar velocity dispersion and initial mass function gradients in dissipationless galaxy mergers

2020 ◽  
Vol 499 (1) ◽  
pp. 559-572
Author(s):  
Carlo Nipoti ◽  
Carlo Cannarozzo ◽  
Francesco Calura ◽  
Alessandro Sonnenfeld ◽  
Tommaso Treu
Keyword(s):  
Velocity Dispersion ◽  
Mass Function ◽  
Initial Mass Function ◽  
Initial Mass ◽  
Galaxy Mergers ◽  
Orbital Parameters ◽  
Spatially Resolved ◽  
Stellar Velocity ◽  
Stellar Initial Mass Function ◽  
The Imf

ABSTRACT The stellar initial mass function (IMF) is believed to be non-universal among early-type galaxies (ETGs). Parametrizing the IMF with the so-called IMF mismatch parameter αIMF, which is a measure of the stellar mass-to-light ratio of an ensemble of stars and thus of the ‘heaviness’ of its IMF, one finds that for ETGs αe (i.e. αIMF integrated within the effective radius Re) increases with σe (the line-of-sight velocity dispersion σlos integrated within Re) and that, within the same ETG, αIMF tends to decrease outwards. We study the effect of dissipationless (dry) mergers on the distribution of the IMF mismatch parameter αIMF in ETGs using the results of binary major and minor merging simulations. We find that dry mergers tend to make the αIMF profiles of ETGs shallower, but do not alter significantly the shape of the distributions in the spatially resolved σlos–αIMF space. Individual galaxies undergoing dry mergers tend to decrease their αe, due to erosion of αIMF gradients and mixing with stellar populations with lighter IMF. Their σe can either decrease or increase, depending on the merging orbital parameters and mass ratio, but tends to decrease for cosmologically motivated merging histories. The αe–σe relation can vary with redshift as a consequence of the evolution of individual ETGs: based on a simple dry-merging model, ETGs of given σe are expected to have higher αe at higher redshift, unless the accreted satellites are so diffuse that they contribute negligibly to the inner stellar distribution of the merger remnant.

scholarly journals Some processes influencing the stellar initial mass function

1991 ◽  
Vol 147 ◽  
pp. 261-273
Author(s):  
Richard B. Larson
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrum ◽  
Power Law ◽  
Massive Stars ◽  
Mass Function ◽  
Stellar Mass ◽  
Initial Mass Function ◽  
Initial Mass ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Solar Mass ◽  
Stellar Initial Mass Function

Current evidence suggests that the stellar initial mass function has the same basic form everywhere, and that its fundamental features are (1) the existence of a characteristic stellar mass of order one solar mass, and (2) the existence of an apparently universal power-law form for the mass spectrum of the more massive stars. The characteristic stellar mass may be determined in part by the typical mass scale for the fragmentation of star forming clouds, which is predicted to be of the order of one solar mass. The power-law extension of the mass spectrum toward higher masses may result from the continuing accretional growth of some stars to much larger masses; the fact that the most massive stars appear to form preferentially in cluster cores suggests that such continuing accretion may be particularly important at the centers of clusters. Numerical simulations suggest that forming systems of stars may tend to develop a hierarchical structure, possibly self-similar in nature. If most stars form in such hierarchically structured systems, and if the mass of the most massive star that forms in each subcluster increases as a power of the mass of the subcluster, then a mass spectrum of power-law form is predicted. Some possible physical effects that could lead to such a relation are briefly discussed, and some observational tests of the ideas discussed here are proposed.

scholarly journals Wolf-Rayet Galaxies in SDSS-IV MaNGA. II. Metallicity Dependence of the High-mass Slope of the Stellar Initial Mass Function

2021 ◽  
Vol 923 (1) ◽  
pp. 120
Author(s):  
Fu-Heng Liang ◽  
Cheng Li ◽  
Niu Li ◽  
Shuang Zhou ◽  
Renbin Yan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Function ◽  
Initial Mass Function ◽  
High Mass ◽  
Initial Mass ◽  
Spectral Fitting ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Bayesian Evidence ◽  
Stellar Initial Mass Function ◽  
Binary Evolution ◽  
The Imf

Abstract As hosts of living high-mass stars, Wolf-Rayet (WR) regions or WR galaxies are ideal objects for constraining the high-mass end of the stellar initial mass function (IMF). We construct a large sample of 910 WR galaxies/regions that cover a wide range of stellar metallicity (from Z ∼ 0.001 to 0.03) by combining three catalogs of WR galaxies/regions previously selected from the SDSS and SDSS-IV/MaNGA surveys. We measure the equivalent widths of the WR blue bump at ∼4650 Å for each spectrum. They are compared with predictions from stellar evolutionary models Starburst99 and BPASS, with different IMF assumptions (high-mass slope α of the IMF ranging from 1.0 to 3.3). Both singular evolution and binary evolution are considered. We also use a Bayesian inference code to perform full spectral fitting to WR spectra with stellar population spectra from BPASS as fitting templates. We then make a model selection among different α assumptions based on Bayesian evidence. These analyses have consistently led to a positive correlation of the IMF high-mass slope α with stellar metallicity Z, i.e., with a steeper IMF (more bottom-heavy) at higher metallicities. Specifically, an IMF with α = 1.00 is preferred at the lowest metallicity (Z ∼ 0.001), and an Salpeter or even steeper IMF is preferred at the highest metallicity (Z ∼ 0.03). These conclusions hold even when binary population models are adopted.

scholarly journals Observations of clusters with ages from 0.01 to 1.0 Gyr in the Large Magellanic Cloud

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (S252) ◽  
pp. 121-122
Author(s):  
Q. Liu ◽  
R. de Grijs ◽  
L. C. Deng ◽  
Y. Hu ◽  
I. Baraffe
Keyword(s):  
Time Scale ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Mass Function ◽  
Large Magellanic Cloud ◽  
Magellanic Cloud ◽  
Initial Mass Function ◽  
Initial Mass ◽  
Evolutionary Stage ◽  
Stellar Initial Mass Function ◽  
The Imf

AbstractThe stellar initial mass function (IMF) is a very important question in modern astrophysics. Globular clusters (GCs) are good samples for studying the IMF, but the Galactic GCs can provide only one time-scale evolutionary stage. The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is an ideal environment for studying the IMF because it contains compact clusters at different evolutionary stages. By studying the IMF at different evolutionary stages, we can see how the mass function evolves with time.

scholarly journals A dual power-law distribution for the stellar initial mass function

2018 ◽  
Vol 478 (2) ◽  
pp. 2113-2118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl Heinz Hoffmann ◽  
Christopher Essex ◽  
Shantanu Basu ◽  
Janett Prehl
Keyword(s):  
Power Law ◽  
Mass Function ◽  
Initial Mass Function ◽  
Initial Mass ◽  
Power Law Distribution ◽  
Stellar Initial Mass Function ◽  
Dual Power
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