scholarly journals THE PANCHROMATIC HUBBLE ANDROMEDA TREASURY. IV. A PROBABILISTIC APPROACH TO INFERRING THE HIGH-MASS STELLAR INITIAL MASS FUNCTION AND OTHER POWER-LAW FUNCTIONS

2012 ◽  
Vol 762 (2) ◽  
pp. 123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel R. Weisz ◽  
Morgan Fouesneau ◽  
David W. Hogg ◽  
Hans-Walter Rix ◽  
Andrew E. Dolphin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Law ◽  
Probabilistic Approach ◽  
Mass Function ◽  
Initial Mass Function ◽  
High Mass ◽  
Initial Mass ◽  
Stellar Initial Mass Function

scholarly journals THE HIGH-MASS STELLAR INITIAL MASS FUNCTION IN M31 CLUSTERS

2015 ◽  
Vol 806 (2) ◽  
pp. 198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel R. Weisz ◽  
L. Clifton Johnson ◽  
Daniel Foreman-Mackey ◽  
Andrew E. Dolphin ◽  
Lori C. Beerman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Function ◽  
Initial Mass Function ◽  
High Mass ◽  
Initial Mass ◽  
Stellar Initial Mass Function

scholarly journals System initial mass function of the 25 Ori group from planetary-mass objects to intermediate/high-mass stars

2019 ◽  
Vol 486 (2) ◽  
pp. 1718-1740 ◽  
Author(s):  
Genaro Suárez ◽  
Juan José Downes ◽  
Carlos Román-Zúñiga ◽  
Miguel Cerviño ◽  
César Briceño ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Law ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Mass Range ◽  
Mass Function ◽  
Initial Mass Function ◽  
High Mass ◽  
Initial Mass ◽  
Formation Mechanisms ◽  
Stellar Association ◽  
Planetary Mass

Abstract The stellar initial mass function (IMF) is an essential input for many astrophysical studies but only in a few cases has it been determined over the whole cluster mass range, limiting the conclusions about its nature. The 25 Orionis group (25 Ori) is an excellent laboratory for investigating the IMF across the entire mass range of the population, from planetary-mass objects to intermediate/high-mass stars. We combine new deep optical photometry with optical and near-infrared data from the literature to select 1687 member candidates covering a 1.1° radius area in 25 Ori. With this sample we derived the 25 Ori system IMF from 0.012 to 13.1 M⊙. This system IMF is well described by a two-segment power law with Γ = −0.74 ± 0.04 for m < 0.4 M⊙ and Γ = 1.50 ± 0.11 for m ≥ 0.4 M⊙. It is also well described over the whole mass range by a tapered power-law function with Γ = 1.10 ± 0.09, mp = 0.31 ± 0.03 and β = 2.11 ± 0.09. The best lognormal representation of the system IMF has mc = 0.31 ± 0.04 and σ = 0.46 ± 0.05 for m < 1 M⊙. This system IMF does not present significant variations with the radii. We compared the resultant system IMF as well as the brown dwarf/star ratio of 0.16 ± 0.03 that we estimated for 25 Ori with that of other stellar regions with diverse conditions and found no significant discrepancies. These results support the idea that general star-formation mechanisms are probably not strongly dependent on environmental conditions. We found that the substellar and stellar objects in 25 Ori do not have any preferential spatial distributions and confirmed that 25 Ori is a gravitationally unbound stellar association.

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 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

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 Population synthesis from clustered star formation

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S262) ◽  
pp. 347-348
Author(s):  
M. R. Haas ◽  
P. Anders
Keyword(s):  
Power Law ◽  
Star Clusters ◽  
Mass Function ◽  
Initial Mass Function ◽  
High Mass ◽  
Initial Mass ◽  
Stellar Content ◽  
Exact Shape ◽  
Stellar Masses ◽  
Power Law Index

In recent years, a series of papers (Kroupa & Weidner 2003, Weidner & Kroupa 2004, Weidner & Kroupa 2005 and Weidner & Kroupa 2006, WK06 from now on) have proposed that the stellar content of an entire galaxy may not be well described by the same initial mass function (IMF) that describes the distribution of stellar masses in the star clusters, where these stars form. The reason is that star clusters also form with a cluster mass function (CMF), which is a power law with a power law index of ~−2. If the lowest mass clusters are of masses smaller than the physical upper mass limit for stars they will be deficient in high mass stars. Therefore, if the stellar content of all clusters is added together, making up the Integrated Galactic Initial Mass Function (IGIMF), the distribution of stellar masses may be steeper at the high mass end, depending on the exact shape of the CMF.

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