Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-mp689 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T16:53:59.756Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An Observational Perspective of the IMF: Progress and Challenges

Part of: IAU Issue 315 - From Interstellar Clouds...

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 September 2016

Stella S. R. Offner
Stella S. R. Offner*
Affiliation:
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA email: soffner@astro.umass.edu
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The stellar initial mass function (IMF) is a fundamental astrophysical quantity that impacts a wide range of astrophysical problems from heavy element distribution to galactic evolution to planetary system formation. However, the origin and universality of the IMF are hotly debated both observationally and theoretically. I review recent observations of the IMF across a variety of environments. These suggest the IMF is surprisingly invariant between star-forming regions, star clusters, and spiral galaxies but that it may also vary under extreme conditions, including within the Galactic center and early type galaxies.

Keywords

star formationstarsinitial mass function
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 11 , Symposium S315: From Interstellar Clouds to Star-Forming Galaxies: Universal Processes? , August 2015 , pp. 73 - 80
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2016 

References

Alves de Oliveira, C., Moraux, E., Bouvier, J., et al. 2013, A&A, 549, A123 Google Scholar
Baraffe, I., Vorobyov, E., & Chabrier, G. 2012, ApJ, 756, 118 Google Scholar
Bartko, H., Martins, F., Trippe, S., et al. 2010, ApJ, 708, 834 Google Scholar
Bastian, N., Covey, K. R., & Meyer, M. R. 2010, ARA&A, 48, 339 Google Scholar
Bochanski, J. J., Hawley, S. L., Covey, K. R., et al. 2010, AJ, 139, 2679 Google Scholar
Calamida, A., Sahu, K. C., Casertano, S., et al. 2015, ApJ, 810, 8 Google Scholar
Cappellari, M., McDermid, R. M., Alatalo, K., et al. 2012, Nature, 484, 485 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chabrier, G. 2003, ApJL, 586, L133 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chabrier, G. 2005, The Initial Mass Function 50 Years Later, 327, 41 Google Scholar
Conroy, C., Dutton, A. A., Graves, G. J., Mendel, J. T., & van Dokkum, P. G. 2013, ApJL, 776, L26 Google Scholar
Da Rio, N., Robberto, M., Hillenbrand, L. A., Henning, T., & Stassun, K. G. 2012, ApJ, 748, 14 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Marchi, G. & Paresce, F. 2001, Astronomische Gesellschaft Meeting Abstracts, 18, 551 Google Scholar
Duchêne, G. & Kraus, A. 2013, ARA&A, 51, 269 Google Scholar
Dutton, A. A., Mendel, J. T., & Simard, L. 2012, MNRAS, 422, L33 Google Scholar
Geha, M., Brown, T. M., Tumlinson, J., et al. 2013, ApJ, 771, 29 Google Scholar
Hosokawa, T., Offner, S. S. R., & Krumholz, M. R. 2011, ApJ, 738, 140 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kroupa, P. 2001, MNRAS, 322, 231 Google Scholar
Lu, J. R., Do, T., Ghez, A. M., et al. 2013, ApJ, 764, 155 Google Scholar
Luhman, K. L. 2012, ARA&A, 50, 65 Google Scholar
Maccarone, T. J. 2014, MNRAS, 442, L5 Google Scholar
Martín-Navarro, I., Barbera, F. L., Vazdekis, A., Falcón-Barroso, J., & Ferreras, I. 2015, MNRAS, 447, 1033 Google Scholar
McConnell, N. J., Lu, J. R., & Mann, A. W. 2015, arXiv:1506.07880Google Scholar
McDermid, R. M., Cappellari, M., Alatalo, K., et al. 2014, ApJL, 792, L37 Google Scholar
Nayakshin, S. & Sunyaev, R. 2005, MNRAS, 364, L23 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Offner, S. S. R., Clark, P. C., Hennebelle, P., et al. 2014, Protostars and Planets VI, 53Google Scholar
Peacock, M. B., Zepf, S. E., Maccarone, T. J., et al. 2014, ApJ, 784, 162 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salpeter, E. E. 1955, ApJ, 121, 161 Google Scholar
Shu, Y., Bolton, A. S., Brownstein, J. R., et al. 2015, ApJ, 803, 71 Google Scholar
Smith, R. J., Lucey, J. R., & Conroy, C. 2015, MNRAS, 449, 3441 Google Scholar
Smith, R. J. & Lucey, J. R. 2013, MNRAS, 434, 1964 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spiniello, C., Trager, S. C., Koopmans, L. V. E., & Chen, Y. P. 2012, ApJL, 753, L32 Google Scholar
Spiniello, C., Trager, S., Koopmans, L. V. E., & Conroy, C. 2014, MNRAS, 438, 1483 Google Scholar
Stassun, K. G., Scholz, A., Dupuy, T. J., & Kratter, K. M. 2014, ApJ, 796, 119 Google Scholar
Treu, T., Auger, M. W., Koopmans, L. V. E., et al. 2010, ApJ, 709, 1195 Google Scholar
van Dokkum, P. G. & Conroy, C. 2011, ApJL, 735, L13 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weisz, D. R., Johnson, L. C., Foreman-Mackey, D., et al. 2015, ApJ, 806, 198 Google Scholar
Wyse, R. F. G., Gilmore, G., Houdashelt, M. L., et al. 2002, NA, 7, 395 Google Scholar