The DOI matches its Crossref record; 6 of the 6 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
A Universal Stellar Initial Mass Function? A Critical Look at Variations
Open accessAbstract
Whether the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is universal or is instead sensitive to environmental conditions is of critical importance: The IMF influences most observable properties of stellar populations and thus galaxies, and detecting variations in the IMF could provide deep insights into the star formation process. This review critically examines reports of IMF variations, with a view toward whether other explanations are sufficient given the evidence. Studies of the field, young clusters and associations, and old globular clusters suggest that the vast majority were drawn from a universal system IMF: a power law of Salpeter index (Γ = 1.35) above a few solar masses, and a log normal or shallower power law (Γ ∼ 0–0.25) for lower mass stars. The shape and universality of the substellar IMF is still under investigation. Observations of resolved stellar populations and the integrated properties of most galaxies are also consistent with a universal IMF, suggesting no gross variations over much of cosmic time. Indications of “nonstandard” IMFs in specific local and extragalactic environments clearly warrant further study. However, there is no clear evidence that the IMF varies strongly and systematically as a function of initial conditions after the first few generations of stars.
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Cites
Starburst99: Synthesis Models for Galaxies with Active Star Formation
Leitherer, C., Schaerer, D., Goldader, J. D., Delgado, R. M. G., Robert, C., Kune, D. F., de Mello, D. F., Devost, D., & Heckman, T. M. (1999) · The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series · doi:10.1086/313233 · Cited by 4,126
Maraston, C. (2005) · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2005.09270.x · Cited by 1,907 · cited 1×
“Alvensleben 2003; Maraston 2005) have been developed, which, when given an input IMF, can integrate evolutionary models as a function of star formation history to predict observed colors and luminosities.”
BackgroundThe Discovery and Analysis of Very Metal-Poor Stars in the Galaxy
Beers, T. C., & Christlieb, N. (2005) · Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics · doi:10.1146/annurev.astro.42.053102.134057 · Cited by 1,223
Ghez, A. M., Duchêne, G., Matthews, K., Hornstein, S. D., Tanner, A., Larkin, J., Morris, M., Becklin, E. E., Salim, S., Kremenek, T., et al. (2003) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1086/374804 · Cited by 717
The Two Young Star Disks in the Central Parsec of the Galaxy: Properties, Dynamics, and Formation
Paumard, T., Genzel, R., Martins, F., Nayakshin, S., Beloborodov, A. M., Levin, Y., Trippe, S., Eisenhauer, F., Ott, T., Gillessen, S., et al. (2006) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1086/503273 · Cited by 690
EVIDENCE FOR WARPED DISKS OF YOUNG STARS IN THE GALACTIC CENTER
Bartko, H., Martins, F., Fritz, T. K., Genzel, R., Levin, Y., Perets, H. B., Paumard, T., Nayakshin, S., Gerhard, O., Alexander, T., et al. (2009) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1088/0004-637x/697/2/1741 · Cited by 282
Cited by
Star Formation in the Milky Way and Nearby Galaxies
Kennicutt, R. C., & Evans, N. J. (2012) · Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics · doi:10.1146/annurev-astro-081811-125610 · Cited by 2,902
“Variations in the IMF with environment are plausible, but convincing evidence for variation remains elusive (Bastian et al. 2010).”
BackgroundBinary Interaction Dominates the Evolution of Massive Stars
Sana, H., de Mink, S. E., de Koter, A., Langer, N., Evans, C. J., Gieles, M., Gosset, E., Izzard, R. G., Le Bouquin, J.-B., & Schneider, F. R. N. (2012) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1223344 · Cited by 2,118
A HIGHLY CONSISTENT FRAMEWORK FOR THE EVOLUTION OF THE STAR-FORMING “MAIN SEQUENCE” FROM z ∼ 0-6
Speagle, J. S., Steinhardt, C. L., Capak, P. L., & Silverman, J. D. (2014) · The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series · doi:10.1088/0067-0049/214/2/15 · Cited by 1,646
Mass Loss: Its Effect on the Evolution and Fate of High-Mass Stars
Smith, N. (2014) · Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics · doi:10.1146/annurev-astro-081913-040025 · Cited by 1,042
“Inferences about the initial mass function (IMF; Bastian et al. 2010) and variation of the star-formation rate through cosmic time (Hopkins & Beacom 2006, Madau et al. 1998) hinge upon converting reprocessed massive star UV luminosity to a collective star-formation rate.”
BackgroundAstrophysics with the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna
Amaro-Seoane, P., Andrews, J., Arca Sedda, M., Askar, A., Baghi, Q., Balasov, R., Bartos, I., Bavera, S. S., Bellovary, J., Berry, C. P. L., et al. (2023) · Living Reviews in Relativity · doi:10.1007/s41114-022-00041-y · Cited by 609
Metadata
- Authors
- Bastian, N., Covey, K. R., & Meyer, M. R.
- Venue
- Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Publisher
- Annual Reviews
- Published
- 2010-08-01
- Volume
- 48
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 339-389
- ISSN
- 0066-4146 (ISSN-L)
- 1545-4282
- OpenAlex
- W2086095637
- Cited by
- 1,004
- References
- 6
- FWCI
- 8.83
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
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