The IMF in Extreme Star-Forming Environments: Searching for Variations vs. Initial Conditions

Astrophysics, abstract
astro-ph/0506327

From: Morten Andersen [view email]

Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2005 21:12:10 GMT   (60kb)

Any predictive theory of star formation must explain observed variations (or
lack thereof) in the initial mass function. Recent work suggests that we might
expect quantitative variations in the IMF as a function of metallicity (Larson
2005) or magnetic field strength (Shu et al. 2004). We summarize results from
several on-going studies attempting to constrain the ratio of high to low mass
stars, as well as stars to sub- stellar objects, in a variety of different
environments, all containing high mass stars.

First, we examine the ratio of stars to sub–stellar objects in the nearby
Mon R2 region utilizing NICMOS/HST data. We compare our results to the IMF by
Kroupa (2002)]} and to the observed ratios for IC 348 and Orion. Second, we
present preliminary results for the ratio of high to low mass stars in W51, the
most luminous HII region in the galaxy. Based on ground–based multi–colour
images of the cluster obtained with the MMT adaptive optics system, we derive a
lower limit to the ratio of high-mass to low-mass stars and compare it to the
ratios for nearby clusters.

Finally, we present the derived IMF for the R136 region in the LMC where the
metallicity is 1/4 solar using HST/NICMOS data. We find that the IMF is
consistent with that characterizing the field (Chabrier 2003), as well as
nearby star–forming regions, down to 1.0 Msun outside 2 pc. Whereas the
results for both Mon R2 and R136 are consistent with the nearby clusters, the
ratio of high to low mass stars in W51 tentatively indicates a lack of
low–mass objects.

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