The Local Stellar Initial Mass Function
| dc.creator | Kroupa, Pavel | |
| dc.date | 2000-11-17 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-07-07T01:56:33Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-07-07T01:56:33Z | |
| dc.description | This contribution describes the difficult task of inferring the IMF from local star-count data, by discussing the mass-luminosity relation, unresolved binary, triple and quadruple systems, abundance and age spreads and Galactic structure, all of which must be accounted for properly for the results to be meaningful. A consensus emerges that the local IMF may be represented by a two-part power-law, with indices alpha=1-1.5 for stars with mass m<0.5 Msun, and the Salpeter value alpha=2.3 for more massive stars, but some uncertainties remain. Notable is also that the sensitivity of the stellar luminosity function (LF) to the derivative of the mass-luminosity relation is very evident in the (local) Hipparcos and HST, open-cluster and globular-cluster LFs, thus allowing tests of stellar structure theory. The upcoming astrometry space missions DIVA and GAIA will undoubtedly lead to significant advances in this field. | |
| dc.description | 13 pages, 3 figures (figs.1 and 3 in colour), invited review for STAR2000: Dynamics of Star Clusters and the Milky Way, eds S. Deiters, R. Spurzem, et al., ASP Conf. Series, in press | |
| dc.identifier | https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0011328 | |
| dc.identifier | http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0011328 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/2043 | |
| dc.subject | Astrophysics | |
| dc.title | The Local Stellar Initial Mass Function | |
| dc.type | text |