%0 Generic %1 weidner2013galaxywide %A Weidner, Carsten %A Kroupa, Pavel %A Pflamm-Altenburg, Jan %A Vazdekis, Alexandre %D 2013 %K imf variation %T The galaxy-wide IMF of dwarf late-type to massive early-type galaxies %U http://arxiv.org/abs/1309.6634 %X Observational studies are showing that the galaxy-wide stellar initial mass function are top-heavy in galaxies with high star-formation rates (SFRs). Calculating the integrated galactic stellar initial mass function (IGIMF) as a function of the SFR of a galaxy, it follows that galaxies which have or which formed with SFRs > 10 Msol yr^-1 would have a top-heavy IGIMF in excellent consistency with the observations. Consequently and in agreement with observations, elliptical galaxies would have higher M/L ratios as a result of the overabundance of stellar remnants compared to a stellar population that formed with an invariant canonical stellar initial mass function (IMF). For the Milky Way, the IGIMF yields very good agreement with the disk- and the bulge-IMF determinations. Our conclusions are that purely stochastic descriptions of star formation on the scales of a pc and above are falsified. Instead, star formation follows the laws, stated here as axioms, which define the IGIMF theory. We also find evidence that the power-law index beta of the embedded cluster mass function decreases with increasing SFR. We propose further tests of the IGIMF theory through counting massive stars in dwarf galaxies.

@misc{weidner2013galaxywide, abstract = {Observational studies are showing that the galaxy-wide stellar initial mass function are top-heavy in galaxies with high star-formation rates (SFRs). Calculating the integrated galactic stellar initial mass function (IGIMF) as a function of the SFR of a galaxy, it follows that galaxies which have or which formed with SFRs > 10 Msol yr^-1 would have a top-heavy IGIMF in excellent consistency with the observations. Consequently and in agreement with observations, elliptical galaxies would have higher M/L ratios as a result of the overabundance of stellar remnants compared to a stellar population that formed with an invariant canonical stellar initial mass function (IMF). For the Milky Way, the IGIMF yields very good agreement with the disk- and the bulge-IMF determinations. Our conclusions are that purely stochastic descriptions of star formation on the scales of a pc and above are falsified. Instead, star formation follows the laws, stated here as axioms, which define the IGIMF theory. We also find evidence that the power-law index beta of the embedded cluster mass function decreases with increasing SFR. We propose further tests of the IGIMF theory through counting massive stars in dwarf galaxies.}, added-at = {2013-09-27T18:24:23.000+0200}, author = {Weidner, Carsten and Kroupa, Pavel and Pflamm-Altenburg, Jan and Vazdekis, Alexandre}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2d8d815cf4905de58f819bdeaf0e31193/miki}, description = {[1309.6634] The galaxy-wide IMF of dwarf late-type to massive early-type galaxies}, interhash = {4cfbcb104dc6635aa95617ecd88f500a}, intrahash = {d8d815cf4905de58f819bdeaf0e31193}, keywords = {imf variation}, note = {cite arxiv:1309.6634Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, 3 tables; accepted for publication by MNRAS}, timestamp = {2013-09-27T18:24:23.000+0200}, title = {The galaxy-wide IMF of dwarf late-type to massive early-type galaxies}, url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/1309.6634}, year = 2013 }