Implications of a Temperature-dependent Initial Mass Function. I. Photometric Template Fitting
Abstract
A universal stellar initial mass function (IMF) should not be expected from theoretical models of star formation, but little conclusive observational evidence for a variable IMF has been uncovered. In this paper, a parameterization of the IMF is introduced into photometric template fitting of the COSMOS2015 catalog. The resulting best-fit templates suggest systematic variations in the IMF, with most galaxies exhibiting top-heavier stellar populations than in the Milky Way. At fixed redshift, only a small range of IMFs are found, with the typical IMF becoming progressively top-heavier with increasing redshift. Additionally, subpopulations of ULIRGs, quiescent and star-forming galaxies are compared with predictions of stellar population feedback and show clear qualitative similarities to the evolution of dust temperatures.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- May 2022
- DOI:
- 10.3847/1538-4357/ac695e
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2205.11536
- Bibcode:
- 2022ApJ...931...57S
- Keywords:
-
- Galaxy evolution;
- Initial mass function;
- Stellar mass functions;
- 594;
- 796;
- 1612;
- Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies
- E-Print:
- Published in the 'The Astrophysical Journal'