Mass Segregation in Star Clusters in the LMC HST/WFPC2 Observations

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) provides a unique laboratory for the study of the star-formation process, because of its large sample of young stellar systems, such as stellar associations (e.g. Hodge) and young compact star clusters (e.g. van den Bergh). Mass segregation nowadays is a well known phenomenon, which manifests itself as a strong concentration of the heaviest stars towards the centre of the cluster, and recent investigations have shown that even young star clusters in the Magellanic Clouds (MCs) exhibit this phenomenon (e.g. Kontizas et al.; Fischer et al.; Kontizas et al.; Santiago et al.; de Grijs et al.; Sirianni et al.; Gouliermis et al.). A large set of young and old clusters observed with HST has been selected for this study. Preliminary results are given for NGC 1916 an old cluster with age 2×10⁸yr, in which mass segregation is detected from its Mass Function. The continuation of this study will determine in a definite manner which is the origin for this phenomenon (primordial or dynamical evolution).