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The Initial Mass Function 50 Years Later

  • Conference proceedings
  • © 2005

Overview

Editors:
  1. Edvige Corbelli

    1. INAF Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Firenze, Italy

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  2. Francesco Palla

    1. INAF Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Firenze, Italy

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  3. Hans Zinnecker

    1. Astrophysikalisches Potsdam, Germany

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  • Covers all aspects of the current research in this field, as testified by the large number of contributing scientists

Part of the book series: Astrophysics and Space Science Library (ASSL, volume 327)

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Table of contents (98 papers)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages I-XX
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  2. The IMF Concept Through

    1. Front Matter

      Pages I-XX
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    2. Introduction to IMF@50

      • Edwin E. Salpeter
      Pages 3-10

    3. ED, ME, and The Interstellar Medium

      • Steven V.W. Beckwith
      Pages 11-18

    4. The IMF Challenge - 25 Questions

      • Hans Zinnecker
      Pages 19-22

    5. Fifty Years of IMF Variation: The Intermediate-Mass Stars

      • John Scalo
      Pages 23-40

    6. The Initial Mass Function: From Salpeter 1955 to 2005

      • Gilles Chabrier
      Pages 41-50

  3. The IMF in Our Galaxy: Clusters and Field Stars

    1. Front Matter

      Pages I-XX
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    2. The Field IMF Across The H-Burning Limit

      • I. Neill Reid
      Pages 53-60

    3. The 0.03–10 M⊙Mass Function of Young Open Clusters

      • J. Bouvier, E. Moraux, J.R. Stauffer
      Pages 61-66

    4. The Time Spread of Star Formation in the Pleiades

      • John R. Stauffer
      Pages 67-72

    5. Age Spreads in Clusters and Associations: The Lithium Test

      • Francesco Palla, Sofia Randich
      Pages 73-74

    6. The Initial Mass Function of Three Galactic Open Clusters

      • L. Prisinzano, G. Micela, S. Sciortino, F. Favata, F. Damiani
      Pages 75-76

    7. The Stellar IMF of Galactic Clusters and Its Evolution

      • Guido De Marchi, Francesco Paresce, Simon Portegies Zwart
      Pages 77-82

    8. Two Stages of Star Formation in Globular Clusters and the IMF

      • Francesca D’Antona
      Pages 83-88

    9. The Stellar Initial Mass Function in The Galactic Center

      • Donald F. Figer
      Pages 89-94

    10. The Initial Mass Function in the Galactic Bulge

      • Manuela Zoccali
      Pages 95-100

    11. Halo Mass Function

      • Wolfgang Brandner
      Pages 101-106

  4. The IMF in Our Galaxy: Star Forming Regions

    1. Front Matter

      Pages I-XX
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    2. Embedded Clusters and the IMF

      • Charles J. Lada
      Pages 109-114
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Keywords

About this book

Theideatocelebrate50yearsoftheSalpeterIMFoccurredduringtherecent IAU General Assembly in Sydney, Australia. Indeed, it was from Australia that in July 1954 Ed Salpeter submitted his famous paper "The Luminosity Function and Stellar Evolution" with the rst derivation of the empirical stellar IMF. This contribution was to become one of the most famous astrophysics papers of the last 50 years. Here, Ed Salpeter introduced the terms "original mass function" and "original luminosity function", and estimated the pro- bility for the creation of stars of given mass at a particular time, now known as the "Salpeter Initial Mass Function", or IMF. The paper was written at the Australian National University in Canberra on leave of absence from Cornell University (USA) and was published in 1955 as 7 page note in the Astroph- ical Journal Vol. 121, page 161. To celabrate the 50th anniversary of the IMF, along with Ed Salpeter’s 80th birthday, we have organized a special meeting that brought together scientists involved in the empirical determination of this fundamental quantity in a va- ety of astrophysical contexts and other scientists fascinated by the deep imp- cations of the IMF on star formation theories, on the physical conditions of the gas before and after star formation, and on galactic evolution and cosmology. The meeting took place in one of the most beautiful spots of the Tuscan countryside, far from the noise and haste of everyday life.

Editors and Affiliations

  • INAF Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Firenze, Italy

    Edvige Corbelli, Francesco Palla

  • Astrophysikalisches Potsdam, Germany

    Hans Zinnecker

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