The Initial Mass Function 50 Years Later

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.

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

Autorentext
Francesco Palla is a senior astronomer at the INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, in Florence, Italy. His collaboration with Steven Stahler began at Cornell University, where he worked as an ESA fellow. His research interests include both observational and theoretical aspects of the interstellar medium and star formation.

Klappentext

The Book contains the proceedings of a Conference intended to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the IMF concept by Ed Salpeter along with Ed Salpeter's 80th birthday.
It summarizes a vast amounts of information, and updates the Herstmonceux book on the IMF,(eds. Howell and Gilmore, 1998 - ASP publ).
The book collects many long reviews on IMF determinations in the Galaxy, in galaxies, and in the Early Universe as well as deep implications of the IMF on star formation theories and on the physical conditions of the gas before and after star formation. It provides basic information needed for the coverage of these important quantities in graduate courses of Stellar Evolution, Star Formation, Interstellar Medium, Galactic Dynamics, Formation and Evolution of Galaxies.
The book covers all aspects of the current researches in this field, as testified by the large number of contributing scientists.

Inhalt

From the contents

Preface.- List of Participants.- The IMF Concept through Time.- The IMF in our Galaxy: Clusters and field stars.- The IMF in our Galaxy: Star Forming Regions.- The Extragalactic IMF.- The Origin of the IMF: Atomic and Molecular Gas Tracers.- The Origin of the IMF: Cloud Fragmentation and Collapse.- The Origin of the IMF: From Gas to Stars.- The "Initial" IMF.- Chuzpah Talks.- Author Index.