A top-heavy stellar initial mass function in starbursts as an explanation for the high mass-to-light ratios of ultra-compact dwarf galaxies

Dabringhausen, J., Kroupa, P. and Baumgardt, H. (2009) A top-heavy stellar initial mass function in starbursts as an explanation for the high mass-to-light ratios of ultra-compact dwarf galaxies. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 394 3: 1529-1543.


Author Dabringhausen, J.
Kroupa, P.
Baumgardt, H.
Title A top-heavy stellar initial mass function in starbursts as an explanation for the high mass-to-light ratios of ultra-compact dwarf galaxies
Journal name Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society  (ERA 2012 Listed)    (ERA 2010 Rank A)   Check publisher's open access policy
Publication date 2009-04
Sub-type Article
DOI 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.14425.x
Volume number 394
Issue number 3
ISSN 0035-8711; 1365-2966
Start page 1529
End page 1543
Total pages 15
Place of publication Oxford, United Kingdom
Publisher Wiley-Blackwell
Language eng
Formatted abstract It has been recently shown that the dynamical V-band mass-to-light ratios of compact stellar systems with masses from 106 to 108M⊙ are not consistent with the predictions from simple stellar population models. Top-heavy stellar initial mass functions (IMFs) in these so-called ultra-compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs) offer an attractive explanation for this finding, the stellar remnants and retained stellar envelopes providing the unseen mass. We therefore construct a model which quantifies by how much the IMFs of UCDs would have to deviate in the intermediate- and high-mass range from the canonical IMF in order to account for the enhanced M/LV ratio of the UCDs. The deduced high-mass IMF in the UCDs depends on the age of the UCDs and the number of faint products of stellar evolution retained by them. Assuming that the IMF in the UCDs is a three-part power law equal to the canonical IMF in the low-mass range and taking 20 per cent as a plausible choice for the fraction of the remnants of high-mass stars retained by UCDs, the model suggests the exponent of the high-mass IMF to be ≈1.6 if the UCDs are 13 Gyr old (i.e. almost as old as the Universe) or ≈1.0 if the UCDs are 7 Gyr old, in contrast to 2.3 for the Salpeter–Massey IMF. If the IMF was as top heavy as suggested here, the stability of the UCDs might have been threatened by heavy mass loss induced by the radiation and evolution of massive stars. The central densities of UCDs must have been in the range 106 to 107M⊙ pc−3 when they formed with star formation rates of 10 to 100M⊙ yr−1.
Keyword Stars: luminosity function, mass function
Galaxies: dwarf
Galaxies: star clusters
Galaxies: stellar content
Q-Index Code C1
Q-Index Status Provisional Code
Institutional Status Non-UQ

Document type: Journal Article
Sub-type: Article
Collections: School of Mathematics and Physics
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