The Initial Mass Function 50 Years Later

Edvige Corbelli, Francesco Palla, Hans Zinnecker (Herausgeber)

Buch | Hardcover

551 Seiten

2005
Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
978-1-4020-3406-0 (ISBN)

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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.

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.

Reihe/Serie	Astrophysics and Space Science Library ; 327
Zusatzinfo	XX, 551 p.
Verlagsort	New York, NY
Sprache	englisch
Maße	156 x 232 mm
Themenwelt	Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie ► Astronomie / Astrophysik
Themenwelt	Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie ► Hochenergiephysik / Teilchenphysik
ISBN-10	1-4020-3406-7 / 1402034067
ISBN-13	978-1-4020-3406-0 / 9781402034060
Zustand	Neuware