Galaxies 09: Assembly, Gas Content and Star Formation History of Galaxies

Bruce Elmegreen
IBM T.J. Watson Research Center

Initial Mass Functions

A review of the stellar IMF will be presented, including recent ideas for changing IMFs in different locations and times. Protostellar clump mass functions will also be reviewed, with an assessment of their connection to the stellar IMF. Simulations and theories which reproduce the IMF will be discussed. ALMA will likely be the IMF instrument we have all been waiting for. It should be able to observe the last and densest phases of star formation in local regions, where the IMF is established, and through measurements of velocities, densities, ionization fractions and molecular abundances, determine the dominant processes for stellar assembly.

Return to the Conference Program