Simultaneous measurement of low- and high-mass IMF slopes in 214 star-forming galaxies reveals diversity, weak correlation between ends, and links to stellar mass, star formation rate, and metallicity.
Dark Matter Contraction and the Stellar Content of Massive Early-type Galaxies: Disfavoring "Light" Initial Mass Functions
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abstract
We use stellar dynamics, strong lensing, stellar population synthesis models, and weak lensing shear measurements to constrain the dark matter (DM) profile and stellar mass in a sample of 53 massive early-type galaxies. We explore three DM halo models (unperturbed Navarro Frenk & White [NFW] halos and the adiabatic contraction models of Blumenthal and Gnedin) and impose a model for the relationship between the stellar and virial mass (i.e., a relationship for the star-formation efficiency as a function of halo mass). We show that, given our model assumptions, the data clearly prefer a Salpeter-like initial mass function (IMF) over a lighter IMF (e.g., Chabrier or Kroupa), irrespective of the choice of DM halo. In addition, we find that the data prefer at most a moderate amount of adiabatic contraction (Blumenthal adiabatic contraction is strongly disfavored) and are only consistent with no adiabatic contraction (i.e., a NFW halo) if a mass-dependent IMF is assumed, in the sense of a more massive normalization of the IMF for more massive halos.
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astro-ph.GA 2years
2026 2verdicts
UNVERDICTED 2representative citing papers
In 37 massive ETGs, the IMF becomes less bottom-heavy with radius, with average α_IMF falling from 2.16 to 1.74 and IMF gradients dominating M/L variations over stellar population effects.
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Hector Galaxy Survey: Linking the low- and high-mass ends of the initial mass function in star-forming galaxies
Simultaneous measurement of low- and high-mass IMF slopes in 214 star-forming galaxies reveals diversity, weak correlation between ends, and links to stellar mass, star formation rate, and metallicity.
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The MASSIVE SURVEY XXI: Local Variations in the Stellar Initial Mass Function of MASSIVE Early-Type Galaxies
In 37 massive ETGs, the IMF becomes less bottom-heavy with radius, with average α_IMF falling from 2.16 to 1.74 and IMF gradients dominating M/L variations over stellar population effects.