Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Stars – Initial mass function'
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Bressert, Eli Walter. "The initial distribution of stars." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10036/3890.
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The primary focus of my PhD is to quantify the spatial distribution of star-forming environments from optical to radio wavelengths using data from the Hubble Space Telescope, the Very Large Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope, the Herschel Space Observatory, and the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory. Towards the end of my PhD study I have developed theoretical models. With these observational and theoretical avenues I have led a series of research projects to (1) quantify the initial spatial structure of pre-stellar cores and proto-stars, (2) test whether massive stars can form in isolation or not, (3) and develop a theoretical model on how young massive clusters form. These research projects have been fruitful as my collaborators and I have shown that pre-stellar cores and stars form in a smooth continuum of surface densities from a few to thousands of stars per pc^2. These two works have important implications on our understanding of what a young stellar cluster is and how star forming environments can evolve to form field star populations or gravitationally bound clusters. In my second study my collaborators and I found evidence for isolated massive star formation in the active star forming region 30 Doradus, in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The result impacts the field of the initial mass function and star formation models. Massive stars forming in isolation is consistent with a stochastically sampled initial mass function. Additionally, the result would put constraints on theoretical models on massive star formation. Continuing my work on massive star forming environments my collaborators and I have developed a theoretical model on how young massive clusters form. From the models we argue that feedback energies can be contained by the gravitational potential well of the massive progenitors. Furthermore, we predict the physical properties the massive cluster progenitors in terms of initial gas mass, radii and flux brightness to enable a search for these objects in Galactic plane surveys and upcoming telescopes. Using the common thread of spatial distribution analysis of star formation I describe my future research plans, which entails studies on extragalactic scales in the conclusion.
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Thompson, Simon. "Low mass stars, brown dwarfs and the initial mass function in Cepheus OB3b." Thesis, Keele University, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.288434.
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Luhman, Kevin Lee 1971. "Low-mass star formation and the initial mass function in young clusters." Diss., The University of Arizona, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/288884.
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I have used optical and near-infrared spectroscopy and imaging to measure spectral types and luminosities for young (τ < 10 Myr), embedded (Aᵥ = 0-50), low-mass (0.1-1 M(⊙)) stars in three nearby (d < 300 pc) clusters: L1495E, IC 348, and ρ Ophiuchi. In conjunction with theoretical evolutionary tracks, I have derived the star formation history and initial mass function for each stellar population. A large number of brown dwarf candidates have been identified in the photometry, several of which are confirmed through spectroscopy. Finally, I have measured the frequency and survival times of circumstellar disks and investigated the photometric and spectroscopic properties of protostars. In § 2, I apply observational tests to the available sets of evolutionary models for low-mass stars, concluding that the calculations of D'Antona & Mazzitelli are preferred for the range of masses and ages considered here. In § 3 and § 4, I examine in detail the spectroscopic characteristics and substellar nature of two brown dwarf candidates. The study then expands to include the populations within the clusters L1495E (§ 5), IC 348 (§ 6), and ρ Ophiuchi (§ 7). In § 8, I briefly discuss the past, present, and future of scientific research related to this thesis.
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Selman, Fernando Javier Scoville Nicholas Zabriskie. "The initial mass function and star-formation history in the 30 Doradus super-association /." Diss., Pasadena, Calif. : California Institute of Technology, 2004. http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechETD:etd-05122004-130955.
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Jones, Michael Oliver. "The role of protostellar heating in star formation." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10871/34560.
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Previous studies have shown that thermal feedback from protostars plays a key role in the process of low-mass star formation. In this thesis, we explore the effects of protostellar heating on the formation of stellar clusters. We describe new methods for modelling protostellar accretion luminosities and protostellar evolution in calculations of star formation. We then present results of a series of numerical simulations of stellar cluster formation which include these effects, and examine their impact. We begin by investigating the dependence of stellar properties on the initial density of molecular clouds. We find that the dependence of the median stellar mass on the initial density of the cloud is weaker than the dependence of the thermal Jeans mass when radiative effects are included. We suggest that including protostellar accretion luminosities and protostellar evolution may weaken this dependence further, and may account for the observed invariance of the median stellar mass in Galactic star-forming regions. Next, we investigate the effects of including accretion feedback from sink particles on the formation of small stellar groups. We find that including accretion feedback in calculations suppresses fragmentation even further than calculations that only include radiative transfer within the gas. Including feedback also produces a higher median stellar mass, which is insensitive to the sink particle accretion radius used. Finally, we compare calculations of small stellar clusters which model the evolution of protostars using a live stellar model with those which use a fixed stellar structure. We find that the dynamics of the clusters are primarily determined by the accretion luminosities of protostars, but that the relative effects of protostellar evolution depend on the accretion rate and advection of energy into the protostar. We also demonstrate how such calculations may be used to study the properties of young stellar populations.
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Burgess, Andrew. "Exploration de la fonction de faible masse initiale dans les amas jeunes et les r ´egions de formation stellaire." Phd thesis, Université de Grenoble, 2010. http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00576460.
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La détermination de l'extrémité inférieure de la fonction de masse initiale (FMI) prévoit de fortes contraintes sur les théories de la formation des étoiles. IC4665 est un amas d'´étoile jeune (30Myr) et il a situe 356pc de la Terre. L'extinction est Av~ 0.59 ± 0.15 mag. WIRCam Y, J, H et K observations ont été faites par le CFHT et a comprise 10 champs (de 1.1sq.deg totale) et deux zones de contrle de 20'x20' chacun. Diagrammes couleur/magnitude et couleur/couleur ont été utilisées pour comparer les candidats sélectionnées par les modèles BT-SETTL 30 et 50Myr. Les images CH4off et CH4on ont été obtenus avec CFHT/WIRCam plus 0.11 sq.deg. dans IC348. Naines-T ont ensuite été identifiés à partir de leur couleur de 1.69μm d'absorption du méthane et trois candidats nain-T ont été trouvée avec CH4on−CH4 >0.4 mag. Extinction a été estimée à Av~ 5 − 12 mag. Les comparaisons avec les naines-T modèles, et des diagrammes couleur/couleur et magnitude, rejeter 2 entre 3 candidats en raison de leur extrême z′ − J coleur. L'objet reste n'est pas considéré comme un nain avant l'amas en raison d'un argument de densité en nombre ou l'extinction forte Av~ 12 mag, ni d'être un champ de fond nain-T qui serait devrait être beaucoup plus faible. Les modèles et les schémas de donner cet objet un type T6 préliminaires spectrale. Avec un peu de la masse de Jupiter, ce jeune candidat nain-T est potentiellement parmi les plus jeunes, des objets de masse plus faible détectée dans une région de formation d'´étoiles `a ce jour. Sa fréquence est conforme à l'extrapolation du courant lognormal FMI estime `a au domaine de masse planétaire.
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Faimali, Alessandro Daniele. "The history and rate of star formation within the G305 complex." Thesis, University of Hertfordshire, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/2299/13732.
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Within this thesis, we present an extended multiwavelength analysis of the rich massive Galactic star-forming complex G305. We have focused our attention on studying the both the embedded massive star-forming population within G305, while also identifying the intermediate-, to lowmass content of the region also. Though massive stars play an important role in the shaping and evolution of their host galaxies, the physics of their formation still remains unclear. We have therefore set out to studying the nature of star formation within this complex, and also identify the impact that such a population has on the evolution of G305. We firstly present a Herschel far-infrared study towards G305, utilising PACS 70, 160 μm and SPIRE 250, 350, and 500 μm observations from the Hi-GAL survey of the Galactic plane. The focus of this study is to identify the embedded massive star-forming population within G305, by combining far-infrared data with radio continuum, H2O maser, methanolmaser,MIPS, and Red MSX Source survey data available from previous studies. From this sample we identify some 16 candidate associations are identified as embedded massive star-forming regions, and derive a two-selection colour criterion from this sample of log(F70/F500)! 1 and log(F160/F350)! 1.6 to identify an additional 31 embedded massive star candidates with no associated starformation tracers. Using this result, we are able to derive a star formation rate (SFR) of 0.01 - 0.02 M! yr−1. Comparing this resolved star formation rate, to extragalactic star formation rate tracers (based on the Kennicutt-Schmidt relation), we find the star formation activity is underestimated by a factor of !2 in comparison to the SFR derived from the YSO population. By next combining data available from 2MASS and VVV, Spitzer GLIMPSE and MIPSGAL, MSX, and Herschel Hi-GAL, we are able to identify the low-, to intermediate-mass YSOs present within the complex. Employing a series of stringent colour selection criteria and fitting reddened stellar atmosphere models, we are able remove a significant amount of contaminating sources from our sample, leaving us with a highly reliable sample of some 599 candidate YSOs. From this sample, we derive a present-day SFR of 0.005±0.001M! yr−1, and find the YSOmass function (YMF) of G305 to be significantly steeper than the standard Salpeter-Kroupa IMF. We find evidence of mass segregation towards G305, with a significant variation of the YMF both with the active star-forming region, and the outer region. The spatial distribution, and age gradient, of our 601 candidate YSOs also seem to rule out the scenario of propagating star formation within G305, with a more likely scenario of punctuated star formation over the lifetime of the complex.
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Canameras, R., N. P. H. Nesvadba, R. Kneissl, M. Limousin, R. Gavazzi, D. Scott, H. Dole, et al. "Planck's dusty GEMS III. A massive lensing galaxy with a bottom-heavy stellar initial mass function at z=1.5." EDP SCIENCES S A, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/624365.
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We study the properties of the foreground galaxy of the Ruby, the brightest gravitationally lensed high-redshift galaxy on the sub-millimeter sky as probed by the Planck satellite, and part of our sample of Planck's dusty GEMS. The Ruby consists of an Einstein ring of 1.4" diameter at z = 3.005 observed with ALMA at 0.1" resolution, centered on a faint, red, massive lensing galaxy seen with HST/WFC3, which itself has an exceptionally high redshift, z = 1.525 +/- 0.001, as confirmed with VLT/X-shooter spectroscopy. Here we focus on the properties of the lens and the lensing model obtained with LENSTOOL. The rest-frame optical morphology of this system is strongly dominated by the lens, while the Ruby itself is highly obscured, and contributes less than 10% to the photometry out to the K band. The foreground galaxy has a lensing mass of (3.70 +/- 0.35) x 10(11) M-Theta Magnification factors are between 7 and 38 for individual clumps forming two image families along the Einstein ring. We present a decomposition of the foreground and background sources in the WFC3 images, and stellar population synthesis modeling with a range of star-formation histories for Chabrier and Salpeter initial mass functions (IMFs). Only the stellar mass range obtained with the latter agrees well with the lensing mass. This is consistent with the bottom-heavy IMFs of massive high-redshift galaxies expected from detailed studies of the stellar masses and mass profiles of their low-redshift descendants, and from models of turbulent gas fragmentation. This may be the first direct constraint on the IMF in a lens at z = 1.5, which is not a cluster central galaxy.
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Lyo, A.-Ran Physical Environmental & Mathematical Sciences Australian Defence Force Academy UNSW. "The nearby young [special character] Chamaeleontis cluster as a laboratory for star formation and evolution." Awarded by:University of New South Wales - Australian Defence Force Academy. School of Physical, Environmental and Mathematical Sciences, 2004. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/38707.
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[Special characters cannot be displayed. Please see the pdf version of the Abstract for an accurate reproduction.] We studied the circumstellar discs, the initial mass function (IMF), mass distribution, binarity and the fundamental properties of the [special character] 9 Myr-old pre-main sequence (PMS) [special character] Chamaeleontis cluster. Using JHKL colour-colour and colour-excess diagrams, we found the circumstellar disc fraction to be [special character] 0.60 among the late-type members. Four stars with [special character] (K - L) > 0.4 were identified as experiencing ongoing accretion which was later confirmed by high-resolution spectroscopic study. Quantitative analysis of the H[special character] profiles found accretion in these four stars at rates comparable to that of two members of the similarly-aged TW Hydrae Association (TWA); rates 1 - 3 orders of magnitude lower than in younger classical T Tauri stars. Together these results suggest that, while the mass accretion rate decreases with age, PMS stars can retain their inner discs for [special character] 10 Myr. An optical photometric survey spanning 1.3 ?? 1.3 pc added two low-mass stars to the cluster inventory. Together with other recent surveys the population is likely to be significantly complete for primaries with masses M > 0.15M[special character]. The cluster now consists of 18 primaries and 9 confirmed and candidate secondaries, with [special character] 2-4 times higher multiplicity than seen in field dwarfs. The cluster IMF is consistent with that of rich young clusters and field stars. By extending the IMF to lower masses, we predict 20-29 low-mass stars and brown dwarfs may remain undiscovered. From study of the cluster???s spatial and mass distribution, we find the [special character] Cha cluster has significant mass segregation, with > 50 per cent of the stellar mass residing within the central 0.17 pc. Lastly we classified members of the cluster with low-resolution spectra, providing information about the fundamental properties of the PMS stars by comparison to standard dwarfs. Broadband VRI colours and pseudocontinuum indices derived for the cluster stars are indistinguishable from dwarfs at visual and red wavelengths. This suggests the temperature sequence for the PMS [special character] Cha cluster is similar to that of the dwarf sequence. Narrow-band spectral indices for the [special character] Cha cluster possibly indicate higher metallicity and strongly indicate lower surface gravity than the dwarf indices.
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Mor, Crespo Roger. "The star formation history and the stellar initial mass function of the Milky Way disc. The population synthesis Besançon Galaxy Model in the Gaia era." Doctoral thesis, Universitat de Barcelona, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/667482.
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AIMS:
We develop a new theoretical framework to generate Besançon Galaxy Model Fast Approximate Simulations (BGM FASt) to address fundamental questions of the Galactic structure and evolution performing multi-parameter inference. The flexibility of BGM FASt allows the inference of fundamental parameters related to the stellar initial mass function (IMF), the star formation history (SFH), the density distribution, the kinematics and the chemo-dynamics, among others. BGM FASt allows the study of different Milky Way (MW) components. In this thesis we are focused in a first application of our strategy to simultaneously infer the IMF and the SFH of the MW disc.
METHOD:
BGM FASt is based on a reweighing scheme, that uses a specific pre-sampled simulation. We use BGM FASt together with an approximate Bayesian computation algorithm to obtain the posterior probability distribution function of the inferred parameters, by automatically comparing synthetic versus observed data. Our full strategy is codified to run on Apache Spark and Hadoop, suited to deal with large surveys. BGM FASt is implemented in the big data infrastructure known as Gaia Data Analytics Framework (GDAF) at the University of Barcelona.
To evaluate the performance of BGM FASt we execute a set of validation tests comparing density, colour, mass and age distributions of BGM FASt versus BGM standard simulations. We present two scientific cases that compare synthetic versus Tycho-2 colour-magnitude diagrams. We obtain for the first time using BGM an IMF and SFH of the thin disc by exploring a 6-Dimensional parameter space.
We use Gaia data-release 2 magnitudes, colours, and parallaxes for stars with G<12 to explore a parameter space with 15 dimensions. This includes simultaneously the IMF and, for the first time, a non-parametric SFH for the Galactic disc.
RESULTS:
The set of tests applied show a very good agreement between equivalent simulations performed with BGM FASt and standard BGM. It has resulted to be 10000 times faster. We demonstrate it is a very valuable tool to perform multi-parameter inference using large catalogues. The two scientific demonstration cases of our strategy applied to Tyhco-2 data gives us, for the first time using BGM, a full 6D posterior probability distribution function of the parameters involved in the IMF and the SFH of the thin disc component.
Using Gaia DR2 we find an imprint of a star formation burst 2-3 Gyr ago in the Galactic thin disc domain. Our results show a decreasing trend followed by a Star Formation Rate (SFR) enhancement starting at about 5 Gyr ago and continuing until about 1 Gyr ago. This enhancement is detected with high statistical significance by discarding the null hypothesis of an exponential SFH. The timescale and the amount of stellar mass generated during this SFR enhancement event lead us to hypothesise that its origin, currently under investigation, is not intrinsic to the disc. When we adopt a non-parametric SFH the resulting IMF for the thin disc has an alpha3 of approximately 2 for masses M larger than 1.53 Msun and alpha2 approximately 1.3 for the mass range between 0.5 and 1.53Msun.
CONCLUSIONS:
BGM FASt has allowed us to increase our knowledge about the IMF and the SFH of the MW disc. Our results have shown that the evolution of the SFR with time is much more complex than a simple mathematical exponential decreasing shape. We have seen how the imposition of a mathematical shape for the SFH has a clear impact into the derivation of the IMF at high masses. The good performance of our whole strategy opens very promising perspectives, among them, the possibility to study whether the IMF variates with the time or not.
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Simon, Jacob B., Philip J. Armitage, Andrew N. Youdin, and Rixin Li. "Evidence for Universality in the Initial Planetesimal Mass Function." IOP PUBLISHING LTD, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/626045.
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Planetesimals may form from the gravitational collapse of dense particle clumps initiated by the streaming instability. We use simulations of aerodynamically coupled gas-particle mixtures to investigate whether the properties of planetesimals formed in this way depend upon the sizes of the particles that participate in the instability. Based on three high-resolution simulations that span a range of dimensionless stopping times 6 X 10(-3) <= tau <= 2, no statistically significant differences in the initial planetesimal mass function are found. The mass functions are fit by a power law, dN/dM(p) proportional to M-p(-p), with p = 1.5-1.7 and errors of Delta p approximate to 0.1. Comparing the particle density fields prior to collapse, we find that the high-wavenumber power spectra are similarly indistinguishable, though the large-scale geometry of structures induced via the streaming instability is significantly different between all three cases. We interpret the results as evidence for a near-universal slope to the mass function, arising from the small-scale structure of streaming-induced turbulence.
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Covey, Kevin R. "Dynamical properties of embedded protostars and the luminosity function of the galactic disk /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/5448.
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Ashworth, Greg. "Exploring the initial mass function by stochastically lighting up galaxies." Thesis, Durham University, 2018. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/12739/.
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In this thesis, the Initial Mass Function (IMF) is studied using the Stochastically Lighting Up Galaxies software suite (SLUG), a package of tools including a stochastic Stellar Population Synthesis (SPS) code and associated analysis packages, including a novel Bayesian inference framework. Following an introduction to some core concepts, new developments of the SLUG code are described. These include a variable IMF capability which is then applied to broad-band photometry taken from the Legacy ExtraGalactic Ultraviolet Survey (LEGUS), a Hubble Space Telescope treasury programme. The physical parameters of star clusters in galaxy NGC 628 are inferred using SLUG's Bayesian inference tools. We find that the posterior probability distributions of the high-mass slope of the IMF are very broad, and we quantify a degeneracy between the IMF and the cluster mass. The inclusion of additional photometric data (Ha) is found to provide some improvement. However, using mock cluster models we found that only through constraining the mass of the cluster through photometrically-independent means is it possible to accurately recover the IMF slope. An additional source of information is the UV spectrum, which is dominated by the massive stars whose populations are affected by the high-mass region of the IMF. To be able to exploit this region of the spectrum effectively using equivalent width measurements, the resolution of SLUG's UV spectral synthesiser requires improvement. To this end, the implementation of a high-resolution UV synthesiser is described, and then put to use in a theoretical study of the IMF using mock observations generated with SLUG. The constraining power of UV spectral features when combined with broad-band photometry is quantified, resulting in significant improvement in IMF slope recovery. Finally the results and limitations of the studies are discussed, and recommendations are made for future studies and improvements.
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Cardoso, Catia Vanessa Varejao. "Observational properties of brown dwarfs : the low-mass end of the mass function." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10036/3592.
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Brown dwarfs are objects with sub-stellar masses that are unable to sustain hydrogen burning, cooling down through out their lifetimes. This thesis presents two projects, the study of the IMF of the double cluster, h & χ Persei, and the determination of the dynamical masses of the brown dwarf binary, ε Indi Ba, Bb. The study of a cluster’s population distribution gives us the opportunity to study a statistically meaningful population of objects over a wide range of masses (from massive stars to brown dwarfs), with a similar age and chemical composition providing formation and dynamical evolution constraints. h & χ Persei is the largest double cluster known in our galaxy. Using optical and infrared photometric data we have produced the deepest mass function for the system. A study of the radial distribution shows evidence of mass segregation while the mass function shows that these clusters may be suffering from accelerated dynamical evolution due to their interaction, triggering the ejection of brown dwarfs. The physical parameterization of brown dwarfs is reliant on the use of interior and atmospheric models. The study of brown dwarf binaries can provide crucial model independent measurements, especially masses. ε Indi Ba, Bb (spectral types T1 and T6) is the closest known brown dwarf binary to Earth. The brown dwarf binary itself orbits a main sequence star allowing us to constrain the distance, metallicity and age of the system making it possible to break the sub-stellar mass-age-luminosity degeneracy. The relative motion of the brown dwarf binary has been studied with precision astrometry from infrared AO data, allowing the determination of the system mass, 121.16 ± 0.17 ± 1.08 MJup . The individual masses of the binary components were derived from the absolute movement of the binary to be MBa = 68.04±0.94 MJup and MBb = 53.12±0.32 MJup. We concluded that the isochronally-derived masses were underestimating the system mass by ∼ 60%, due to the likely underestimation of the age of the system. The evolutionary models are consistent with the parameters measured observationally if the system has an age ∼ 4 Gyr.
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Catalán, Ruiz Sílvia. "Testing the initial-final mass relationship of white dwarfs." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/6591.
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White dwarfs are the final remnants of low- and intermediate-mass stars. About 95% of main- sequence stars will end their evolutionary pathways as white dwarfs and, hence, the study of the white dwarf population provides details about the late stages of the life of the vast majority of stars.Since white dwarfs are long-lived objects, they also constitute useful objects to study the structure and evolution of our Galaxy. For instance, the initial-final mass relationship, which connects the final mass of a white dwarf with the initial mass of its main-sequence progenitor, is of paramount importance for different aspects in modern astrophysics. This function is used for determining the ages of globular clusters and their distances, for studying the chemical evolution of galaxies, and also to understand the properties of the Galactic population of white dwarfs. Despite its relevance, this relationship is still relatively poorly constrained.
The main aim of this thesis is the study of the initial-final mass relationship. For such purpose we have used two different approaches. From an observational perspective, the statistical significance of the current initial final mass relationship can be improved by performing spectroscopic observations of white dwarfs for which some important parameters are available. Since this approach involves the use of theoretical stellar evolutionary tracks the resulting initial-final mass relationship is, in fact, semi-empirical. In this thesis we present a promising method which consists in using common proper motion pairs comprised of a white dwarf and a FGK star. It is sound to assume that the members of the system were born simultaneously and with the same chemical composition. Moreover, these stars are well separated and it can be considered that they have evolved as isolated stars, since mass exchange between them is unlikely. Thus, a careful analysis of the observational data of both members of each pair allows us to derive the initial and final masses of the white dwarf components, something which is totally impossible when white dwarfs are isolated. Considering the new data that we have obtained with this work and the observational data currently used to define the initial-final mass relationship we have carried out a revision of this relationship, giving some clues on its dependence on different parameters, especially on metallicity.
The second approach to improve the initial-final mass relationship involves an indirect measurement, which has been carried out by studying its influence on one of the powerful tools related to the white dwarf population, the white dwarf luminosity function. We have computed a series of luminosity functions using different theoretical initial-final mass relationships, and also, considering the semi-empirical relation derived in this thesis. We have compared these computations with the available observational data in order to evaluate the validity of each of these relations.
In order to increase the statistical significance of the white dwarf luminosity function and to improve the initial-final mass relationship it is necessary to extend the amount of accurate and reliable observational data. For this reason part of the thesis is devoted to the Alhambra Survey, which is a good example of the new deep surveys currently under development. These observational projects will detect thousands of new white dwarfs, some of them belonging to common proper motion pairs, which could be eventually used to extend our analysis. Thus, we have performed an exhaustive study to optimize the identification procedure of the white dwarf candidates which will be eventually detected by the Alhambra survey.
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Liebert, J., C. C. Dahn, and D. G. Monet. "Luminosity Function of White Dwarfs in the Local Disk and Halo." Steward Observatory, The University of Arizona (Tucson, Arizona), 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/623908.
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Munn, Jeffrey A., Hugh C. Harris, Hippel Ted von, Mukremin Kilic, James W. Liebert, Kurtis A. Williams, Steven DeGennaro, et al. "A DEEP PROPER MOTION CATALOG WITHIN THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY FOOTPRINT. II. THE WHITE DWARF LUMINOSITY FUNCTION." IOP PUBLISHING LTD, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/622633.
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A catalog of 8472 white dwarf (WD) candidates is presented, selected using reduced proper motions from the deep proper motion catalog of Munn et al. Candidates are selected in the magnitude range 16 < r < 21.5 over 980 square degrees, and 16 < r < 21.3 over an additional 1276 square degrees, within the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) imaging footprint. Distances, bolometric luminosities, and atmospheric compositions are derived by fitting SDSS ugriz photometry to pure hydrogen and helium model atmospheres (assuming surface gravities log g = 8). The disk white dwarf luminosity function (WDLF) is constructed using a sample of 2839 stars with 5.5 < M-bol < 17, with statistically significant numbers of stars cooler than the turnover in the luminosity function. The WDLF for the halo is also constructed, using a sample of 135 halo WDs with 5 < M-bol < 16. We find space densities of disk and halo WDs in the solar neighborhood of 5.5 +/- 0.1 x 10(-3) pc(-3) and 3.5 +/- 0.7 x 10(-5) pc(-3), respectively. We resolve the bump in the disk WDLF due to the onset of fully convective envelopes in WDs, and see indications of it in the halo WDLF as well.
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Kilic, Mukremin, Jeffrey A. Munn, Hugh C. Harris, Ted von Hippel, James W. Liebert, Kurtis A. Williams, Elizabeth Jeffery, and Steven DeGennaro. "The Ages of the Thin Disk, Thick Disk, and the Halo from Nearby White Dwarfs." IOP PUBLISHING LTD, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/623864.
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We present a detailed analysis of the white dwarf luminosity functions derived from the local 40 pc sample and the deep proper motion catalog of Munn et al. Many previous studies have ignored the contribution of thick disk white dwarfs to the Galactic disk luminosity function, which results in an erroneous age measurement. We demonstrate that the ratio of thick/thin disk white dwarfs is roughly 20% in the local sample. Simultaneously fitting for both disk components, we derive ages of 6.8-7.0 Gyr for the thin disk and 8.7 +/- 0.1 Gyr for the thick disk from the local 40 pc sample. Similarly, we derive ages of 7.4-8.2 Gyr for the thin disk and 9.5-9.9 Gyr for the thick disk from the deep proper motion catalog, which shows no evidence of a deviation from a constant star formation rate in the past 2.5 Gyr. We constrain the time difference between the onset of star formation in the thin disk and the thick disk to be 1.6(-0.4)(+0.3) Gyr. The faint end of the luminosity function for the halo white dwarfs is less constrained, resulting in an age estimate of 12.5(-3.4)(+1.4) Gyr for the Galactic inner halo. This is the first time that ages for all three major components of the Galaxy have been obtained from a sample of field white dwarfs that is large enough to contain significant numbers of disk and halo objects. The resultant ages agree reasonably well with the age estimates for the oldest open and globular clusters.
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Nelson, Katy. "On the origin of the stellar initial mass function and multiple stellar systems." Thesis, Cardiff University, 2014. http://orca.cf.ac.uk/65971/.
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I first perform a statistical analysis on a distribution of pre-stellar core masses. Each core is split into a small number of stars, and two stars are chosen using a prescription based on stellar masses to form a binary system. The rest of the stars are taken to be singles. From this sample of binaries and singles, I compute the stellar initial mass function, the binary frequency and mass ratio distribution as a function of primary mass. I then test if the observed binary frequencies and mass ratios are compatible with this self-similar mapping of cores into stars. I show that self-similar mapping can reproduce the observed binary frequencies and mass ratios well, so long as the efficiency is rather high (100%), and each core fragments into about 4 or 5 stars. Using the code Seren view, I then perform N-body simulations with core-clusters. I investigate the formation of multiple systems, and qualify the dependence of their parameters and longevity on certain initial conditions, including (i) the number of stars in a core-cluster, (ii) the variance of masses in those stars, (iii) the virial ratio and (iv) radial dependence of stellar density. I expand on those results by including (a) a prescription for the influence of disks during stellar ybys, (b) different initial spatial configurations of the stars (i.e. line and ring clusters) and (c) a background potential due to residual gas in the core-cluster. The full range of periods observed in the field cannot be explained by the distribution of periods of pure binaries alone, which is too narrow. However, the wide range can be explained either by combining the periods of pair-wise orbits of all multiple systems, i.e. the widest periods observed are in fact pair-wise orbits of higher-order multiples with unresolved companions, or by considering a distribution of pre-stellar cores that have a range of virial ratios.
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Vignola, Matteo. "Constraining the initial mass function of the giant early-type galaxies NGC 1332 and NGC 7619." Master's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2018. http://amslaurea.unibo.it/15597/.
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La funzione di massa iniziale (IMF) descrive la distribuzione delle masse per una popolazione di stelle al momento della sua formazione. Caretterizzare questa distribuzione è quindi cruciale per comprendere la fisica dei processi di formazione stellare. Le assunzioni sulla forma della IMF hanno un significativo impatto su numerose proprietà fisiche, ma nonostante il suo ruolo centrale, un teora fisica completa che spieghi la forma dell'IMF è ancora mancante. La IMF è stata per molto tempo considerata universale, poiché nella Via Lattea non ci sono evidenti variazioni. Ciononostante, diversi studi ne teorizzano o osservano una variazione (ConroyvanDokkum2012), ed il dibatto sulle variabili fisiche che la influenzano, come anche quello sulla loro interazione, è apertissimo. In questo lavoro , sono state studiate due galassie Early-Type, NGC 1332 and NGC 7619, con l'obiettivo di investigare eventuali variazioni radiali nella loro IMF. Sulla base di queste osservazioni abbiamo potuto eseguire uno studio cinematico dettagliato delle sorgenti, derivando le distribuzioni di velocità lungo la linea di vista per entrambe le galassie. Grazie ai parametri cinematici ottenuti, abbiamo sviluppato un codice in grado misurare gli indici di Lick per le righe di assorbimento di interesse in modo da poter ricostruire le proprietà fisiche delle galassie in esame. Abbiamo poi interpretato queste misure tramite tre differenti modelli di popolazioni stellari (Thomas2005, Conroy2009 e ConroyvanDokkum2012). Dallo questo studio comparato abbiamo ottenuto due galassie vecchie, ricche di metalli e sovrabbondanti rispetto ai valori solari. Abbiamo quindi potuto osservare una forte dipendenza dell'indice NaI alla pendenza della IMF nel regime delle stelle nane , anche se i valori misurati variano significativamente sia in funzione della metallicità che della sovra-abbondanza.
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Burke, Christopher J. "Survey for transiting extrasolar planets in stellar systems stellar and planetary content of the Open Cluster NGC 1245 /." Columbus, Ohio : Ohio State University, 2005. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=osu1132168623.
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Canty, James Ignatius. "Investigating the properties of brown dwarfs using intermediate-resolution spectroscopy." Thesis, University of Hertfordshire, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2299/15194.
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This thesis is an investigation into some properties of brown dwarfs using medium-resolution spectroscopy. In the first part of the thesis, I address the issue of parameter degeneracy in brown dwarfs. In the course of my analysis, I derive a gravity-sensitive spectral index which can be used, statistically at least, to differentiate populations of young objects from field dwarfs. The index is also capable of finding the difference between a population of ~1 Myr objects and a population of ~10 Myr objects and may be used to separate low-mass members from foreground and background objects in young clusters and associations. The second part of my thesis is an investigation into the major opacity sources in the atmospheres of late T dwarfs. I look particularly at CH4 and NH3 absorption features in the near-infrared spectra of these objects. In my analysis, I identify new absorption features produced by these molecules. I also correct features which had previously been wrongly identified. This has been made possible by the use of high quality data, together with a new CH4 synthetic line list, which is more complete at these temperatures than any previously available list.
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Achitouv, Ixandra. "Halo mass function of dark matter halos : imprints of the initial matter density field and of the non-linear collapse." Paris 7, 2012. http://www.theses.fr/2012PA077245.
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Orsi, Maia. "Population synthesis models for IMF studies." Thesis, Liverpool John Moores University, 2014. http://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/4525/.
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Population synthesis models (PSMs) are fundamental tools to study the star formation history and IMF of unresolved stellar populations using spectral features. This work presents a new set of PSMs constructed using theoretical isochrones and two state-ofthe- art synthetic spectral libraries. The BT-Settl and Munari libraries were chosen for their ability to predict the observed values of Lick-type and IMF-sensitive indices in individual stars of the solar neighbourhood. The BT-Settl library was used to sample the cool main sequence stars and the Munari library for the rest of the evolutionary phases. The PSMs cover a range of metallicities with [Fe/H]= 0, -1.31 and -1.81 for scaled-solar and α-enhanced metal mixtures. The models were used to study the behaviour of the IMF indices defined in the literature and the results are in good agreement with what other PSMs have determined. The PSMs in this work predict a strong degeneracy between age, metallicity and IMF. I used the models to study which are the main evolutionary phases contributing to each IMF-sensitive index and found that most indices reach their final integrated values before the turn off. The post-main sequence stars contribute mainly to the continuum of these bands. Uncertainties in the the effective temperature of the isochrones can affect IMF estimates. The PSMs were applied to extragalactic globular clusters (GCs) and early-type galaxies (ETGs) using data from the literature. I determined the ages, metallicities and IMFs of these systems using index combinations in the optical and infrared. I explored how the morphology of the Horizontal Branch (HB) and dynamical evolution (which are key uncertainties in the modelling of GCs) can affect the IMF predictions. In a population with a Milky Way IMF, dynamical evolution can make the IMF indices mimic a bottom-light IMF. HB morphology has no impact on the IMF estimates at low [Fe/H]. In the IMF index-index diagrams for GCs, the results are significantly affected by the unknown sodium abundances of these systems. Using the PSMs in this work the best index combination to determine the IMF is CaH1 and TiO2. The ETGs and the [Fe/H]=0 GCs appear to have a bottom-heavy IMF with x ~ 3:0. These results are discussed in the work.
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Drass, Holger [Verfasser], Rolf [Gutachter] Chini, and Susanne [Gutachter] Hüttemeister. "The substellar initial mass function of the Orion Nebula cluster / Holger Drass ; Gutachter: Rolf Chini, Susanne Hüttemeister ; Fakultät für Physik und Astronomie." Bochum : Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 2014. http://d-nb.info/1207543152/34.
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Smith, Rowan Johnston. "The earliest fragmentation in molecular clouds : and its connection to star formation." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/929.
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Stars are born from dense cores of gas within molecular clouds. The exact nature of the connection between these gas cores and the stars they form is an important issue in the field of star formation. In this thesis I use numerical simulations of molecular clouds to trace the evolution of cores into stars. The CLUMPFIND method, commonly used to identify gas structures is tested. I find that the core boundaries it yields are unreliable, but in spite of this, the same profile is universally found for the mass function. To facilitate a more robust definition of a core, a modified clumpfind algorithm which uses gravitational potential instead of density is introduced. This allows the earliest fragmentation in a simulated molecular cloud to be identified. The first bound cores have a mass function that closely resembles the stellar IMF, but there is a poor correspondence between individual core masses and the stellar masses formed from them. From this, it is postulated that environmental factors play a significant part in a core’s evolution. This is particularly true for massive stars, as massive cores are prone to further fragmentation. In these simulations, massive stars are formed simultaneously with stellar clusters, and thus the evolution of one can affect the other. In particular, the global collapse of the forming cluster aids accretion by the precursors of the massive stars. By tracing the evolution of the massive stars, I find that most of the material accreted by them comes from diffuse gas, rather than from a well-defined stellar core.
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Lee, Yueh-Ning. "Formation and fragmentation of stellar proto-clusters." Thesis, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 2017. http://www.theses.fr/2017USPCC152/document.
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Les étoiles sont des éléments fondamentaux de l'Univers. Elles émettent de l'énergie en forme de lumières et rendent les matériaux dans le ciel visible. Les étoiles se regroupent pour former les galaxies, en déterminant l'évolution et la dynamique de ce dernier. En même temps, l'étoile est le centre d'un système planétaire. Le disque de débris autour d'une jeune étoile se refroidi et forme un système de planète. Les caractéristiques de ce système, notamment la masse de l'étoile centrale, jouent un rôle important en ce qui concerne l'apparition de la vie. Cette thèse a pour objectif de comprendre comment la massed'une étoile est assemblée et déterminée, donnant une distribution de masse apparemmentuniverselle quel que soit l'environnement de leur formation..La thèse est constituée de deux chapitres introductifs sur la physique de formation stellaire et sur les méthodes numériques. Les trois chapitres suivants sont constitués des projets menés durant la thèse: la formation des proto-amas, l'effet de condition initiale dans le nuage moléculaire, et la formation des coeurs préstellaires par la fragmentation des filaments, suivis par les articles publiés dans les journaux scientifiques. Le dernier chapitre conclu la thèse et donne les perspectifs pour la future rechercheStars are building blocks of the Universe. They emit energy in form of light and make the material in the night sky visible. They are the elementary constituents of galaxies, determining their evolution and dynamics. On the other hand, stars are the hosts o planetary systems. The debris disc around a new-born star eventually cools down and form planets. The characteristic of the planetary system, essentially the mass of the central star, plays a major role in the formation of living being on planets. The formation of stars often occur in a clusters manner, and one of the important issues constantly under debate is the distribution of the mass of newly-born stars. This thesis is aimed to understand the Initial Mass Function which seems to be universal among different environments.This manuscripts comprises two introductory chapters on the physics of star formation and the numerical methods, respectively. Three following chapters present the projets carried out during the thesis: formation of proto-clusters, effects of initial condition in the molecular cloud, and the formation of prestellar cores from filament fragmentation, all followed by published journal articles. The last chapter concludes the manuscript and discuss the perspectives
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Prichard, Laura Jane. "The evolution of early-type galaxies." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2018. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:35fbf5c7-76de-4179-8e68-032ba8b5f3ee.
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Early-type galaxies (ETGs) are typically thought of as 'red and dead' with little to no star formation and old stellar populations. Their detailed kinematics measured locally suggest an interesting array of formation mechanisms and high-redshift observations are starting to reveal a two-phase evolutionary path for the most massive galaxies. In this thesis, I take a combined approach to studying the formation of ETGs. I look to distant quiescent galaxies in one of the densest regions of the early Universe and at the fossil record of a local galaxy to shed light on some of the unsolved mysteries of how ETGs evolved. Using the unique multiplexed instrument, the K-band Multi-Object Spectrograph (KMOS), the evolution of galaxies at both low and high redshift were studied as part of this thesis. I maximised the capabilities of this multi-integral field unit (IFU) near-infrared (NIR) instrument to study different aspects of ETG evolution. With 24 separate IFUs, many quiescent galaxies were efficiently observed in a massive high-redshift cluster as part of the KMOS Cluster Survey. Coupling KMOS spectroscopy with Hubble Space Telescope photometry, I studied the ages, kinematics, and structural properties of the galaxies. I then analysed the detailed properties of a massive local ETG with interesting kinematics, IC 1459. Coupling the NIR IFU data from KMOS with a large mosaic of optical data from the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer, I was able to study the spatially resolved kinematics, stellar populations, and initial mass function of the galaxy. The work presented in this thesis provides some interesting clues as to the formation of ETGs and possible diversity of their evolutionary paths.
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Khorrami, Zeinab. "Imagerie à haute résolution des amas R136 et NGC3603 dévoilent la nature de leurs populations stellaires." Thesis, Nice, 2016. http://www.theses.fr/2016NICE4030/document.
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Cette thèse a pour objectif de comprendre les différents aspects de l'évolution des amas d’étoiles massives NGC3603 et R136 qui possèdent les étoiles les plus massives connues de l'univers local. L'analyse photométrique des noyaux de R136 et NGC3603 utilisant l’imagerie infrarouge de l’instrument SPHERE sur VLT et son système d’optique adaptative extrême de SPHERE, m’a permis de détecter pour la 1ière fois un grand nombre d’étoiles de faibles masse et luminosité au coeur de ces amas et pour la plupart au voisinage des étoiles les plus lumineuses et massives. La comparaison des données de SPHERE de NGC3603 à celles du HST montre l’absence de ségrégation de masse dans le noyau de cet amas. De plus la pente de la fonction de masse de cette région est la même que celle de la région suivante et similaire aux valeurs de la MF correspondant aux régions extérieures de l’amas connues jusqu’ici. L’amas R136 est partiellement résolu par SPHERE/IRDIS dans l’IR. La majorité de ses étoiles massives ont des compagnons visuels. En prenant compte des mesures spectroscopiques et photométriques et leurs erreurs sur l'extinction et l'âge des membres de l’amas, j’ai estimé une gamme de masse pour chaque étoile identifiée. La MF a été calculée pour différents âges ainsi que les erreurs sur les masses stellaires. J’ai simulé des séries d'images de R136 grâce au code Nbody6, et les ai comparées aux observations du HST/WFPC2. Ces simulations permettent de vérifier l'effet de la binarité initiale des étoiles de l’amas, la ségrégation de masse et l'évolution des étoiles sur l'évolution dynamique propre à R136This thesis aims at studying 2 massive clusters NGC3603 and R136, and the mechanisms that govern their physics, These clusters host the most massive stars known in the local universe so far and are important clues to understand the formation and fate of very massive star clusters. The manuscript outlines the photometric analysis of the core of R136 and NGC3603 on the basis of HST data in the visible and the VLT high dynamic imaging that I obtained in the infrared thanks to the SPHERE focal instrument operated since 2015 and its extreme Adaptive Optics, In an extensive photometric study of these data I discovered a significantly larger number of faint low-mass stars in the core of both these clusters compared to previous works. These stars are often detected in the vicinity of known massive bright objects. By comparing HST and SPHERE measures, NGC3603 does not show any signature of mass segregation in its core since the MF slope of the very core and the next radial bin are similarly flat and agree well with the MF found in previous works of the outer regions. On the other hand R136 is partially resolved using the SPHERE/IRDIS mode with most of the massive stars having visual companions. Considering the spectroscopic and photometric errors on the extinction and the age of cluster members, I estimate a mass range for each detected star. The MF is plotted at different ages with given errors on stellar masses. Finally I demonstrate that we need more resolution to go further on studying R136 which is 7-8 times further than NGC3603
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Hill, David T. "The optical and NIR luminous energy output of the Universe : the creation and utilisation of a 9 waveband consistent sample of galaxies using UKIDSS and SDSS observations with the GAMA and MGC spectroscopic datasets." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/1696.
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Theories of how galaxies form and evolve depend greatly on constraints provided by observations. However, when those observations come from different datasets, systematic offsets may occur. This causes difficulties measuring variations in parameters between filters. In this thesis I present the variation in total luminosity density with wavelength in the nearby Universe (z<0.1), produced from a consistent reanalysis of NIR and optical observations, taken from the MGC, UKIDSS and SDSS surveys. I derive luminosity distributions, best-fitting Schechter function parameterisations and total luminosity densities in ugrizYJHK, and compare the variation in luminosity density with cosmic star formation history (CSFH) and initial mass function (IMF) models. I examine the r band luminosity distribution produced using different aperture definitions, the joint luminosity- surface brightness (bivariate brightness) distribution in ugrizYJHK, comparing them to previously derived distributions, and how the total luminosity density varies with wavelength when surface brightness incompleteness is accounted for. I find the following results. (1) The total luminosity density calculated using a non-Sersic (e.g. Kron or Petrosian) aperture is underestimated by at least 15%, (2) Changing the detection threshold has a minor effect on the best-fitting Schecter parameters, but the choice of Kron or Petrosian apertures causes an offset between datasets, regardless of the filter used to define the source list, (3) The decision to use circular or elliptical apertures causes an offset in M* of 0.20 mag, and best-fitting Schechter parameters from total magnitude photometric systems have a flatter faint-end slope than Kron or Petrosian photometry, (4) There is no surface brightness distribution evolution with luminosity for luminous galaxies, but at fainter magnitudes the distribution broadens and the peak surface brightness dims. A Choloniewski function that is modified to account for this surface brightness evolution fits the bivariate-brightness distribution better than an unmodified Choloniewski function, (5) The energy density per unit interval, vf(v) derived using MGC and GAMA samples agrees within 90% confidence intervals, but does not agree with predictions using standard CSFH and IMF models. Possible improvements to the data and alterations to the theory are suggested.
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Selman, Fernando Javier. "The Initial Mass Function and Star-Formation History in the 30 Doradus Super-Association." Thesis, 2004. https://thesis.library.caltech.edu/1748/2/fselman_phdthesis.pdf.
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We present a study of the star-formation history (SFH), and the initial mass function (IMF) in the 30 Doradus super-association. The study is divided in six natural stages: (1) profile fitting photometry; (2) characterization of the instrument; (3) calibration using stars with spectroscopy; (4) visualization of the stellar properties using the color-magnitude stereogram; (5) Bayesian analysis to obtain physical quantities; and (6) the construction of the SFH and IMF. The reduction and characterization of systematic errors are the most important steps of any IMF study: we note the following sources of systematic errors: (a) the upper magnitude cut-off, used to filter out saturated and non-linear stars, results in a false steepening of the high-mass end of the IMF, particularly affecting older systems; (b) Be stars and blue B-type super-giants mimic luminosity class V stars of higher effective temperatures, thus flattening the IMF; (c) the magnitude limit effect introduced by variable reddening, that flattens the low mass end of the derived IMF. For IMF determination we have identified the mass window 10M⊙ ≤ M ≤ 40M⊙, that is free of effects (a) and (c) in our photometry. We have found that the SFH of the region is characterized by a 7-15~My old burst, across the whole area studied, followed by a period of reduced, nearly constant, star-formation activity. This activity has been punctuated by clustered, burst-like, star-formation episodes of varying intensity in several places. For NGC2070, the OB association LH104, and the field, the derived IMFs are consistent with a power law with Salpeter slope only if they have different SFH: a young and almost instantaneous burst for NGC2070, and nearly constant star formation, after the 7-15 My burst for the field and LH104. Other studies reveal star-formation episodes across the LMC, starting 15-30 My ago. We propose that the origin of such an apparently synchronized, large-scale, activity, is the recent entry of the LMC into a thick disk of ionized gas, analogous to that proposed by Moore and Davis (1994) to explain the origin of the Magellanic Stream.
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Sadavoy, Sarah I. "The mass distribution of protostellar and starless cores in Gould Belt clouds." Thesis, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/1828/1611.
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Using data from the SCUBA Legacy Catalogue (850 µm) and Spitzer (3.6 - 70 µm), we explore dense cores in the Ophiuchus, Taurus, Perseus, Serpens, and Orion molecular clouds. In particular, we focus on identifying which cores host young stars
while others remain starless. Understanding the nature of star formation and the
influence of local environment will give us insight into several key properties, such
as the origin of stellar mass. Here, we present starless and protostellar core mass
functions (CMFs) for the five clouds. We develop a new method to discriminate
starless from protostellar cores, using Spitzer colours and positions. We found best-fit slopes to the high-mass end of
−1.26±0.20, −1.22±0.06, −0.95±0.20, and −1.85±0.53 for Ophiuchus, Taurus, Perseus, and Orion, respectively. We were unable to fit a slope to our fifth cloud, Serpens. Broadly, these slopes are consistent with the −1.35 power-law seen in the Salpeter IMF, but suggest some differences. We examined a variety of trends between these CMF shapes and their parent cloud properties, potentially finding a correlation between the high-mass slope and temperature. We also attempt
to predict what future surveys with SCUBA-2 will detect in each of our clouds.
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Dufour, Pierre. "Étude spectroscopique d'étoiles naines blanches riches en hélium de type DB et DBA." Thèse, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/1866/3460.
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De nouveaux modèles d'atmosphère sont présentés, incluant les profils de raie d'hélium neutre améliorés de Beauchamp (1995) et le formalisme de probabilité d'occupation pour ce même atome. Ces modèles sont utilisés pour calculer une grille de spectres synthétiques correspondant à des atmosphères riches en hélium et contenant des traces d'hydrogène. Cette grille est utilisée pour déterminer les paramètres atmosphériques principaux des étoiles de notre échantillon, soient la température effective, la gravité de surface et l'abondance d'hydrogène. Notre échantillon contient des spectres visibles de haut rapport signal-sur-bruit pour 102 naines blanches riches en hélium, dont 29 ont été observés au cours de ce projet, ce qui en fait le plus grand échantillon de spectres de qualité de naines blanches riches en hélium. Des spectres synthétiques ont été calculés en utilisant différentes valeurs du paramètre α de la théorie de la longueur de mélange dans le but de calibrer empiriquement la valeur de ce paramètre pour les DB. Afin d'améliorer la précision sur les paramètres atmosphériques de quelques étoiles, nous avons utilisé des spectres couvrant la raie Hα pour mieux déterminer l'abondance d'hydrogène. Finalement, nous avons calculé la distribution de masse de notre échantillon et la fonction de luminosité des DB. La distribution de masse montre une coupure à 0.5 fois la masse solaire qui est prédite par les modèles d'évolution stellaire et dévoile une masse moyenne significativement plus élevée pour les étoiles de type DBA. La masse moyenne de l'ensemble des DB et DBA est très proche de celle des DA. La fonction de luminosité nous permet de calculer que le rapport du nombre de DB sur le nombre de DA vaut environ 25%.New model atmospheres are presented, including improved neutral helium lines from Beauchamp (1995) and the occupation probability formalism for that atom. These models are used to compute a grid of synthetic spectra for helium rich atmospheres with different hydrogen abundances. This grid is used to determine the principal atmospheric parameters of the stars in our sample, e.g. effective temperature, surface gravity and hydrogen abundance. There are 102 high quality spectra of helium-rich white dwarfs in our sample, making it the largest sample of this kind. 29 of these spectra were observed for this project. Synthetic spectra using different values of the α parameter from the mixing length theory have been calculated in order to determine the correct value of this parameter for DB model atmospheres. Finally, we have computed the mass distribution of our sample and the DB luminosity funtion. The mass distribution shows a clear cutoff at 0.5 solar masses which is predicted by stellar evolution theory and gives a significantly higher mean mass for the DBA stars of the sample. However, the global mean mass of our sample is very close to that of DA stars. With our luminosity function, we found a number ratio of DB stars over DA stars of about 25%.