Connection between Dynamically Derived Initial Mass Function Normalization and Stellar Population Parameters

Richard M. McDermid; Michele Cappellari; Katherine Alatalo; Estelle Bayet; Leo Blitz; Maxime Bois; Frédéric Bournaud; Martin Bureau; Alison F. Crocker; Roger L. Davies; Timothy A. Davis; P. T. De Zeeuw; Pierre Alain Duc; Eric Emsellem; Sadegh Khochfar; Davor Krajnović; Harald Kuntschner; Raffaella Morganti; Thorsten Naab; Tom Oosterloo; Marc Sarzi; Nicholas Scott; Paolo Serra; Anne Marie Weijmans; Lisa M. Young

doi:10.1088/2041-8205/792/2/L37

Connection between Dynamically Derived Initial Mass Function Normalization and Stellar Population Parameters

Richard M. McDermid, Michele Cappellari, Katherine Alatalo, Estelle Bayet, Leo Blitz, Maxime Bois, Frédéric Bournaud, Martin Bureau, Alison F. Crocker, Roger L. Davies, Timothy A. Davis, P. T. De Zeeuw, Pierre Alain Duc, Eric Emsellem, Sadegh Khochfar, Davor Krajnović, Harald Kuntschner, Raffaella Morganti, Thorsten Naab, Tom OosterlooMarc Sarzi, Nicholas Scott, Paolo Serra, Anne Marie Weijmans, Lisa M. Young

School of Physics and Astronomy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

We report on empirical trends between the dynamically determined stellar initial mass function (IMF) and stellar population properties for a complete, volume-limited sample of 260 early-type galaxies from the ATLAS3D project. We study trends between our dynamically derived IMF normalization αdyn ≡ (M/L)stars/(M/L)Salp and absorption line strengths, and interpret these via single stellar population-equivalent ages, abundance ratios (measured as [α/Fe]), and total metallicity, [Z/H]. We find that old and alpha-enhanced galaxies tend to have on average heavier (Salpeter-like) mass normalization of the IMF, but stellar population does not appear to be a good predictor of the IMF, with a large range of αdyn at a given population parameter. As a result, we find weak αdyn-[α/Fe] and αdyn -Age correlations and no significant αdyn -[Z/H] correlation. The observed trends appear significantly weaker than those reported in studies that measure the IMF normalization via the low-mass star demographics inferred through stellar spectral analysis.

Original language	English
Article number	L37
Journal	Astrophysical Journal Letters
Volume	792
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/792/2/L37
Publication status	Published - 10 Sept 2014

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

galaxies: abundances
galaxies: elliptical and lenticular cD
galaxies: kinematics and dynamics
galaxies: stellar content

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10.1088/2041-8205/792/2/L37

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McDermid, R. M., Cappellari, M., Alatalo, K., Bayet, E., Blitz, L., Bois, M., Bournaud, F., Bureau, M., Crocker, A. F., Davies, R. L., Davis, T. A., De Zeeuw, P. T., Duc, P. A., Emsellem, E., Khochfar, S., Krajnović, D., Kuntschner, H., Morganti, R., Naab, T., ... Young, L. M. (2014). Connection between Dynamically Derived Initial Mass Function Normalization and Stellar Population Parameters. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 792(2), Article L37. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/792/2/L37

@article{289caf5329f94edf891269d8760fddfc,

title = "Connection between Dynamically Derived Initial Mass Function Normalization and Stellar Population Parameters",

abstract = "We report on empirical trends between the dynamically determined stellar initial mass function (IMF) and stellar population properties for a complete, volume-limited sample of 260 early-type galaxies from the ATLAS3D project. We study trends between our dynamically derived IMF normalization αdyn ≡ (M/L)stars/(M/L)Salp and absorption line strengths, and interpret these via single stellar population-equivalent ages, abundance ratios (measured as [α/Fe]), and total metallicity, [Z/H]. We find that old and alpha-enhanced galaxies tend to have on average heavier (Salpeter-like) mass normalization of the IMF, but stellar population does not appear to be a good predictor of the IMF, with a large range of αdyn at a given population parameter. As a result, we find weak αdyn-[α/Fe] and αdyn -Age correlations and no significant αdyn -[Z/H] correlation. The observed trends appear significantly weaker than those reported in studies that measure the IMF normalization via the low-mass star demographics inferred through stellar spectral analysis.",

keywords = "galaxies: abundances, galaxies: elliptical and lenticular cD, galaxies: kinematics and dynamics, galaxies: stellar content",

author = "McDermid, {Richard M.} and Michele Cappellari and Katherine Alatalo and Estelle Bayet and Leo Blitz and Maxime Bois and Fr{\'e}d{\'e}ric Bournaud and Martin Bureau and Crocker, {Alison F.} and Davies, {Roger L.} and Davis, {Timothy A.} and {De Zeeuw}, {P. T.} and Duc, {Pierre Alain} and Eric Emsellem and Sadegh Khochfar and Davor Krajnovi{\'c} and Harald Kuntschner and Raffaella Morganti and Thorsten Naab and Tom Oosterloo and Marc Sarzi and Nicholas Scott and Paolo Serra and Weijmans, {Anne Marie} and Young, {Lisa M.}",

year = "2014",

month = sep,

day = "10",

doi = "10.1088/2041-8205/792/2/L37",

language = "English",

volume = "792",

journal = "Astrophysical Journal Letters",

publisher = "IOP Publishing",

number = "2",

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McDermid, RM, Cappellari, M, Alatalo, K, Bayet, E, Blitz, L, Bois, M, Bournaud, F, Bureau, M, Crocker, AF, Davies, RL, Davis, TA, De Zeeuw, PT, Duc, PA, Emsellem, E, Khochfar, S, Krajnović, D, Kuntschner, H, Morganti, R, Naab, T, Oosterloo, T, Sarzi, M, Scott, N, Serra, P, Weijmans, AM & Young, LM 2014, 'Connection between Dynamically Derived Initial Mass Function Normalization and Stellar Population Parameters', Astrophysical Journal Letters, vol. 792, no. 2, L37. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/792/2/L37

TY - JOUR

T1 - Connection between Dynamically Derived Initial Mass Function Normalization and Stellar Population Parameters

AU - McDermid, Richard M.

AU - Cappellari, Michele

AU - Alatalo, Katherine

AU - Bayet, Estelle

AU - Blitz, Leo

AU - Bois, Maxime

AU - Bournaud, Frédéric

AU - Bureau, Martin

AU - Crocker, Alison F.

AU - Davies, Roger L.

AU - Davis, Timothy A.

AU - De Zeeuw, P. T.

AU - Duc, Pierre Alain

AU - Emsellem, Eric

AU - Khochfar, Sadegh

AU - Krajnović, Davor

AU - Kuntschner, Harald

AU - Morganti, Raffaella

AU - Naab, Thorsten

AU - Oosterloo, Tom

AU - Sarzi, Marc

AU - Scott, Nicholas

AU - Serra, Paolo

AU - Weijmans, Anne Marie

AU - Young, Lisa M.

PY - 2014/9/10

Y1 - 2014/9/10

N2 - We report on empirical trends between the dynamically determined stellar initial mass function (IMF) and stellar population properties for a complete, volume-limited sample of 260 early-type galaxies from the ATLAS3D project. We study trends between our dynamically derived IMF normalization αdyn ≡ (M/L)stars/(M/L)Salp and absorption line strengths, and interpret these via single stellar population-equivalent ages, abundance ratios (measured as [α/Fe]), and total metallicity, [Z/H]. We find that old and alpha-enhanced galaxies tend to have on average heavier (Salpeter-like) mass normalization of the IMF, but stellar population does not appear to be a good predictor of the IMF, with a large range of αdyn at a given population parameter. As a result, we find weak αdyn-[α/Fe] and αdyn -Age correlations and no significant αdyn -[Z/H] correlation. The observed trends appear significantly weaker than those reported in studies that measure the IMF normalization via the low-mass star demographics inferred through stellar spectral analysis.

AB - We report on empirical trends between the dynamically determined stellar initial mass function (IMF) and stellar population properties for a complete, volume-limited sample of 260 early-type galaxies from the ATLAS3D project. We study trends between our dynamically derived IMF normalization αdyn ≡ (M/L)stars/(M/L)Salp and absorption line strengths, and interpret these via single stellar population-equivalent ages, abundance ratios (measured as [α/Fe]), and total metallicity, [Z/H]. We find that old and alpha-enhanced galaxies tend to have on average heavier (Salpeter-like) mass normalization of the IMF, but stellar population does not appear to be a good predictor of the IMF, with a large range of αdyn at a given population parameter. As a result, we find weak αdyn-[α/Fe] and αdyn -Age correlations and no significant αdyn -[Z/H] correlation. The observed trends appear significantly weaker than those reported in studies that measure the IMF normalization via the low-mass star demographics inferred through stellar spectral analysis.

KW - galaxies: abundances

KW - galaxies: elliptical and lenticular cD

KW - galaxies: kinematics and dynamics

KW - galaxies: stellar content

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84906895644&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1088/2041-8205/792/2/L37

DO - 10.1088/2041-8205/792/2/L37

M3 - Article

VL - 792

JO - Astrophysical Journal Letters

JF - Astrophysical Journal Letters

IS - 2

M1 - L37

ER -

Connection between Dynamically Derived Initial Mass Function Normalization and Stellar Population Parameters

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