Cosmic history of integrated galactic stellar initial mass function : a simulation study

TL;DR

This simulation study explores how the integrated galactic stellar initial mass function (IGIMF) evolves with redshift, influenced by star formation rates and cluster mass spectra, revealing a complex pattern of top-heavy and bottom-heavy phases over cosmic time.

Contribution

It provides a detailed simulation-based analysis of the evolving IGIMF, incorporating effects of star formation rates and cluster mass spectrum parameters across different redshifts.

Findings

IGIMF slopes vary with redshift, becoming top-heavy at z~2-4.

Higher minimum embedded cluster mass flattens the IGIMF.

Effects are influenced by cluster mass spectrum and ambient temperature.

Abstract

Theoretical and indirect observational evidences suggest that stellar initial mass function (IMF) increases with redshift. On the other hand star formation rates (SFR) may be as high as 100 $M_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$ in star burst galaxies. These may lead to formation of massive clusters hence massive stars to make the integrated galactic stellar initial mass function (IGIMF) top heavy (i.e. proportion of massive stars is higher than less massive stars). We investigate the joint effect of evolving IMF and several measures of SFR in dependence of galaxy wide IMF. The resulting IGIMF have slopes $\alpha_{2,IGIMF}$ in the high mass regime, which is highly dependent on the minimum mass of the embedded cluster ($M_{ecl,min}$), star formation rates and mass spectrum indices of embedded clusters (viz. $\beta$). It is found that for z $\sim$ 0 - 2, $\alpha_{2,IGIMF}$ becomes steeper (i.e. bottom heavy), for z $\sim$ 2 - 4, $\alpha_{2,IGIMF}$ becomes flatter (i.e. top heavy ) and from z $\sim$ 4 onwards $\alpha_{2,IGIMF}$ becomes again steeper. The effects are faster for higher values of $\beta$. $\alpha_{2,IGIMF}$ is flatter also for higher values of $M_{ecl,min}$. All these effects might be counted for the joint effect of increasing temperature of the ambient medium as well as varying SFR with increasing redshift.