On Disentangling IMF Degeneracies in Integrated Light

TL;DR

This paper investigates how IMF slope, low mass cutoff, and AGB contribution affect integrated light spectra, showing they are subtle but can be disentangled with high-precision observations and combined photometry and spectroscopy.

Contribution

It demonstrates that IMF degeneracies with LMCO and AGB effects can be separated in integrated light analysis using high-precision data.

Findings

Spectral effects of IMF slope, LMCO, and AGB are subtle compared to age-abundance effects.

Degeneracies among these parameters can be disentangled with very accurate observations.

Combining high-precision photometry with spectroscopy enhances parameter separation.

Abstract

The study of extragalactic integrated light can yield partial information on stellar population ages, abundances, and the initial mass function (IMF). The power-law slope of the IMF has been studied in recent investigations with gravity-sensitive spectral indicators that hopefully measure the ratio between KM dwarfs and giants. We explore two additional effects that might mimic the effects of the IMF slope in integrated light, the low mass cutoff (LMCO) and a variable contribution of light from the asymptotic giant branch (AGB). We show that the spectral effects of these three (IMF slope, LMCO, AGB strength) are subtle compared to age-abundance effects. We illustrate parameter degeneracies and covariances and conclude that the three effects can be disentangled, but only in the regime of very accurate observations, with enhanced effectiveness if high-precision photometry is combined with spectroscopy.