Variation of the low-mass end of the stellar initial mass function with redshift and metallicity

TL;DR

This study uses radiation hydrodynamical simulations to explore how the stellar initial mass function varies with redshift and metallicity, revealing a trend towards fewer low-mass stars at higher redshifts and metallicities.

Contribution

It provides a new parameterization of the initial mass function variation with redshift and metallicity based on detailed simulations, useful for galaxy formation models.

Findings

Mass functions become more bottom-light with increasing redshift and metallicity.

Galactic-like initial mass functions are consistent at z=0 across metallicities.

Higher metallicity and redshift lead to a deficit of low-mass stars and brown dwarfs.

Abstract

We report the stellar mass functions obtained from 20 radiation hydrodynamical simulations of star cluster formation in 500 M$_\odot$ molecular clouds with metallicities of 3, 1, 1/10 and 1/100 of the solar value, with the clouds subjected to levels of the cosmic microwave background radiation that are appropriate for star formation at redshifts z=0, 3, 5, 7, and 10. The calculations include a thermochemical model of the diffuse interstellar medium and treat dust and gas temperatures separately. We find that the stellar mass distributions obtained become increasingly bottom light as the redshift and/or metallicity are increased. Mass functions that are similar to a typical Galactic initial mass function are obtained for present-day star formation (z=0) independent of metallicity, and also for the lowest-metallicity (1/100 solar) at all redshifts up to z=10, but for higher metallicities there is a larger deficit of brown dwarfs and low-mass stars as the metallicity and redshift are increased. These effects are a result of metal-rich gas being unable to cool to as lower temperatures at higher redshift due to the warmer cosmic microwave background radiation. Based on the numerical results we provide a parameterisation that may be used to vary the stellar initial mass function with redshift and metallicity; this could be used in simulations of galaxy formation. For example, a bottom-light mass function reduces the mass-to-light ratio compared to a typical Galactic stellar initial mass function, which may reduce the estimated masses of high-redshift galaxies.