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arXiv 0901.0830astro-ph.GA
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星团质量函数的早期演化

The early evolution of the star cluster mass function

M. Gieles

摘要:

最近的几项研究表明,星团初始质量函数(CIMF)可以很好地近似于幂律,在高质量时有陡峭或截断的迹象。这一贡献认为,由于集群中断这样一个质量函数的演变,重点是在第一~陀螺仪中观察到的质量函数的一部分。一个Schechter型函数用于CIMF,在低质量下具有-2的幂律指数,在M* 处具有指数截断。由于宿主星系的潮汐场和巨大的分子云的碰撞而导致的星系团分裂是质量函数的低质量端,但总有一部分“进化的谢克特函数”可以用指数为-2的幂律近似。这一结论成立的质量范围取决于年龄t,并向更高质量移动,大约为t^0.6。平均集群质量来自光度有限的样品增加与年龄非常相似,由于集群的进化衰落。因此,经验质量函数在所有年龄段都近似于指数为-2的幂律,或者稍陡一些。结果通过对相互作用星系M51的星团人口的应用来说明,这可以很好地描述为M*=(1.9+/-0.5 x10 ^5 M_sun)和一个短的(与质量相关的)破裂时间在大约一个Gyr内摧毁M* 星团的模型。

英文摘要:

Several recent studies have shown that the star cluster initial mass function (CIMF) can be well approximated by a power law, with indications for a steepening or truncation at high masses. This contribution considers the evolution of such a mass function due to cluster disruption, with emphasis on the part of the mass function that is observable in the first ~Gyr. A Schechter type function is used for the CIMF, with a power law index of -2 at low masses and an exponential truncation at M*. Cluster disruption due to the tidal field of the host galaxy and encounters with giant molecular clouds flattens the low-mass end of the mass function, but there is always a part of the `evolved Schechter function' that can be approximated by a power law with index -2. The mass range for which this holds depends on age, t, and shifts to higher masses roughly as t^0.6. Mean cluster masses derived from luminosity limited samples increase with age very similarly due to the evolutionary fading of clusters. Empirical mass functions are, therefore, approximately power laws with index -2, or slightly steeper, at all ages. The results are illustrated by an application to the star cluster population of the interacting galaxy M51, which can be well described by a model with M*=(1.9+/-0.5)x10^5 M_sun and a short (mass-dependent) disruption time destroying M* clusters in roughly a Gyr.

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