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arXiv 1404.6533astro-ph.GAastro-ph.CO
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早型星系恒星初始质量函数的径向变化

Radial variations in the stellar initial mass function of early-type galaxies

Ignacio Martín-Navarro, Francesco La Barbera, Alexandre Vazdekis, Jesús Falcón-Barroso, Ignacio Ferreras

摘要:

宇宙初始质量函数(IMF)的假设--由附近恒星系统的观测所激发--最近受到了挑战,因为发现早型星系(ETG)的IMF随中心速度色散σ的系统性变化,朝向高σ星系中的过量低质量恒星。这种趋势迄今为止是从积分光谱中得出的,目前仍无法解释。为了检验这种趋势是否取决于星系内部的局部性质,我们获得了三个附近ETG的新的、极深的光谱数据,其中两个星系具有高σ(~300 km/s),一个较低质量系统,σ ~ 100 km/s。从IMF敏感的光谱特征的分析,我们发现,IMF依赖于银河系中心的距离显着的大规模ETG,与增强的小质量恒星的分数f主要局限于其中心区域。相比之下,低σ星系在IMF中没有表现出任何明显的径向梯度,相对于大质量星系的最内部区域,在所有半径上,IMF的分布较浅。这样的结果表明,IMF应被视为一个本地(而不是全球)的财产,并提出了一个显着的差异的核心和外部区域的大规模ETG的形成过程。

英文摘要:

The hypothesis of a universal initial mass function (IMF) -- motivated by observations in nearby stellar systems -- has been recently challenged by the discovery of a systematic variation of the IMF with the central velocity dispersion, σ, of early-type galaxies (ETGs), towards an excess of low-mass stars in high-σ galaxies. This trend has been derived so far from integrated spectra, and remains unexplained at present. To test whether such trend depends on the local properties within a galaxy, we have obtained new, extremely deep, spectroscopic data, for three nearby ETGs, two galaxies with high σ (~300 km/s), and one lower mass system, with σ ~ 100 km/s. From the analysis of IMF-sensitive spectral features, we find that the IMF depends significantly on galactocentric distance in the massive ETGs, with the enhanced fraction of low-mass stars f mostly confined to their central regions. In contrast, the low-σ galaxy does not show any significant radial gradient in the IMF, well described by a shallower distribution, relative to the innermost regions of massive galaxies, at all radii. Such a result indicates that the IMF should be regarded as a local (rather than global) property, and suggests a significant difference between the formation process of the core and the outer regions of massive ETGs.

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