Abstract
The stellar mass function of a large sample of Galactic clusters (young and old) can be well reproduced with a tapered power law distribution function with an exponential truncation of the form dN/dM α m −α [1−exp(−m/m p)β]. The average value of the power-law index α is very close to Salpeter (∼ 2.3), whereas the peak mass m p is in the range 0.1–0.6 M⊙ and does not seem to vary in a systematic way with the present cluster parameters such as metal abundance and central concentration. A remarkable correlation with age, however, is seen in that older disc clusters have highermp, m p although this trend does not extend to globular clusters, whose value of m p is lower than that of old open clusters. This trend most likely results from the onset of mass segregation following early dynamical interactions in the loose cluster cores. Dierences between globular and younger clusters may depend on the initial environment of star formation.
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De Marchi, G. (2003). The Stellar Mass Function of Galactic Clusters and Its Evolution. In: Lépine, J., Gregorio-Hetem, J. (eds) Open Issues in Local Star Formation. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 299. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-2600-5_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-2600-5_2
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