Si IV and C IV resonance lines as indicators of massive stars in starburst galaxies

Details Si IV and C IV resonance lines as indicators of massive stars in starburst galaxies Si IV and C IV resonance lines as indicators of massive stars in starburst galaxies

May 1991

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1991apj...373...89l&link_type=abstract

Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 373, May 20, 1991, p. 89-99.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

17

Abundance, B Stars, O Stars, Resonance Lines, Starburst Galaxies, Stellar Spectra, Carbon, Main Sequence Stars, Silicon, Stellar Mass, Stellar Winds, Ultraviolet Spectra

Scientific paper

The use of the ultraviolet lines of SI IV and C IV to study the initial mass function of massive stars in starburst galaxies is investigated. Radiatively driven wind models of stars with different metal content are computed. The resulting wind parameters are used as an input for line-profile calculations of Si IV and C IV. The metallicity dependence of the equivalent widths of these lines for representative hot star models is described. It is shown that the ratio of the Si IV and C IV line strengths decreases with decreasing metallicity under the conditions typically prevailing in stellar winds. It is also shown that in a combined spectrum of a galaxy, in which main-sequence stars dominate the UV spectrum, this ratio is expected to increase with decreasing metallicity for a constant initial mass function. The possible contribution of interstellar lines to the integrated spectrum is also discussed. It is found that spectral synthesis models do not allow one to derive parameters of the initial mass function as has been done previously. The mass-loss characteristics of massive stars directly affect the predicted line strengths, and they enter in an indirect way by modifying the evolutionary history of the stars. Both effects are not accounted for in synthesis models presently in existence.

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