Mathematics – Probability
Scientific paper
Jan 2012
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2012aas...21915106w&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #219, #151.06
Mathematics
Probability
Scientific paper
The high mass stellar initial mass function (IMF) underpins virtually all of extragalactic astrophysics. However, measurements of the IMF above a few solar masses exhibit significant dispersion, and recent evidence is suggestive of environmentally dependent IMF variations. The Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT)program is a multi-wavelength survey including hundreds of resolved young clusters extending from the near-UV to near-IR, allowing for a systematic study of the high mass stellar IMF for a large set of clusters over a wide range of environments.
Here, we present a new Bayesian technique aimed at constraining the properties of the high mass IMF for resolved stars in individual clusters. This method probabilistically considers uncertainties in stellar mass, completeness, and cluster membership, and uses a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) to sample the posterior probability distribution. The MCMC analysis allows us to constrain both the slope of the IMF and the upper stellar mass limit for a single cluster, while fully exploring all associated uncertainties and degeneracies. We present simulations that explore the potential biases introduced by the number of observed stars, stellar mass uncertainties, completeness, aging effects and age spread, and binary stars. The application of this technique to the young cluster population in the PHAT survey will result in the one the most comprehensive investigations of the high mass stellar IMF to date. PHAT is supported by HST GO-12055 administered by NASA.
Dalcanton Julianne J.
Fouesneau Morgan
Hogg David Wardell
Johnson Clifton L.
PHAT Collaboration
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