1997/10/17 by Rosemary F. G. Wyse · 29 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Cosmology #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Initial mass function #Intracluster medium #Invariant (physics) #Nucleosynthesis #Stellar evolution #Stellar mass #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #Supernova #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/311021
published in The Astrophysical Journal 490(1), L69-L72 (IOP Publishing) · 9 pages, LateX (aaspp4 macro), including one postscript figure. Accepted, ApJ Letters
arxiv created 1997/10/17 · openalex publication_date 1997/11/20 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Evidence supporting the hypothesis of an invariant stellar initial mass function (IMF) is strong and varied. The intracluster medium (ICM) in rich clusters of galaxies is one of the few contrary locations where recent interpretations of the chemical abundances have favored an IMF that is biased toward massive stars, compared with the "normal" IMF. This interpretation hinges upon the neglect of Type Ia supernovae toward the ICM enrichment, and a particular choice of the nucleosynthesis yields of Type II supernovae. We demonstrate here that when one adopts yields determined empirically from observations of Galactic stars, rather than the uncertain model yields, a self-consistent picture may be obtained with an invariant stellar IMF and about half of the iron in the ICM being produced by Type Ia supernovae.