Was the Milky Way a chain galaxy? Using the IGIMF theory to constrain the thin-disk star formation history and mass

Abstract

The observed present-day stellar mass function (PDMF) of the solar neighborhood is a mixture of stellar populations born in star-forming events that occurred over the life-time of the thin disk of the Galaxy. Assuming stars form in embedded clusters which have stellar initial mass functions (IMFs) which depend on the metallicity and density of the star-forming gas clumps, the integrated galaxy-wide IMF (IGIMF) can be calculated. The shape of the IGIMF thus depends on the SFR and metallicity. Here, the shape of the PDMF for stars more massive than $1M_{\odot }$ in combination with the mass density in low-mass stars is used to constrain the current star-formation rate (SFR), the star formation history (SFH) and the current stellar plus remnant mass ($M_{\ast }$) in the Galactic thin disk. This yields the current SFR, ${\dot{M}}_{\ast }=4.1_{-2.8}^{+3.1}{M}_{\odot }$yr${}^{-1}$, a declining SFH and $M_{\ast }=2.1_{-1.5}^{+3.0}\times 10^{11}{M}_{\odot }$, respectively, with a V-band stellar mass-to-light ratio of $M_{\ast }/L_V=2.79_{-0.38}^{+0.48}$.These values are consistent with independent measurements. We also quantify the surface density of black holes and neutron stars in the Galactic thin disk. The invariant canonical IMF can reproduce the PDMF of the Galaxy as well as the IGIMF, but in the universal IMF framework it is not possible to constrain any of the above Galactic properties. Assuming the IGMF theory is the correct framework and in combination with the vertical velocity dispersion data of stars, it follows that the Milky Way would have appeared as a chain galaxy at high redshift.

arXiv comment12 pages, 9 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRAS

References in corpus (95)

• Stellar population synthesis at the resolution of 2003
• Galactic Stellar and Substellar Initial Mass Function
• On the variation of the Initial Mass Function
• Embedded Clusters in Molecular Clouds
• The Initial Mass Function of Stars: Evidence for Uniformity in Variable Systems
• The Galaxy in Context: Structural, Kinematic and Integrated Properties
• Evolution of asymptotic giant branch stars II. Optical to far-infrared isochrones with improved TP-AGB models
• A Universal Stellar Initial Mass Function? A Critical Look at Variations
• Comparison of H-alpha and UV Star Formation Rates in the Local Volume: Systematic Discrepancies for Dwarf Galaxies
• Galactic-Field IMFs of Massive Stars
• Improved Estimates of the Milky Way's Stellar Mass and Star Formation Rate from Hierarchical Bayesian Meta-Analysis
• The Formation of a Bound Star Cluster: From the Orion Nebula Cluster to the Pleiades
• Evolution of asymptotic giant branch stars I. Updated synthetic TP-AGB models and their basic calibration
• The Mass Function of Young Star Clusters in the "Antennae" Galaxies
• On the mass-to-light ratio of the local Galactic disc and the optical luminosity of the Galaxy
• The maximum stellar mass, star-cluster formation and composite stellar populations
• An upper limit to the masses of stars
• Quantitative Spectroscopy of O Stars at Low Metallicity. O Dwarfs in NGC 346
• Evidence for top-heavy stellar initial mass functions with increasing density and decreasing metallicity
• Evidence for a Non-Uniform Initial Mass Function in the Local Universe
• A Morphological Catalog of Galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field
• An excess of massive stars in the local 30 Doradus starburst
• Evidence for a fundamental stellar upper mass limit from clustered star formation
• Chemodynamical Simulations of the Milky Way Galaxy
• Stellar populations dominated by massive stars in dusty starburst galaxies across cosmic time
• Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): The star formation rate dependence of the stellar initial mass function
• The Luminosity Function of Star Clusters in Spiral Galaxies
• The relation between the most-massive star and its parental star cluster mass
• Inverse dynamical population synthesis: Constraining the initial conditions of young stellar clusters by studying their binary populations
• The mass function of young star clusters in spiral galaxies
• On the Star Formation Rate - Brightest Cluster Relation: Estimating the peak SFR in post-merger galaxies
• The Stellar Initial Mass Function of Ultra-Faint Dwarf Galaxies: Evidence for IMF Variations with Galactic Environment
• Implications for the formation of star clusters from extra-galactic star-formation rates
• The Formation of Ultra-Compact Dwarf Galaxies
• The Antennae Galaxies (NGC 4038/4039) Revisited: ACS and NICMOS Observations of a Prototypical Merger
• A Possible Origin of the Mass-Metallicity Relation of Galaxies
• The Spitzer Space Telescope Survey of the Orion A and B Molecular Clouds II: the Spatial Distribution and Demographics of Dusty Young Stellar Objects
• From star clusters to dwarf galaxies: The properties of dynamically hot stellar systems
• Evidence for a non-universal stellar initial mass function from the integrated properties of SDSS galaxies
• Discovery of Face-On Counterparts of Chain Galaxies in the Tadpole ACS Field
• Thickening of galactic disks through clustered star formation
• Statistical Confirmation of a Stellar Upper Mass Limit
• The luminosity function of young star clusters: implications for the maximum mass and luminosity of clusters
• Star Cluster Demographics. I. A General Framework and Application to the Antennae Galaxies
• A top-heavy stellar initial mass function in starbursts as an explanation for the high mass-to-light ratios of ultra compact dwarf galaxies
• Stellar Inventory of the Solar Neighborhood using Gaia DR1
• The Luminosity, Mass, and Age Distributions of Compact Star Clusters in M83 Based on HST/WFC3 Observations
• Extreme Cosmic-Ray-Dominated-Regions: a new paradigm for high star formation density events in the Universe
• On the origin of brown dwarfs and free-floating planetary mass objects
• The mmax-Mecl relation, the IMF and IGIMF: probabilistically sampled functions?
• The dynamical evolution of stellar super-clusters
• Determining Star Formation Timescale and Pattern Speed in Nearby Spiral Galaxies
• Geometrically Derived Timescales for Star Formation in Spiral Galaxies
• Past and present star formation in the SMC: NGC 346 and its neighborhood
• The Sizes and Luminosities of Massive Star Clusters
• The optimally-sampled galaxy-wide stellar initial mass function - Observational tests and the publicly available GalIMF code
• The galaxy-wide IMF of dwarf late-type to massive early-type galaxies
• Confirmation of Enhanced Dwarf-sensitive Absorption Features in the Spectra of Massive Elliptical Galaxies: Further Evidence for a Non-universal Initial Mass Function
• Low-mass X-ray binaries indicate a top-heavy stellar initial mass function in ultra compact dwarf galaxies
• Clustered star formation as a natural explanation of the Halpha cutoff in disc galaxies
• Runaway massive stars from R136: VFTS 682 is very likely a "slow runaway"
• The Origin of the Arches Stellar Cluster Mass Function
• The Stellar Mass Distribution in the Giant Star Forming Region NGC 346
• The bound fraction of young star clusters
• The Stellar Initial Mass Function in Early-Type Galaxies From Absorption Line Spectroscopy. IV. A Super-Salpeter IMF in the center of NGC 1407 from Non-Parametric Models
• The chemical evolution of galaxies within the IGIMF theory: the [alpha/Fe] ratios and downsizing
• Variations of the initial mass function in semi-analytical models: implications for the mass assembly and the chemical enrichment of galaxies in the GAEA model
• Pismis 24-1: The Stellar Upper Mass Limit Preserved
• Evidence of a non universal stellar Initial Mass Function. Insights from HST optical imaging of 6 Ultra Faint Dwarf Milky Way Satellites
• An IMF Study of the Dwarf Starburst Galaxy NGC 4214
• Offsets between H-alpha and CO arms of a spiral galaxy NGC 4254: A New Method for Determining the Pattern Speed of Spiral Galaxies
• A parametric study on the formation of extended star clusters and ultra-compact dwarf galaxies
• The Universal Initial Mass Function In The XUV Disk of M83
• Mass distributions of star clusters for different star formation histories in a galaxy cluster environment
• Type Ibc supernovae in disturbed galaxies: evidence for a top-heavy IMF
• The Magellanic Bridge cluster NGC 796: Deep optical AO imaging reveals the stellar content and initial mass function of a massive open cluster
• The non-universality of the low-mass end of the IMF is robust against the choice of SSP model
• The young stellar population of NGC 4214 as observed with HST. II. Results
• Towards a fully consistent Milky Way disc model - III. Constraining the initial mass function
• Star formation in the outskirts of DDO 154: A top-light IMF in a nearly dormant disc
• The galactocentric radius dependent upper mass limit of young star clusters: stochastic star formation ruled out
• Near-infrared adaptive optics imaging of infrared luminous galaxies: the brightest cluster magnitude - star formation rate relation
• Variations in the Mass Functions of Clustered and Isolated Young Stellar Objects
• Big Fish in Small Ponds: Massive Stars in the Low Mass Clusters of M83
• Sampling methods for stellar masses and the mmax-Mecl relation in the starburst dwarf galaxy NGC 4214
• A Possible Solution for the $M/L-[Fe/H]$ Relation of Globular Clusters in M31. II. the Age-Metallicity Relation
• Effects of the integrated galactic IMF on the chemical evolution of the solar neighbourhood
• Very massive stars in not so massive clusters
• A Possible Solution for the M/L-[Fe/H] Relation of Globular Clusters in M31: A metallicity and density dependent top-heavy IMF
• Modelling the chemical evolution of the Galaxy halo
• Massive open star clusters using the VVV survey V. Young clusters with an OB stellar population
• Constraining the Thin Disc Initial Mass Function using Galactic Classical Cepheids
• A Comprehensive Archival Chandra Search for X-ray Emission from Ultracompact Dwarf Galaxies
• On the origin of the Schechter-like mass function of young star clusters in disk galaxies
• Merging Massive Star Clusters as Building Blocks of Dwarf Galaxies ?

Cited by in corpus (16)

• Gaia DR2 reveals a star formation burst in the disc 2-3 Gyr ago
• Has JWST already falsified dark-matter-driven galaxy formation?
• Bimodality of [α/Fe]-[Fe/H] distributions is a natural outcome of dissipative collapse and disc growth in Milky Way-type galaxies
• The effect of the environment-dependent IMF on the formation and metallicities of stars over the cosmic history
• Star formation history of the solar neighbourhood as told by Gaia
• Stars made in outflows may populate the stellar halo of the Milky Way
• Chemical evolution of elliptical galaxies with a variable IMF -- A publicly available code
• A bottom-heavy initial mass function for the likely-accreted blue-halo stars of the Milky Way
• The Star Formation History and Dynamics of the Ultra-diffuse Galaxy Dragonfly 44 in MOND and MOG
• Constraints on the star formation histories of galaxies in the Local Cosmological Volume
• The effect of the environment-dependent stellar initial mass function on the photometric properties of star-forming galaxies
• The galaxy-wide stellar initial mass function in the presence of cluster-to-cluster IMF variations
• The initial mass function of stars and the star-formation rates of galaxies
• IMF-induced intrinsic uncertainties on measuring galaxy distances based on the number of giant stars: the case of the ultra-diffuse galaxy NGC 1052-DF2
• A Galactic Self-Portrait: Density Structure and Integrated Properties of the Milky Way Disk
• The systematically varying stellar IMF