Making top-heavy IMFs from canonical IMFs near the Galactic Centre

Abstract

We show that dynamical evolution in a strong (Galactic Centre-like) tidal field can create clusters that would appear to have very top-heavy IMFs. The tidal disruption of single star forming events can leave several bound `clusters' spread along 20 pc of the orbit within 1-2 Myr. These surviving (sub)clusters tend to contain an over-abundance of massive stars, with low-mass stars tending to be spread along the whole `tidal arm'. Therefore observing a cluster in a strong tidal field with a top-heavy IMF might well not mean the stars formed with a top-heavy IMF.

arXiv comment8 pages, 6 figures, accepted in MNRAS

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Cited by in corpus (3)

• Constraining the population of isolated massive stars within the Central Molecular Zone
• The Lifetimes of Star Clusters Born with a Top-heavy IMF
• Deviations from the universal Initial Mass Function in binary star clusters