Identifying Variations to the IMF at High-z Through Deep Radio Surveys
- Creators
- Murphy, Eric J.
Abstract
In this article I briefly describe how deep radio surveys may provide a means to identify variations in the upper end of the initial mass function (IMF) in star-forming galaxies at high redshifts (i.e., z ≳ 3). At such high redshifts, I argue that deep radio continuum observations at frequencies ≳10 GHz using next generation facilities (e.g., EVLA, MeerKAT, SKA/NAA) will likely provide the most accurate measurements for the ionizing photon rates (star formation rates; SFRs) of normal galaxies since their non-thermal emission should be highly suppressed due to the increased inverse Compton (IC) losses from the cosmic microwave background (CMB), leaving only thermal (free-free) emission detectable. Thus, a careful analysis of such observations in combination with future ALMA and JWST data, measuring the rest-frame far-infrared and UV emission from the same population of galaxies, may yield the best means to search for variability in the stellar IMF at such epochs.
Additional Information
© 2011 Astronomical Society of the Pacific. I would like to thank the organizers of the UP2010 conferences for putting together an exciting and diverse program, as well for letting me be a part of it.Attached Files
Published - Murphy2011p13942Up2010_Have_Observations_Revealed_A_Variable_Upper_End_Of_The_Initial_Mass_Function.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 24180
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20110623-095747177
- Created
-
2011-06-23Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
-
2019-10-03Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Space Astrophysics Laboratory
- Series Name
- ASP Conference Series
- Series Volume or Issue Number
- 440