Browsing by Author "Hunt, L."

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    INSPIRE: INvestigating Stellar Population In RElics - IV. The initial mass function slope in relics
    (2023) Martin-Navarro, Ignacio; Spiniello, C.; Tortora, C.; Coccato, L.; D'Ago, G.; Ferre-Mateu, A.; Pulsoni, C.; Hartke, J.; Arnaboldi, M.; Hunt, L.; Napolitano, N. R.; Scognamiglio, D.; Spavone, M.
    In the last decade, growing evidence has emerged supporting a non-universal stellar initial mass function (IMF) in massive galaxies, with a larger number of dwarf stars with respect to the Milky Way (bottom-heavy IMF). However, a consensus about the mechanisms that cause IMF variations is yet to be reached. Recently, it has been suggested that stars formed early-on in cosmic time, via a star formation burst, could be characterized by a bottom-heavy IMF. A promising way to confirm this is to use relics, ultra-compact massive galaxies, almost entirely composed by these 'pristine' stars. The INvestigating Stellar Population In RElics (INSPIRE) Project aims at assembling a large sample of confirmed relics, that can serve as laboratory to investigate on the conditions of star formation in the first 1-3 Gyr of the Universe. In this third INSPIRE paper, we build a high signal-to-noise spectrum from five relics, and one from five galaxies with similar sizes, masses, and kinematical properties, but characterized by a more extended star formation history (non-relics). Our detailed stellar population analysis suggests a systematically bottom-heavier IMF slope for relics than for non-relics, adding new observational evidence for the non-universality of the IMF at various redshifts and further supporting the above proposed physical scenario.
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    Nature versus nurture : relic nature and environment of the most massive passive galaxies at z < 0.5
    (2020) Tortora, C.; Napolitano, N. R.; Radovich, M.; Spiniello, C.; Hunt, L.; Roy, N.; Moscardini, L.; Scognamiglio, D.; Spavone, M.; D'Ago, Giuseppe; Cavuoti, S.; Longo, G.; Bellagamba, F.; Maturi, M.; Roncarelli, M.