From the contents Preface -- List of Participants -- The IMF Concept through Time -- The IMF in our Galaxy: Clusters and field stars -- The IMF in our Galaxy: Star Forming Regions -- The Extragalactic IMF -- The Origin of the IMF: Atomic and Molecular Gas Tracers -- The Origin of the IMF: Cloud Fragmentation and Collapse -- The Origin of the IMF: From Gas to Stars -- The "Initial" IMF -- Chuzpah Talks -- Author Index
Summary
Presents the proceedings of a conference held in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the Initial Mass Function (IMF) concept by Ed Salpeter. This book includes reviews on the deep implications of the IMF on star formation theories, and on the physical conditions of the gas before and after star formation