"Semi-Resolved Stellar Populations: Features and Prospects"

Abstract:

Stellar population synthesis models implicitly rely on the assumption of a fully sampled initial mass function (IMF). However, with current technological developments pushing towards high angular resolution and ultra deep observations, this assumption does not necessarily hold true. The possibility of an incomplete sampling of the IMF poses therefore a fundamental challenge to all state-of-the art stellar population models currently available. In this talk, I will describe how the same principles and ingredients of the standard evolutionary stellar population synthesis can be naturally combined with a partially sampled IMF. This so-called semi-resolved regime requires profound methodological changes but also offers unique and promising observational opportunities.