The paper examines the initial mass function (IMF) and time history of the stellar birthrate in the solar neighborhood under the assumption of a time-independent IMF over the lifetime of the galactic disk. All relevant observational quantities and the associated uncertainties are discussed. Also discussed are IMFs derived for a range of birthrate histories consistent with the continuity constraint. Finally, the study summarizes observational and theoretical arguments concerning the basic assumptions that the IMF is time independent and a continuous function of mass.
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Miller et al. (1979) studied this question.