SIMBAD references

In this paper, we use the general theory worked out within the past few years for the structure and the evolution of low-mass stars to derive the stellar mass function in the Galactic disk down to the vicinity of the hydrogen-burning limit from the observed nearby luminosity functions. The accuracy of the mass-magnitude relationships derived from the aforementioned theory is examined by comparison with recent, accurate observational relationships in the M-dwarf domain. The mass function is shown to flatten out below ∼1 M_☉ but to keep rising down to the bottom of the main sequence. Combining the present determination below 1 M_☉ and J. M. Scalo's mass function for larger masses, we show that the mass function is well described over the entire stellar mass range, from ∼100 M_☉ to ∼0.1 M_☉, by three functional forms, namely, a two-segment power law, a lognormal form, or an exponential form, all normalized to the Hipparcos sample at 0.8 M_☉. Integration of this mass function yields a reasonably accurate census of the entire stellar population in the Galactic disk and its volume and surface mass density.