Present-day mass function of the Arches cluster. Red lines correspond to the mass distribution derived based on the N-EL, while black lines represent the mass function assuming the RL-EL. Both mass functions are fitted with a power-law like function with reported slopes of α shown in the respective color. The mass functions are plotted in three regions: a) the inner core of r < 0.2 pc; b) the intermediate annulus of 0.2 < r < 0.4 pc and; c) the cluster outskirts of 0.4 < r < 1.5 pc. The mass function steepens as we move outward from the cluster center. The complete mass distribution of the cluster within r < 1.5 pc d) is consistent within the uncertainties with a Salpeter IMF. The illustrated error for the slopes only represents the numerical fitting uncertainties (see Table 4, and Sect. 5.2 for a discussion).