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arXiv 0801.1670astro-ph
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z~1.0-1.5恒星形成星系的金属丰度和物理条件

Metallicities and Physical Conditions in Star-forming Galaxies at z~1.0-1.5

Xin Liu, Alice E. Shapley, Alison L. Coil, Jarle Brinchmann, Chung-Pei Ma

摘要:

本文研究了从DEEP 2星系红移巡天中选取的20个1.0<z<1.5的恒星形成星系的质量-金属丰度(M-Z)关系和H Ⅱ区的物理条件。我们的分析表明,M-Z关系的零点随红移的变化而变化,在这个意义上,固定恒星质量的星系在较低的红移下变得更富金属。对[O III]/H-β和[N II]/H-α发射线比率的测量表明,平均而言,DEEP 2 1.0<z<1.5样本中的物体与附近H II区域和SDSS发射线星系中观察到的激发序列有明显的偏移。为了充分理解这种偏移的原因,这也是在z~2恒星形成星系中观察到的,我们详细研究了一小部分SDSS星系,它们具有与DEEP 2样本相似的诊断比率。这些星系中的一些表明活动星系核和/或激波活动的证据,这可能会导致他们不寻常的线比,并有助于巴耳末发射线的水平约20%。另一些则表明没有活动星系核或激波激发的证据,但其特征是电子密度和温度较高,因此星际气体压力比类似恒星质量的典型SDSS恒星形成星系更高。这些异常天体也有更高的浓度和恒星形成率表面密度,这与更高的星际压力直接相关。较高的恒星形成速率表面密度、星际压力和HII区电离参数也可能在高红移下常见。当使用强线指示器来了解星系中重元素的演化时,必须考虑到这些影响。当考虑这些影响时,M-Z关系到z~2的推断演变比以前的估计更重要。(节略)

英文摘要:

We present a study of the mass-metallicity (M-Z) relation and H II region physical conditions in a sample of 20 star-forming galaxies at 1.0<z<1.5 drawn from the DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey. Our analysis indicates that the zero point of the M-Z relationship evolves with redshift, in the sense that galaxies at fixed stellar mass become more metal-rich at lower redshift. Measurements of [O III]/H-beta and [N II]/H-alpha emission-line ratios show that, on average, objects in the DEEP2 1.0<z<1.5 sample are significantly offset from the excitation sequence observed in nearby H II regions and SDSS emission-line galaxies. In order to fully understand the causes of this offset, which is also observed in z~2 star-forming galaxies, we examine in detail the small fraction of SDSS galaxies that have similar diagnostic ratios to those of the DEEP2 sample. Some of these galaxies indicate evidence for AGN and/or shock activity, which may give rise to their unusual line ratios, and contribute to Balmer emission lines at the level of ~20%. Others indicate no evidence for AGN or shock excitation, yet are characterized by higher electron densities and temperatures, and therefore, interstellar gas pressures, than typical SDSS star-forming galaxies of similar stellar mass. These anomalous objects also have higher concentrations and star-formation rate surface densities, which are directly connected to higher interstellar pressure. Higher star-formation rate surface densities, interstellar pressures, and HII region ionization parameters may also be common at high-redshift. These effects must be taken into account when using strong-line indicators to understand the evolution of heavy elements in galaxies. When such effects are included, the inferred evolution of the M-Z relation out to z~2 is more significant than previous estimates. (abridged)

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