arXiv 1001.09792010-01-06astro-ph.COastro-ph.GA

非线性色-金属度关系下的球状星团质量-金属度关系

The Mass-Metallicity Relation of Globular Clusters in the Context of Nonlinear Color-Metallicty Relations

John P. Blakeslee, Michele Cantiello, Eric W. Peng

备注：: Accepted for publication in ApJ, vol. 710, February 2010
发表信息：: Astrophysical Journal 710 (2010) 51-63
DOI：: 10.1088/0004-637X/710/1/51

摘要：

河外球状星团（GC）星族研究的两个最新经验进展是蓝色GC的色-星等关系（“蓝色倾斜”）和光学GC色与金属丰度的非线性关系。颜色-星等关系被解释为质量-金属丰度关系，被认为是自富集的结果。非线性颜色-金属丰度关系已经被证明可以从单峰金属丰度分布产生双峰颜色分布。我们模拟GC人口，包括质量金属丰度标度关系和非线性颜色金属丰度关系的理论和观测的动机。根据假设的金属丰度范围和GC光度函数（GCLF）的宽度，我们发现，模拟的人口可以有双峰的颜色分布与“蓝色倾斜”类似的观察，即使金属丰度分布出现单峰。产生这些特征的模型具有相对高的平均GC金属丰度和几乎相等的蓝峰和红峰，这是巨大椭圆星系的特征。在矮椭圆星系典型的金属丰度模型中，蓝色倾斜不太明显;这些星系中较窄的GCLF在降低其色星等斜率的重要性方面具有更大的影响。我们严格审查的证据，非线性与双峰金属丰度的解释的特点双峰颜色直方图的巨型椭圆，并得出结论，这个问题仍然是开放的。我们讨论了进一步的理论和观测进展的前景，在约束这里提出的模型，并揭示真正的河外球状星团系统的金属丰度分布。

英文摘要：

Two recent empirical developments in the study of extragalactic globular cluster (GC) populations are the color-magnitude relation of the blue GCs (the "blue tilt") and the nonlinearity of the dependence of optical GC colors on metallicity. The color-magnitude relation, interpreted as a mass-metallicity relation, is thought to be a consequence of self-enrichment. Nonlinear color-metallicity relations have been shown to produce bimodal color distributions from unimodal metallicity distributions. We simulate GC populations including both a mass-metallicity scaling relation and nonlinear color-metallicity relations motivated by theory and observations. Depending on the assumed range of metallicities and the width of the GC luminosity function (GCLF), we find that the simulated populations can have bimodal color distributions with a "blue tilt" similar to observations, even though the metallicity distribution appears unimodal. The models that produce these features have the relatively high mean GC metallicities and nearly equal blue and red peaks characteristic of giant elliptical galaxies. The blue tilt is less apparent in the models with metallicities typical of dwarf ellipticals; the narrower GCLF in these galaxies has an even bigger effect in reducing the significance of their color-magnitude slopes. We critically examine the evidence for nonlinearity versus bimodal metallicities as explanations for the characteristic double-peaked color histograms of giant ellipticals and conclude that the question remains open. We discuss the prospects for further theoretical and observational progress in constraining the models presented here and for uncovering the true metallicity distributions of extragalactic globular cluster systems.

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