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arXiv 1004.3789astro-ph.GAastro-ph.CO
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恒星晕II的双重起源:化学丰度作为形成历史的示踪

The Dual Origin of Stellar Halos II: Chemical Abundances as Tracers of Formation History

Adi Zolotov, Beth Willman, Alyson Brooks, Fabio Governato, David W. Hogg, Sijing Shen, James Wadsley

摘要:

完全宇宙学的,高分辨率的N-Body + SPH模拟被用来研究模拟恒星晕中恒星的化学丰度趋势作为其起源的函数。这些模拟采用了物理激励的超新星反馈配方,以及金属富集,金属冷却和金属扩散。正如在早期的论文中所提出的,在这项研究中的模拟星系被恒星晕包围,其内部区域包含从卫星星系吸积的恒星和在主星系中心区域原位形成的恒星,后来通过合并转移到它们的内晕。分析了位于类太阳观测者10 kpc范围内的晕星的丰度分布([Fe/H]和[O/Fe])。我们发现,对于没有经历过最近的重大合并的星系,在原位恒星的金属丰度分布函数的高端[Fe/H]比吸积恒星在类似的[Fe/H]更[α/Fe]-丰富。在给定的[Fe/H]下,晕星的[O/Fe]的这种二分法是由原位和吸积晕星形成的不同势阱引起的。这些结果与最近对本地银河系晕星的观测结果定性相符。因此,通过观察银河系和其他L* 星系晕群的变化趋势,观测者可能会发现不同物理过程对恒星晕形成的相对贡献。

英文摘要:

Fully cosmological, high resolution N-Body + SPH simulations are used to investigate the chemical abundance trends of stars in simulated stellar halos as a function of their origin. These simulations employ a physically motivated supernova feedback recipe, as well as metal enrichment, metal cooling and metal diffusion. As presented in an earlier paper, the simulated galaxies in this study are surrounded by stellar halos whose inner regions contain both stars accreted from satellite galaxies and stars formed in situ in the central regions of the main galaxies and later displaced by mergers into their inner halos. The abundance patterns ([Fe/H] and [O/Fe]) of halo stars located within 10 kpc of a solar-like observer are analyzed. We find that for galaxies which have not experienced a recent major merger, in situ stars at the high [Fe/H] end of the metallicity distribution function are more [alpha/Fe]-rich than accreted stars at similar [Fe/H]. This dichotomy in the [O/Fe] of halo stars at a given [Fe/H] results from the different potential wells within which in situ and accreted halo stars form. These results qualitatively match recent observations of local Milky Way halo stars. It may thus be possible for observers to uncover the relative contribution of different physical processes to the formation of stellar halos by observing such trends in the halo populations of the Milky Way, and other local L* galaxies.

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