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arXiv 2009.01241astro-ph.GA
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矮星系中恒星金属丰度与星系年龄的关系

A Relationship Between Stellar Metallicity Gradients and Galaxy Age in Dwarf Galaxies

Francisco J. Mercado, James S. Bullock, Michael Boylan-Kolchin, Jorge Moreno, Andrew Wetzel, Kareem El-Badry, Andrew S. Graus, Alex Fitts, Philip F. Hopkins, Cl… 展开作者

Francisco J. Mercado, James S. Bullock, Michael Boylan-Kolchin, Jorge Moreno, Andrew Wetzel, Kareem El-Badry, Andrew S. Graus, Alex Fitts, Philip F. Hopkins, Claude-André Faucher-Giguère

摘要:

我们探讨恒星金属丰度梯度在模拟和观测矮星系的起源。我们使用FIRE-2宇宙学重子放大模拟的26个孤立星系以及现有的观测数据的10个本星系群矮星系。我们模拟的星系的恒星质量在$10^{5.5}$和$10^{8.6} \msun$之间。虽然在我们模拟的星系中气相金属丰度梯度一般较弱,但我们发现恒星金属丰度梯度很常见,中心区域往往比外部更富含金属。梯度的强度与整个星系的恒星年龄中值有关,因此拥有较年轻恒星星族的星系具有较平坦的梯度。恒星的金属梯度是由两个相互竞争的过程决定的:(1)由反馈驱动的势能波动导致的古老的贫金属恒星的稳定“膨胀”,以及(2)晚期扩展的富金属气体的吸积,这为晚期富金属恒星的形成提供了燃料。如果最近的恒星形成占主导地位,那么扩展的富含金属的恒星形成会从“膨胀”过程中洗掉先前存在的梯度。我们使用10个本星系群矮星系的结果表明,年龄和恒星金属度梯度强度之间存在类似的关系,真正的矮星。这表明观测到的恒星金属丰度梯度可能主要是由重子/反馈循环驱动的,而不是外部环境的影响。

英文摘要:

We explore the origin of stellar metallicity gradients in simulated and observed dwarf galaxies. We use FIRE-2 cosmological baryonic zoom-in simulations of 26 isolated galaxies as well as existing observational data for 10 Local Group dwarf galaxies. Our simulated galaxies have stellar masses between $10^{5.5}$ and $10^{8.6} \msun$. Whilst gas-phase metallicty gradients are generally weak in our simulated galaxies, we find that stellar metallicity gradients are common, with central regions tending to be more metal-rich than the outer parts. The strength of the gradient is correlated with galaxy-wide median stellar age, such that galaxies with younger stellar populations have flatter gradients. Stellar metallicty gradients are set by two competing processes: (1) the steady "puffing" of old, metal-poor stars by feedback-driven potential fluctuations, and (2) the accretion of extended, metal-rich gas at late times, which fuels late-time metal-rich star formation. If recent star formation dominates, then extended, metal-rich star formation washes out pre-existing gradients from the "puffing" process. We use published results from ten Local Group dwarf galaxies to show that a similar relationship between age and stellar metallicity-gradient strength exists among real dwarfs. This suggests that observed stellar metallicity gradients may be driven largely by the baryon/feedback cycle rather than by external environmental effects.

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