Chemical evolution of local post-starburst galaxies: Implications for the mass-metallicity relation
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2023
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| _version_ | 1866917585917837312 |
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| author | Leung, Ho-Hin Wild, Vivienne Papathomas, Michail Carnall, Adam Zheng, Yirui Boardman, Nicholas Wang, Cara Johansson, Peter H. |
| author_facet | Leung, Ho-Hin Wild, Vivienne Papathomas, Michail Carnall, Adam Zheng, Yirui Boardman, Nicholas Wang, Cara Johansson, Peter H. |
| contents | We use the stellar fossil record to constrain the stellar metallicity evolution and star-formation histories of the post-starburst (PSB) regions within 45 local post-starburst galaxies from the MaNGA survey. The direct measurement of the regions' stellar metallicity evolution is achieved by a new two-step metallicity model that allows for stellar metallicity to change at the peak of the starburst. We also employ a Gaussian process noise model that accounts for correlated errors introduced by the observational data reduction or inaccuracies in the models. We find that a majority of PSB regions (69% at $>1σ$ significance) increased in stellar metallicity during the recent starburst, with an average increase of 0.8 dex and a standard deviation of 0.4 dex. A much smaller fraction of PSBs are found to have remained constant (22%) or declined in metallicity (9%, average decrease 0.4 dex, standard deviation 0.3 dex). The pre-burst metallicities of the PSB galaxies are in good agreement with the mass-metallicity relation of local star-forming galaxies. These results are consistent with hydrodynamic simulations, which suggest that mergers between gas-rich galaxies are the primary formation mechanism of local PSBs, and rapid metal recycling during the starburst outweighs the impact of dilution by any gas inflows. The final mass-weighted metallicities of the PSB galaxies are consistent with the mass-metallicity relation of local passive galaxies. Our results suggest that rapid quenching following a merger-driven starburst is entirely consistent with the observed gap between the stellar mass-metallicity relations of local star-forming and passive galaxies. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2309_16626 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Chemical evolution of local post-starburst galaxies: Implications for the mass-metallicity relation Leung, Ho-Hin Wild, Vivienne Papathomas, Michail Carnall, Adam Zheng, Yirui Boardman, Nicholas Wang, Cara Johansson, Peter H. Astrophysics of Galaxies We use the stellar fossil record to constrain the stellar metallicity evolution and star-formation histories of the post-starburst (PSB) regions within 45 local post-starburst galaxies from the MaNGA survey. The direct measurement of the regions' stellar metallicity evolution is achieved by a new two-step metallicity model that allows for stellar metallicity to change at the peak of the starburst. We also employ a Gaussian process noise model that accounts for correlated errors introduced by the observational data reduction or inaccuracies in the models. We find that a majority of PSB regions (69% at $>1σ$ significance) increased in stellar metallicity during the recent starburst, with an average increase of 0.8 dex and a standard deviation of 0.4 dex. A much smaller fraction of PSBs are found to have remained constant (22%) or declined in metallicity (9%, average decrease 0.4 dex, standard deviation 0.3 dex). The pre-burst metallicities of the PSB galaxies are in good agreement with the mass-metallicity relation of local star-forming galaxies. These results are consistent with hydrodynamic simulations, which suggest that mergers between gas-rich galaxies are the primary formation mechanism of local PSBs, and rapid metal recycling during the starburst outweighs the impact of dilution by any gas inflows. The final mass-weighted metallicities of the PSB galaxies are consistent with the mass-metallicity relation of local passive galaxies. Our results suggest that rapid quenching following a merger-driven starburst is entirely consistent with the observed gap between the stellar mass-metallicity relations of local star-forming and passive galaxies. |
| title | Chemical evolution of local post-starburst galaxies: Implications for the mass-metallicity relation |
| topic | Astrophysics of Galaxies |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.16626 |