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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2024
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.08856 |
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| _version_ | 1866910441299509248 |
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| author | Garcia, Alex M. Torrey, Paul Ellison, Sara Grasha, Kathryn Hernquist, Lars Zovaro, Henry R. M. Chen, Qian-Hui Hemler, Z. S. Kewley, Lisa J. Nelson, Erica J. Wright, Ruby J. |
| author_facet | Garcia, Alex M. Torrey, Paul Ellison, Sara Grasha, Kathryn Hernquist, Lars Zovaro, Henry R. M. Chen, Qian-Hui Hemler, Z. S. Kewley, Lisa J. Nelson, Erica J. Wright, Ruby J. |
| contents | The scatter about the mass-metallicity relation (MZR) has a correlation with the star formation rate (SFR) of galaxies. The lack of evidence of evolution in correlated scatter at $z\lesssim2.5$ leads many to refer to the relationship between mass, metallicity, and SFR as the Fundamental Metallicity Relation (FMR). Yet, recent high-redshift (z>3) JWST observations have challenged the fundamental (i.e., redshift-invariant) nature of the FMR. In this work, we show that the cosmological simulations Illustris, IllustrisTNG, and EAGLE all predict MZRs that exhibit scatter with a secondary dependence on SFR up to $z=8$. We introduce the concept of a "strong" FMR, where the strength of correlated scatter does not evolve with time, and a "weak" FMR, where there is some time evolution. We find that each simulation analysed has a weak FMR -- there is non-negligible evolution in the strength of the correlation with SFR. Furthermore, we show that the scatter is reduced an additional ~10-40% at $z\gtrsim3$ when using a weak FMR, compared to assuming a strong FMR. These results highlight the importance of avoiding coarse redshift binning when assessing the FMR. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2403_08856 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Does the Fundamental Metallicity Relation Evolve with Redshift? I: The Correlation Between Offsets from the Mass-Metallicity Relation and Star Formation Rate Garcia, Alex M. Torrey, Paul Ellison, Sara Grasha, Kathryn Hernquist, Lars Zovaro, Henry R. M. Chen, Qian-Hui Hemler, Z. S. Kewley, Lisa J. Nelson, Erica J. Wright, Ruby J. Astrophysics of Galaxies The scatter about the mass-metallicity relation (MZR) has a correlation with the star formation rate (SFR) of galaxies. The lack of evidence of evolution in correlated scatter at $z\lesssim2.5$ leads many to refer to the relationship between mass, metallicity, and SFR as the Fundamental Metallicity Relation (FMR). Yet, recent high-redshift (z>3) JWST observations have challenged the fundamental (i.e., redshift-invariant) nature of the FMR. In this work, we show that the cosmological simulations Illustris, IllustrisTNG, and EAGLE all predict MZRs that exhibit scatter with a secondary dependence on SFR up to $z=8$. We introduce the concept of a "strong" FMR, where the strength of correlated scatter does not evolve with time, and a "weak" FMR, where there is some time evolution. We find that each simulation analysed has a weak FMR -- there is non-negligible evolution in the strength of the correlation with SFR. Furthermore, we show that the scatter is reduced an additional ~10-40% at $z\gtrsim3$ when using a weak FMR, compared to assuming a strong FMR. These results highlight the importance of avoiding coarse redshift binning when assessing the FMR. |
| title | Does the Fundamental Metallicity Relation Evolve with Redshift? I: The Correlation Between Offsets from the Mass-Metallicity Relation and Star Formation Rate |
| topic | Astrophysics of Galaxies |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.08856 |