Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Tapia-Contreras, Brian, Tissera, Patricia B., Sillero, Emanuel, Jofré, Paula, Yaxley, Keaghan, Hua, Xia, Yates, Robert M., S., Álvaro Márquez, Signor, Theosamuele, Das, Payel, Rojas-Arriagada, Álvaro, Aguilera-Gómez, Claudia, Jara-Ferreira, Francisco, Foley, Robert A.
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2026
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.11974
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866913027133014016
author Tapia-Contreras, Brian
Tissera, Patricia B.
Sillero, Emanuel
Jofré, Paula
Yaxley, Keaghan
Hua, Xia
Yates, Robert M.
S., Álvaro Márquez
Signor, Theosamuele
Das, Payel
Rojas-Arriagada, Álvaro
Aguilera-Gómez, Claudia
Jara-Ferreira, Francisco
Foley, Robert A.
author_facet Tapia-Contreras, Brian
Tissera, Patricia B.
Sillero, Emanuel
Jofré, Paula
Yaxley, Keaghan
Hua, Xia
Yates, Robert M.
S., Álvaro Márquez
Signor, Theosamuele
Das, Payel
Rojas-Arriagada, Álvaro
Aguilera-Gómez, Claudia
Jara-Ferreira, Francisco
Foley, Robert A.
contents Phylogenetic methods, traditionally used in biology to trace the evolutionary relationships among species, are emerging as a powerful framework to reconstruct evolutionary processes in galaxies from chemical information. We apply galactic phylogenetics to study the chemical evolution of stellar populations in distinct regions of a simulated disc galaxy, assessing its capability to unveil assembly histories. We used a high-resolution simulation that follows the chemical enrichment of an isolated disc galaxy, by different stellar progenitors. We track gas particles as they turn into stars and inherit their parent gas chemical composition. Target particles are selected to store the chemical history of each chemical element considered in the simulation. Two regions were analysed: an inner ring, influenced by early bar-driven inflows, and an outer ring, shaped by spiral arms. We built phylogenetic trees for stellar populations in each region and quantified their structure using the Corrected Colless index, a standard metric of tree balance used in biology. The inner ring tree reveals a compact clade of old stars enriched by rapid SNII feedback, followed by a hierarchical sequence with increasing SNIa and AGB contributions. In contrast, the outer ring exhibits more symmetric, caterpillar-like trees with smoother abundance gradients, consistent with more prolonged star formation and efficient local mixing. Chemical enrichment rates corroborate these trends, showing fast early enrichment in the inner ring and gradual, spatially extended enrichment in the outer disc. The structural indices differ significantly between the two regions and converge robustly even for modest stellar samples (NSSP = 100). Galactic phylogenetics provides a novel and complementary tool to decode the fossil record of galaxies.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_11974
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Reconstructing chemical enrichment pathways in disc galaxies: A phylogenetic approach
Tapia-Contreras, Brian
Tissera, Patricia B.
Sillero, Emanuel
Jofré, Paula
Yaxley, Keaghan
Hua, Xia
Yates, Robert M.
S., Álvaro Márquez
Signor, Theosamuele
Das, Payel
Rojas-Arriagada, Álvaro
Aguilera-Gómez, Claudia
Jara-Ferreira, Francisco
Foley, Robert A.
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Phylogenetic methods, traditionally used in biology to trace the evolutionary relationships among species, are emerging as a powerful framework to reconstruct evolutionary processes in galaxies from chemical information. We apply galactic phylogenetics to study the chemical evolution of stellar populations in distinct regions of a simulated disc galaxy, assessing its capability to unveil assembly histories. We used a high-resolution simulation that follows the chemical enrichment of an isolated disc galaxy, by different stellar progenitors. We track gas particles as they turn into stars and inherit their parent gas chemical composition. Target particles are selected to store the chemical history of each chemical element considered in the simulation. Two regions were analysed: an inner ring, influenced by early bar-driven inflows, and an outer ring, shaped by spiral arms. We built phylogenetic trees for stellar populations in each region and quantified their structure using the Corrected Colless index, a standard metric of tree balance used in biology. The inner ring tree reveals a compact clade of old stars enriched by rapid SNII feedback, followed by a hierarchical sequence with increasing SNIa and AGB contributions. In contrast, the outer ring exhibits more symmetric, caterpillar-like trees with smoother abundance gradients, consistent with more prolonged star formation and efficient local mixing. Chemical enrichment rates corroborate these trends, showing fast early enrichment in the inner ring and gradual, spatially extended enrichment in the outer disc. The structural indices differ significantly between the two regions and converge robustly even for modest stellar samples (NSSP = 100). Galactic phylogenetics provides a novel and complementary tool to decode the fossil record of galaxies.
title Reconstructing chemical enrichment pathways in disc galaxies: A phylogenetic approach
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.11974