The evolution of the mass-metallicity relation in SDSS galaxies uncovered by astropaleontology
N. Vale Asari (1,2), G. Stasinska (2), R. Cid Fernandes (1), J. M., Gomes (1,3), M. Schlickmann (1), A. Mateus (4), W. Schoenell (1) (for the, SEAGal collaboration) ((1) UFSC, Brazil, (2) LUTH, Observatoire de Paris,, France, (3) GEPI, Observatoire de Paris, France, (4) USP
TL;DR
This study traces the evolution of the mass-metallicity relation in SDSS galaxies over cosmic time, revealing that it steepens at higher redshifts and is primarily influenced by star formation history rather than gas flows.
Contribution
It provides the first detailed lookback analysis of the M-Z relation using stellar metallicities from SDSS, modeling its evolution with a closed-box approach across galaxy types and masses.
Findings
The M-Z relation steepens and widens at higher redshifts.
Star formation history predominantly drives the M-Z relation.
Gas inflows and outflows are less influential in shaping the relation.
Abstract
We have obtained the mass-metallicity (M-Z) relation at different lookback times for the same set of galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, using the stellar metallicities estimated with our spectral synthesis code STARLIGHT. We have found that this relation steepens and spans a wider range in both mass and metallicity at higher redshifts. We have modeled the time evolution of stellar metallicity with a closed-box chemical evolution model, for galaxies of different types and masses. Our results suggest that the M-Z relation for galaxies with present-day stellar masses down to 10^10 M_sun is mainly driven by the history of star formation history and not by inflows or outflows.
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