How galaxies form: Mass assembly from chemical abundances in the era of large surveys

TL;DR

This paper discusses how chemical abundance data from stars, combined with large-scale surveys, can enhance our understanding of galaxy formation and mass assembly processes.

Contribution

It proposes a framework for integrating chemical and kinematic data from upcoming large surveys to improve galaxy formation models.

Findings

Chemical abundances trace star formation history.

Correlations between chemistry and kinematics reveal galaxy evolution.

Large surveys will enable detailed mass assembly studies.

Abstract

The chemical abundances in the atmosphere of a star provide unique information about the gas from which that star formed, and, modulo processes that are not important for the vast majority of stars, such as mass transfer in close binary systems, are conserved through a star's life. Correlations between chemistry and kinematics have been used for decades to trace dynamical evolution of the Milky Way Galaxy. I discuss how it should be possible to refine and extend such analyses, provided planned large-scale deep imaging surveys have matched spectroscopic surveys.