Abundance ratios in the hot ISM of elliptical galaxies

TL;DR

This study uses advanced chemical evolution models incorporating dust and different supernova scenarios to better understand the iron abundance and alpha/Fe ratios in the hot interstellar medium of elliptical galaxies.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive model with dust and varied SNIa progenitors to resolve the Fe discrepancy and match observed abundance ratios in elliptical galaxies.

Findings

Models with Fe-only dust and lower SNIa rates improve Fe abundance agreement.

A modified SNIa yield, especially from the C-DDT explosion model, better reproduces observed ratios.

Standard models require adjustments to fully match observed abundance patterns.

Abstract

To constrain the recipes put forth to solve the theoretical Fe discrepancy in the hot interstellar medium of elliptical galaxies and at the same time explain the [alpha/Fe] ratios. In order to do so we use the latest theoretical nucleosynthetic yields, we incorporate the dust, we explore differing SNIa progenitor scenarios by means of a self-consistent chemical evolution model which reproduces the properties of the stellar populations in elliptical galaxies. Models with Fe-only dust and/or a lower effective SNIa rate achieve a better agreement with the observed Fe abundance. However, a suitable modification to the SNIa yield with respect to the standard W7 model is needed to fully match the abundance ratio pattern. The 2D explosion model C-DDT by Maeda et al. (2010) is a promising candidate for reproducing the [Fe/H] and the [alpha/Fe] ratios. (A&A format)