Cold-Mode Accretion: Driving the Fundamental Mass-Metallicity Relation at z~2

TL;DR

This study shows that cold-mode accretion influences the fundamental mass-metallicity relation at z~2, linking cosmological gas inflow to galaxy properties through observations and simulations.

Contribution

It provides the first observational evidence connecting cold-mode accretion with the mass-metallicity relation at high redshift, supported by hydrodynamical simulations.

Findings

Low SFR galaxies have higher metallicity at fixed mass.

Gas masses and metallicities align with cold-mode accretion predictions.

Cold-mode accretion likely drives the fundamental relation at z~2.

Abstract

We investigate the star formation rate (SFR) dependence on the stellar mass and gas-phase metallicity relation at z=2 with MOSFIRE/Keck as part of the ZFIRE survey. We have identified 117 galaxies (1.98 < z < 2.56), with $8.9\leq$log(M/M$_{\odot}$)$\leq11.0$, for which we can measure gas-phase metallicities. For the first time, we show discernible difference between the mass-metallicity relation, using individual galaxies, when deviding the sample by low ($<10$~M$_{\odot}$yr$^{-1}$) and high ($>10$~M$_{\odot}$yr$^{-1}$) SFRs. At fixed mass, low star-forming galaxies tend to have higher metallicity than high star-forming galaxies. Using a few basic assumptions, we further show that the gas masses and metallicities required to produce the fundamental mass--metallicity relation, and its intrinsic scatter, are consistent with cold-mode accretion predictions obtained from the OWLS hydrodynamical simulations. Our results from both simulations and observations are suggestive that cold-mode accretion is responsible for the fundamental mass-metallicity relation at $z=2$ and demonstrates the direct relationship between cosmological accretion and the fundamental properties of galaxies.