The Role of Metallicity in the Chemical Evolution of Star-Forming Regions

TL;DR

This paper reviews how metallicity influences the chemical evolution of star-forming regions, emphasizing recent observational insights from low-metallicity environments to understand interstellar chemistry in the early universe.

Contribution

It provides a synthesis of recent observational studies on interstellar molecules in low-metallicity regions, highlighting the complex relationship between metallicity and molecular abundances.

Findings

Molecular abundances do not simply scale with metallicity.

Processes other than metallicity influence interstellar chemistry.

Recent observations reveal unique chemical signatures in low-metallicity environments.

Abstract

Understanding the interstellar chemistry in low-metallicity environments is crucial to unveil physical and chemical processes in the past Galaxy or those in high-redshift galaxies, where the metallicity was significantly lower compared to the present-day solar neighborhood. This is also important for the understanding of the diversity of the chemical evolution in various regions of our Galaxy. Nearby low-metallicity laboratories, such as the outskirts of our Galaxy, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, and the other gas-rich dwarf galaxies in the Local Group, will provide important insights for this purpose. In the last decade, there has been great progress in astrochemical studies of interstellar molecules in low-metallicity star-forming regions. Do molecular abundances simply scale with the metallicity? If not, which processes govern the chemistry in the low-metallicity interstellar medium? In this proceeding, I will discuss the role of metallicity in the chemical evolution of star-forming regions based on recent observations of interstellar molecules in low-metallicity environments.