Probing the major driver of stellar population properties over sub-galaxy scales with SDSS MaNGA IFU spectroscopy

TL;DR

This study uses SDSS MaNGA IFU spectroscopy to demonstrate that local velocity dispersion, reflecting the local gravitational potential, is the primary driver of stellar population properties on sub-galaxy scales, surpassing galaxy-wide parameters.

Contribution

It provides evidence that local velocity dispersion is the main factor influencing star formation histories at sub-galaxy scales, challenging traditional galaxy-wide scaling relations.

Findings

Strong correlation between local velocity dispersion and star formation indicators.

Weaker correlation between galactocentric distance and stellar populations.

Local stellar mass shows less correlation with population properties.

Abstract

Thanks to Integral Field Unit survey data it is possible to explore in detail the link between the formation of the stellar content in galaxies and the drivers of evolution. Traditionally, scaling relations have connected galaxy-wide parameters such as stellar mass (M$_s$), morphology or average velocity dispersion ($\sigma$) to the star formation histories (SFHs). We study a high quality sample of SDSS-MaNGA spectra to test the possibility that sub-galaxy ($\sim$2\,kpc) scales are dominant, instead of galaxy-wide parameters. We find a strong correlation between local velocity dispersion and key line strengths that depend on the SFHs, allowing us to make the ansatz that this indicator - that maps the local gravitational potential - is the major driver of star formation in galaxies, whereas larger scales play a role of a secondary nature. Galactocentric distance has a weaker correlation, suggesting that the observed radial gradients effectively reflect local variations of velocity dispersion. In our quest for a cause, instead of a correlation, we contrast $\sigma$ with local stellar mass, that appears less correlated with population properties. We conclude that the inherently higher uncertainty in M$_s$ may explain its lower correlation with respect to $\sigma$, but the extra uncertainty needed for $\sigma$ to have similar correlations as M$_s$ is rather high. Therefore we posit local velocity dispersion as the major driver of evolution, a result that should be reproduced by hydrodynamical models at the proper resolution.