THE KENNICUTT–SCHMIDT RELATION IN EXTREMELY METAL-POOR DWARF GALAXIES
- Instituto Astrofísica de Canarias, E-38200 La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain)
- National Institute for Astrophysics, Astronomical Observatory of Rome, Via Frascati 33, I-00040 Monteporzio Catone (Rome) (Italy)
- IBM, T. J. Watson Research Center, 1101 Kitchawan Road, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598 (United States)
The Kennicutt–Schmidt (KS) relation between the gas mass and star formation rate (SFR) describes the star formation regulation in disk galaxies. It is a function of gas metallicity, but the low-metallicity regime of the KS diagram is poorly sampled. We have analyzed data for a representative set of extremely metal-poor galaxies (XMPs), as well as auxiliary data, and compared these to empirical and theoretical predictions. The majority of the XMPs possess high specific SFRs, similar to high-redshift star-forming galaxies. On the KS plot, the XMP H i data occupy the same region as dwarfs and extend the relation for low surface brightness galaxies. Considering the H i gas alone, a considerable fraction of the XMPs already fall off the KS law. Significant quantities of “dark” H{sub 2} mass (i.e., not traced by CO) would imply that XMPs possess low star formation efficiencies (SFE{sub gas}). Low SFE{sub gas} in XMPs may be the result of the metal-poor nature of the H i gas. Alternatively, the H i reservoir may be largely inert, the star formation being dominated by cosmological accretion. Time lags between gas accretion and star formation may also reduce the apparent SFE{sub gas}, as may galaxy winds, which can expel most of the gas into the intergalactic medium. Hence, on global scales, XMPs could be H i-dominated, high-specific-SFR (≳10{sup −10} yr{sup −1}), low-SFE{sub gas} (≲10{sup −9} yr{sup −1}) systems, in which the total H i mass is likely not a good predictor of the total H{sub 2} mass, nor of the SFR.
- OSTI ID:
- 22518545
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 820, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
EXTENDED SCHMIDT LAW: ROLE OF EXISTING STARS IN CURRENT STAR FORMATION
BREAKDOWN OF KENNICUTT-SCHMIDT LAW AT GIANT MOLECULAR CLOUD SCALES IN M33