THE METALLICITY EVOLUTION OF STAR-FORMING GALAXIES FROM REDSHIFT 0 TO 3: COMBINING MAGNITUDE-LIMITED SURVEY WITH GRAVITATIONAL LENSING

Journal Article · Sun Jan 20 04:00:00 EST 2013 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/763/1/9· OSTI ID:22167232

Yuan, T. -T.; Kewley, L. J. ^[1]; Richard, J. ^[2]

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1. Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States)
2. CRAL, Observatoire de Lyon, Universite Lyon 1, 9 Avenue Charles Andre, F-69561 Saint Genis Laval Cedex (France)

We present a comprehensive observational study of the gas-phase metallicity of star-forming galaxies from z {approx} 0 {yields} 3. We combine our new sample of gravitationally lensed galaxies with existing lensed and non-lensed samples to conduct a large investigation into the mass-metallicity (MZ) relation at z > 1. We apply a self-consistent metallicity calibration scheme to investigate the metallicity evolution of star-forming galaxies as a function of redshift. The lensing magnification ensures that our sample spans an unprecedented range of stellar mass (3 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 7} to 6 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 10} M {sub Sun }). We find that at the median redshift of z = 2.07, the median metallicity of the lensed sample is 0.35 dex lower than the local SDSS star-forming galaxies and 0.18 dex lower than the z {approx} 0.8 DEEP2 galaxies. We also present the z {approx} 2 MZ relation using 19 lensed galaxies. A more rapid evolution is seen between z {approx} 1 {yields} 3 than z {approx} 0 {yields} 1 for the high-mass galaxies (10{sup 9.5} M {sub Sun} < M {sub *} < 10{sup 11} M {sub Sun }), with almost twice as much enrichment between z {approx} 1 {yields} 3 than between z {approx} 1 {yields} 0. We compare this evolution with the most recent cosmological hydrodynamic simulations with momentum-driven winds. We find that the model metallicity is consistent with the observed metallicity within the observational error for the low-mass bins. However, for higher masses, the model overpredicts the metallicity at all redshifts. The overprediction is most significant in the highest mass bin of 10{sup 10}-10{sup 11} M {sub Sun }.

• OSTI ID: 22167232
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 763; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ABUNDANCE
ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
CALIBRATION
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
COSMOLOGY
GALACTIC EVOLUTION
GALAXIES
GRAVITATIONAL LENSES
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
MASS
RED SHIFT
STAR EVOLUTION
STARS
STELLAR WINDS