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Register a new userDownsizing revised: Star formation timescales for elliptical galaxies with an environment-dependent IMF and number of SNIa
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Previous studies of the stellar mean metallicity and [Mg/Fe] values of massive elliptical (E)~galaxies suggest that their stars were formed in a very short timescale which cannot be reconciled with estimates from stellar population synthesis (SPS) studies and with hierarchical-assembly. Applying the previously developed chemical evolution code, GalIMF, which allows an environment-dependent stellar initial mass function (IMF) to be applied in the integrated galaxy initial mass function (IGIMF) theory instead of an invariant canonical IMF, the star formation timescales (SFT) of E galaxies are re-evaluated. The codes uniqueness lies in it allowing the galaxy-wide IMF and associated chemical enrichment to evolve as the physical conditions in the galaxy change. The calculated SFTs become consistent with the independent SPS results if the number of type Ia supernovae (SNIa) per unit stellar mass increases for more massive E~galaxies. This is a natural outcome of galaxies with higher star-formation rates producing more massive star clusters, spawning a larger number of SNIa progenitors per star. The calculations show E~galaxies with a stellar mass $approx 10^{9.5} M_odot$ to have had the longest mean SFTs of $approx2,$Gyr. The bulk of more massive E~galaxies were formed faster (SFT$,approx 1,$Gyr) leading to domination by M~dwarf stars and larger dynamical mass-to-light ratios as observed, while lower-mass galaxies tend to lose their gas supply more easily due to their shallower potential and therefore also have similarly-short mean SFTs. This work achieves, for the first time, consistency of the SFTs for early-type galaxies between chemical-enrichment and SPS modelling and leads to an improved understanding of how the star formation environment may affect the total number of SNIa per unit stellar mass formed.
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The study of PopI and PopII indicators in galaxies has a profound impact on our understanding of galaxy evolution. Their present (z=0) ratio suggests that the star formation history of galaxies was primarily dictated by their global mass. Since 1989 Luis Carrasco and I spent most of our sleepless nights gathering H_alpha and near infrared surface photometry of galaxies in the local Universe and focused most of our scientific career on these two indicators trying to convince the community that the mass was the key parameter to their evolution. We were unsuccessful, until in 2004 the Sloan team rediscovered this phenomenon and named it downsizing
Recent observational and theoretical studies indicate that the stellar initial mass function (IMF) varies systematically with the environment (star formation rate - SFR, metallicity). Although the exact dependence of the IMF on those properties is likely to change with improving observational constraints, the reported trend in the shape of the IMF appears robust. We present the first study aiming to evaluate the effect of the IMF variations on the measured cosmic SFR density (SFRD) as a function of metallicity and redshift, $f_{rm SFR}$(Z,z). We also study the expected number and metallicity of white dwarf, neutron star and black hole progenitors under different IMF assumptions. Applying the empirically driven IMF variations described by the integrated galactic IMF (IGIMF) theory, we correct $f_{rm SFR}$(Z,z) obtained by Chruslinska & Nelemans (2019) and find lower SFRD at high redshifts as well as a higher fraction of metal-poor stars being formed. In the local Universe, our calculation applying the IGIMF theory suggests more white dwarf and neutron star progenitors in comparison with the universal IMF scenario, while the number of black hole progenitors remains unaffected.
There are many proposed mechanisms driving the morphological transformation of disk galaxies to elliptical galaxies. In this paper, we determine if the observed transformation in low mass groups can be explained by the merger histories of galaxies. We measured the group mass-morphology relation for groups from the Galaxy and Mass Assembly group catalogue with masses from 10$^{11}$ - 10$^{15}$ M$_{odot}$. Contrary to previous studies, the fraction of elliptical galaxies in our more complete group sample increases significantly with group mass across the full range of group mass. The elliptical fraction increases at a rate of 0.163$pm$0.012 per dex of group mass for groups more massive than 10$^{12.5}$ M$_{odot}$. If we allow for uncertainties in the observed group masses, our results are consistent with a continuous increase in elliptical fraction from group masses as low as 10$^{11}$M$_{odot}$. We tested if this observed relation is consistent with merger activity using a GADGET-2 dark matter simulation of the galaxy groups. We specified that a simulated galaxy would be transformed to an elliptical morphology either if it experienced a major merger or if its cumulative mass gained from minor mergers exceeded 30 per cent of its final mass. We then calculated a group mass-morphology relation for the simulations. The position and slope of the simulated relation were consistent with the observational relation, with a gradient of 0.184$pm$0.010 per dex of group mass. These results demonstrate a strong correlation between the frequency of merger events and disk-to-elliptical galaxy transformation in galaxy group environments.
We investigate the physical and chemical conditions necessary for low-mass star formation in extragalactic environments by calculating various characteristic timescales associated with star formation for a range of initial conditions. The balance of these timescales indicates whether low-mass star formation is enhanced or inhibited under certain physical conditions. In this study, we consider timescales for free-fall, cooling, freeze-out, desorption, chemistry and ambipolar diffusion and their variations with changes in the gas density, metallicity, cosmic ray ionisation rate and FUV radiation field strength. We find that extragalactic systems with high FUV radiation field strengths and high cosmic ray fluxes considered at a range of metallicities, are likely to have enhanced low-mass star formation unless the magnetic pressure is sufficient to halt collapse. Our results indicate that this is only likely to be the case for high-redshift galaxies approaching solar metallicities. Unless this is true for all high-redshift sources, this study finds little evidence for a high-mass biased IMF at high redshifts.
The level of star formation in elliptical galaxies is poorly constrained, due to difficulties in quantifying the contamination of flux-based estimates of star formation from unrelated phenomena, such as AGN and old stellar populations. We here utilise core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) as unambiguous tracers of recent star formation in ellipticals within a cosmic volume. We firstly isolate a sample of 421 z < 0.2, r < 21.8 mag CCSNe from the SDSS-II Supernova Survey. We then introduce a Bayesian method of identifying ellipticals via their colours and morphologies in a manner unbiased by redshift and yet consistent with manual classification from Galaxy Zoo 1. We find ~ 25 % of z < 0.2 r < 20 mag galaxies in the Stripe 82 region are ellipticals (~ 28000 galaxies). In total, 36 CCSNe are found to reside in ellipticals. We demonstrate that such early-types contribute a non-negligible fraction of star formation to the present-day cosmic budget, at 11.2 $pm$ 3.1 (stat) $^{+3.0}_{-4.2}$ (sys) %. Coupling this result with the galaxy stellar mass function of ellipticals, the mean specific star formation rate (SSFR; $overline{S}$) of these systems is derived. The best-fit slope is given by log ($overline{S}(M)$/yr) = - (0.80 $pm$ 0.59) log ($M/10^{10.5}rm{M}_{odot}$) - 10.83 $pm$ 0.18. The mean SSFR for all log ($M/rm{M}_{odot}$) > 10.0 ellipticals is found to be $overline{S} = 9.2 pm 2.4$ (stat) $^{+2.7}_{-2.3}$ (sys) $times 10^{-12}$ yr$^{-1}$, which is consistent with recent estimates via SED-fitting, and is 11.8 $pm$ 3.7 (stat) $^{+3.5}_{-2.9}$ (sys) % of the mean SSFR level on the main sequence as also derived from CCSNe. We find the median optical spectrum of elliptical CCSN hosts is statistically consistent with that of a control sample of ellipticals that do not host CCSNe, implying that these SN-derived results are well-representative of the total low-z elliptical population.
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