Mass-Metallicity Relation for the Local Group Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies: A New Picture for the Chemical Enrichment of Galaxies in the Lowest Mass Range


Abstract in English

The virial mass ($M_{rm vir}$)-metallicity relation among the Local Group dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) is examined. Hirashita, Takeuchi, & Tamura showed that the dSphs can be divided into two distinct classes with respect to the relation between their virial masses and luminosities: low-mass ($M_{rm vir} la 10^8 M_odot$) and high-mass ($M_{rm vir} ga 10^8 M_odot$) groups. We see that both the mass-metallicity and the mass-luminosity relations of the high-mass dSphs are understood as a low-mass extension of giant ellipticals. On the contrary, we find that the classical galactic-wind model is problematic to apply to the low-mass dSphs, whose low binding energy is comparable to that released by several supernova explosions. A strongly regulated star formation in their formation phase is required to reproduce their observed metallicity. Such regulation is naturally expected in a gas cloud with the primordial elemental abundance according to Nishi & Tashiro. A significant scatter in the mass-metallicity relation for the low-mass dSphs is also successfully explained along with the scenario of Hirashita and coworkers. We not only propose a new picture for a chemical enrichment of the dSphs, but also suggest that the mass-metallicity and the mass-luminosity relations be understood in a consistent context.

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