This paper aims at explaining the two phases in the observed specific star formation rate (sSFR), namely the high (>3/Gyr) values at z>2 and the smooth decrease since z=2. In order to do this, we compare to observations the specific star formation ra
te evolution predicted by well calibrated models of chemical evolution for elliptical and spiral galaxies, using the additional constraints on the mean stellar ages of these galaxies (at a given mass). We can conclude that the two phases of the sSFR evolution across cosmic time are due to different populations of galaxies. At z>2 the contribution comes from spheroids: the progenitors of present-day massive ellipticals (which feature the highest sSFR) as well as halos and bulges in spirals (which contribute with average and lower-than-average sSFR). In each single galaxy the sSFR decreases rapidly and the star formation stops in <1 Gyr. However the combination of different generations of ellipticals in formation might result in an apparent lack of strong evolution of the sSFR (averaged over a population) at high redshift. The z<2 decrease is due to the slow evolution of the gas fraction in discs, modulated by the gas accretion history and regulated by the Schmidt law. The Milky Way makes no exception to this behaviour.
To provide an empirical calibration relation in order to convert Lick indices into abundances for the integrated light of old, simple stellar populations for a large range in the observed [Fe/H] and [alpha/Fe]. This calibration supersedes the previou
sly adopted ones because it is be based on the real abundance pattern of the stars instead of the commonly adopted metallicity scale derived from the colours. We carried out a long-slit spectroscopic study of 23 Galactic globular cluster for which detailed chemical abundances in stars have been recently measured. The line-strength indices, as coded by the Lick system and by Serven et al. (2005), were measured in low-resolution integrated spectra of the GC light. The results were compared to average abundances and abundance ratios in stars taken from the compilation by Pritzl et al. (2005) as well as to synthetic models. Fe-related indices grow linearly as a function of [Fe/H] for [Fe/H]>-2. Mg-related indices respond in a similar way to [Mg/H] variations, however Mgb turns out to be a less reliable metallicity indicator for [Z/H]<-1.5 . Despite the known Mg overabundance with respect to Fe in GC stars, it proved impossible to infer a mean [Mg/Fe] for integrated spectra that correlates with the resolved stars properties, because the sensitivity of the indices to [Mg/Fe] is smaller at lower metallicities. We present empirical calibrations for Ca, TiO, Ba and Eu indices as well as the measurements of H_alpha and NaD.
We study the properties of Brightest Cluster Galaxies (BCGs) drawn from a catalogue of more than 69000 clusters in the SDSS DR6 based on the adaptive matched filter technique (AMF, Szabo et al., 2010). Our sample consists of more than 14300 galaxies
in the redshift range 0.1-0.3. We test the catalog by showing that it includes well-known BCGs which lie in the SDSS footprint. We characterize the BCGs in terms of r-band luminosities and optical colours as well as their trends with redshift. In particular, we define and study the fraction of blue BCGs, namely those that are likely to be missed by either colour-based cluster surveys and catalogues. Richer clusters tend to have brighter BCGs, however less dominant than in poorer systems. 4-9% of our BCGs are at least 0.3 mag bluer in the g-r colour than the red-sequence at their given redshift. Such a fraction decreases to 1-6% for clusters above a richness of 50, where 3% of the BCGs are 0.5 mag below the red-sequence. A preliminary morphological study suggests that the increase in the blue fraction at lower richnesses may have a non-negligible contribution from spiral galaxies. We show that a colour selection based on the g-r red-sequence or on a cut at colour u-r >2.2 can lead to missing the majority of such blue BCGs. We also extend the colour analysis to the UV range by cross-matching our catalogue with publicly available data from Galex GR4 and GR5. We show a clear correlation between offset from the optical red-sequence and the amount of UV-excess. Finally, we cross-matched our catalogue with the ACCEPT cluster sample (Cavagnolo et al., 2009), and find that blue BCGs tend to be in clusters with low entropy and short cooling times. That is, the blue light is presumably due to recent star formation associated to gas feeding by cooling flows. (abridged)
The presence of dust strongly affects the way we see galaxies and also the chemical abundances we measure in gas. It is therefore important to study he chemical evolution of galaxies by taking into account dust evolution. We aim at performing a detai
led study of abundance ratios of high redshift objects and their dust properties. We focus on Lyman-Break galaxies (LBGs) and Quasar (QSO) hosts and likely progenitors of low- and high-mass present-day elliptical galaxies, respectively. We have adopted a chemical evolution model for elliptical galaxies taking account the dust production from low and intermediate mass stars, supernovae Ia, supernovae II, QSOs and both dust destruction and accretion processes. By means of such a model we have followed the chemical evolution of ellipticals of different baryonic masses. Our model complies with chemical downsizing. We made predictions for the abundance ratios versus metallicity trends for models of differing masses that can be used to constrain the star formation rate, initial mass function and dust mass in observed galaxies. We predict the existence of a high redshift dust mass-stellar mass relationship. We have found a good agreement with the properties of LBGs if we assume that they formed at redshift z=2-4. In particular, a non-negligible amount of dust is needed to explain the observed abundance pattern. We studied the QSO SDSS J114816, one of the most distant QSO ever observed (z=6.4), and we have been able to reproduce the amount of dust measured in this object. The dust is clearly due to the production from supernovae and the most massive AGB stars as well as from the grain growth in the interstellar medium. The QSO dust is likely to dominate only in the very central regions of the galaxies and during the early development of the galactic wind.
I will present predictions from chemical evolution model aimed at a self-consistent study of both optical (i.e. stellar) and X-ray (i.e.gas) properties of present-day elliptical galaxies. Detailed cooling and heating processes in the interstellar med
ium (ISM) are taken into and allow a reliable modelling of the SN-driven galactic wind. SNe Ia activity, in fact, may power a galactic wind lasting for a considerable amount of the galactic lifetime, even in the case for which the efficiency of energy transfer into the ISM per SN Ia event is less than unity. The model simultaneously reproduces the mass-metallicity, the colour-magnitude, the L_X - L_B and the L_X - T relations, as well as the observed trend of the [Mg/Fe] ratio as a function of sigma, by adopting the prescriptions of Pipino & Matteucci (2004) for the gas infall and star formation timescales. The iron discrepancy, namely the too high predicted iron abundance in X-ray haloes of ellipticals compared to observations, can be solved by taking into account the existence of dust. I will make predictions on several abundance ratios in the ISM and compare them with the most recent observations.
We aim at reproducing the mass- and sigma-[alpha/Fe] relations in the stellar populations of early-type galaxies by means of a cosmologically motivated assembly history for the spheroids. We implement a detailed treatment for the chemical evolution o
f H, He, O and Fe in GalICS, a semi-analytical model for galaxy formation which successfully reproduces basic low- and high-redshift galaxy properties. The contribution of supernovae (both type Ia and II) as well as low- and intermediate-mass stars to chemical feedback are taken into account. We find that this chemically improved GalICS does not produce the observed mass- and sigma-[alpha/Fe] relations. The slope is too shallow and scatter too large, in particular in the low and intermediate mass range. The model shows significant improvement at the highest masses and velocity dispersions, where the predicted [alpha/Fe] ratios are now marginally consistent with observed values. We show that this result comes from the implementation of AGN (plus halo) quenching of the star formation in massive haloes. A thorough exploration of the parameter space shows that the failure of reproducing the mass- and sigma-[alpha/Fe] relations can partly be attributed to the way in which star formation and feedback are currently modelled. The merger process is responsible for a part of the scatter. We suggest that the next generation of semi-analytical model should feature feedback (either stellar of from AGN) mechanisms linked to single galaxies and not only to the halo, especially in the low and intermediate mass range. The integral star formation history of a single galaxy determines its final stellar [alpha/Fe] as it might be expected from the results of closed box chemical evolution models. (abridged)
To show that the bulk of the star formation and the galaxy assembly should occur simultaneously in order to reproduce at the same time the downsizing and the chemical properties of present-day massive spheroids within one effective radius.By means of
chemical evolution models we create galactic building blocks of several masses and different chemical properties. We then construct a sample of possible merger histories going from a multiple minor merger scenario to a single major merger event aimed at reproducing a single massive elliptical galaxy. We compare our results against the mass-[Mg/Fe] and the mass-metallicity relations. We found that a series of multiple dry-mergers (no star formation in connection with the merger) involving building-blocks which have been created ad hoc in order to satisfy the [Mg/Fe]-mass relation cannot fit the mass-metallicity relation and viceversa. A major dry merger, instead, does not worsen the agreement with observation if it happens between galaxies which already obey to both the mass- or sigma-[Mg/Fe] and the mass-(sigma-) metallicity relations. However, this process alone cannot explain the physical reasons for these trends. Dry mergers alone cannot be the way to reconcile the need of a more efficient star formation in the most massive galaxies with the late time assembly suggested in the hierarchical paradigm in order to recover the galaxy downsizing.
The scope of this paper is two-fold: i) to test and improve our previous models of an outside-in formation for the majority of ellipticals in the context of the SN-driven wind scenario, by means of a careful study of gas inflows/outflows; ii) to expl
ain the observed slopes, either positive or negative, in the radial gradient of the mean stellar [alpha/Fe], and their apparent lack of any correlation with all the other observables. In order to pursue these goals we present a new class of hydrodynamical simulations for the formation of single elliptical galaxies in which we implement detailed prescriptions for the chemical evolution of H, He, O and Fe. We find that all the models which predict chemical properties (such as the central mass-weighted abundance ratios, the colours as well as the [<Fe/H>] gradient) within the observed ranges for a typical elliptical, also exhibit a variety of gradients in the [<alpha/Fe>] ratio, in agreement with the observations (namely positive, null or negative). All these models undergo an outside-in formation, in the sense that star formation stops earlier in the outermost than in the innermost regions, owing to the onset of a galactic wind. The typical [<Z/H>] gradients predicted by our models have a slope of -0.3 dex per decade variation in radius, consistent with the mean values of several observational samples. We can safely conclude that the history of star formation is fundamental for the creation of abundance gradients in ellipticals but that radial flows with different velocity in conjunction with the duration and efficiency of star formation in different galactic regions are responsible for the gradients in the [<alpha/Fe>] ratios.
I will present recent theoretical results on the formation and the high redshift assembly of spheroids. These findings have been obtained by utilising different and complementary techniques: chemodynamical models offer great insight in the radial abu
ndance gradients in the stars; while state semi-analytic codes implementing a detailed treatment of the chemical evolution allow an exploration of the role of the galactic mass in shaping many observed relations. The results will be shown by following the path represented by the evolution of the mass-metallicity relation in stars, gas and dust. I will show how, under a few sensible assumptions, it is possible to reproduce a large number of observables ranging from the Xrays to the Infrared. By comparing model predictions with observations, we derive a picture of galaxy formation in which the higher is the mass of the galaxy, the shorter are the infall and the star formation timescales. Therefore, the stellar component of the most massive and luminous galaxies might attain a metallicity Z > Z_sun in only 0.5 Gyr. Each galaxy is created outside-in, i.e. the outermost regions accrete gas, form stars and develop a galactic wind very quickly, compared to the central core in which the star formation can last up to ~ 1.3 Gyr.
We present a new class of hydrodynamical models for the formation of bulges (either massive elliptical galaxies or classical bulges in spirals) in which we implement detailed prescriptions for the chemical evolution of H, He, O and Fe. Our results hi
nt toward an outside-in formation in the context of the supernovae-driven wind scenario. The build-up of the chemical properties of the stellar populations inhabiting the galactic core is very fast. Therefore we predict a non significant evolution of both the mass-metallicity and the mass-[alpha/Fe] relations after the first 0.5 - 1 Gyr. In this framework we explain how the observed slopes, either positive or negative, in the radial gradient of the mean stellar [alpha/Fe], and their apparent lack of any correlation with all the other observables, can arise as a consequence of the interplay between star formation and metal-enhanced internal gas flows.
