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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - The evolution of gas-phase metallicity and resolved abundances in star-forming galaxies at z ≈0.6-1.8
AU - Gillman, S.
AU - Tiley, A.L.
AU - Swinbank, A.M.
AU - Dudzevičiute, U.
AU - Sharples, R.M.
AU - Smail, I.
AU - Harrison, C.M.
AU - Bunker, A.J.
AU - Bureau, M.
AU - Cirasuolo, M.
AU - Magdis, G.E.
AU - Mendel, T.
AU - Stott, J.P.
PY - 2021/1/1
Y1 - 2021/1/1
N2 - We present an analysis of the chemical abundance properties of ≈650 star-forming galaxies at z≈0.6-1.8. Using integral-field observations from the K-band multi-object spectrograph (KMOS), we quantify the [N II]/H α emission-line ratio, a proxy for the gas-phase oxygen abundance within the interstellar medium. We define the stellar mass-metallicity relation at z≈0.6-1.0 and z≈1.2-1.8 and analyse the correlation between the scatter in the relation and fundamental galaxy properties (e.g. Hα star formation rate, Hα specific star formation rate, rotation dominance, stellar continuum half-light radius, and Hubble-type morphology).We find that for a given stellar mass, more highly star-forming, larger, and irregular galaxies have lower gas-phase metallicities, which may be attributable to their lower surface mass densities and the higher gas fractions of irregular systems. We measure the radial dependence of gas-phase metallicity in the galaxies, establishing a median, beam smearing corrected, metallicity gradient of ΔZ/ΔR = 0.002±0.004 dex kpc-1, indicating on average there is no significant dependence on radius. The metallicity gradient of a galaxy is independent of its rest-frame optical morphology, whilst correlating with its stellar mass and specific star formation rate, in agreement with an inside-out model of galaxy evolution, as well as its rotation dominance.We quantify the evolution of metallicity gradients, comparing the distribution of ΔZ/ΔR in our sample with numerical simulations and observations at z≈0-3. Galaxies in our sample exhibit flatter metallicity gradients than local star-forming galaxies, in agreement with numerical models in which stellar feedback plays a crucial role redistributing metals.
AB - We present an analysis of the chemical abundance properties of ≈650 star-forming galaxies at z≈0.6-1.8. Using integral-field observations from the K-band multi-object spectrograph (KMOS), we quantify the [N II]/H α emission-line ratio, a proxy for the gas-phase oxygen abundance within the interstellar medium. We define the stellar mass-metallicity relation at z≈0.6-1.0 and z≈1.2-1.8 and analyse the correlation between the scatter in the relation and fundamental galaxy properties (e.g. Hα star formation rate, Hα specific star formation rate, rotation dominance, stellar continuum half-light radius, and Hubble-type morphology).We find that for a given stellar mass, more highly star-forming, larger, and irregular galaxies have lower gas-phase metallicities, which may be attributable to their lower surface mass densities and the higher gas fractions of irregular systems. We measure the radial dependence of gas-phase metallicity in the galaxies, establishing a median, beam smearing corrected, metallicity gradient of ΔZ/ΔR = 0.002±0.004 dex kpc-1, indicating on average there is no significant dependence on radius. The metallicity gradient of a galaxy is independent of its rest-frame optical morphology, whilst correlating with its stellar mass and specific star formation rate, in agreement with an inside-out model of galaxy evolution, as well as its rotation dominance.We quantify the evolution of metallicity gradients, comparing the distribution of ΔZ/ΔR in our sample with numerical simulations and observations at z≈0-3. Galaxies in our sample exhibit flatter metallicity gradients than local star-forming galaxies, in agreement with numerical models in which stellar feedback plays a crucial role redistributing metals.
KW - Galaxies: Abundances
KW - Galaxies: High-reshift
KW - Galaxies: Kinematics and dynamics
U2 - 10.1093/mnras/staa3400
DO - 10.1093/mnras/staa3400
M3 - Journal article
VL - 500
SP - 4229
EP - 4247
JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
SN - 0035-8711
IS - 3
ER -