The origin and evolution of the galaxy mass-metallicity relation

Xiangcheng Ma; Philip F. Hopkins; Claude André Faucher-Giguère; Nick Zolman; Alexander L. Muratov; Dušan Kereš; Eliot Quataert

doi:10.1093/mnras/stv2659

The origin and evolution of the galaxy mass-metallicity relation

Xiangcheng Ma^*, Philip F. Hopkins, Claude André Faucher-Giguère, Nick Zolman, Alexander L. Muratov, Dušan Kereš, Eliot Quataert

^*Corresponding author for this work

Physics and Astronomy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

341 Scopus citations

Abstract

We use high-resolution cosmological zoom-in simulations from the Feedback in Realistic Environment (FIRE) project to study the galaxy mass-metallicity relations (MZR) from z = 0-6. These simulations include explicit models of the multiphase ISM, star formation, and stellar feedback. The simulations cover halo masses M_halo = 10⁹-10¹³Mo˙ and stellar masses M* = 10⁴-10¹¹Mo˙ at z=0 and have been shown to produce many observed galaxy properties from z=0-6. For the first time, our simulations agree reasonablywellwith the observedmass-metallicity relations at z = 0-3 for a broad range of galaxy masses. We predict the evolution of the MZR from z = 0-6, as log(Z_gas/Z_o˙) = 12 + log(O/H) -9.0 = 0.35[log(M_*/M_o˙) -10] + 0.93 exp(-0.43z) -1.05 and log(Z_*/Z_o˙) = [Fe/H] + 0.2 = 0.40[log(M_*/M_o˙) -10] + 0.67 exp(-0.50z) -1.04, for gas-phase and stellar metallicity, respectively. Our simulations suggest that the evolution of MZR is associated with the evolution of stellar/gas mass fractions at different redshifts, indicating the existence of a universal metallicity relation between stellar mass, gas mass, and metallicities. In our simulations, galaxies above M* = 106Mo˙ are able to retain a large fraction of their metals inside the halo, because metal-rich winds fail to escape completely and are recycled into the galaxy. This resolves a longstanding discrepancy between 'subgrid' wind models (and semi-analytic models) and observations, where common subgrid models cannot simultaneously reproduce the MZR and the stellar mass functions.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	2140-2156
Number of pages	17
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume	456
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv2659
State	Published - 2016

Funding

We thank Daniel Anglés-Alcázar, Yu Lu, Evan Kirby, Paul Torrey, Andrew Wetzel, and many friends for helpful discussion and useful comments on this paper. We also thank Jabran Zahid, Robert Yates, Chris Brook, and many others for their discussion after the first draft of this paper was submitted to arXiv. The simulations used in this paper were run on XSEDE computational resources (allocations TG-AST120025, TG-AST130039, and TG-AST140023). Support for PFH was provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation through Grant 776 to the Caltech Moore Center for Theoretical Cosmology and Physics, by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation through Sloan Research Fellowship BR2014-022, and by NSF through grant AST-1411920. CAFG was supported by NSF through grant AST-1412836, by NASA through grant NNX15AB22G, and by Northwestern University funds. DK was supported by NSF grant AST-1412153 and UC San Diego funds. EQ was supported by NASA ATP grant 12-APT12-0183, a Simons Investigator award from the Simons Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the Thomas Alison Schneider Chair in Physics at UC Berkeley.

Keywords

Cosmology: theory
Galaxies: evolution
Galaxies: formation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science

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10.1093/mnras/stv2659

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title = "The origin and evolution of the galaxy mass-metallicity relation",

abstract = "We use high-resolution cosmological zoom-in simulations from the Feedback in Realistic Environment (FIRE) project to study the galaxy mass-metallicity relations (MZR) from z = 0-6. These simulations include explicit models of the multiphase ISM, star formation, and stellar feedback. The simulations cover halo masses Mhalo = 109-1013Mo˙ and stellar masses M* = 104-1011Mo˙ at z=0 and have been shown to produce many observed galaxy properties from z=0-6. For the first time, our simulations agree reasonablywellwith the observedmass-metallicity relations at z = 0-3 for a broad range of galaxy masses. We predict the evolution of the MZR from z = 0-6, as log(Zgas/Zo˙) = 12 + log(O/H) -9.0 = 0.35[log(M*/Mo˙) -10] + 0.93 exp(-0.43z) -1.05 and log(Z*/Zo˙) = [Fe/H] + 0.2 = 0.40[log(M*/Mo˙) -10] + 0.67 exp(-0.50z) -1.04, for gas-phase and stellar metallicity, respectively. Our simulations suggest that the evolution of MZR is associated with the evolution of stellar/gas mass fractions at different redshifts, indicating the existence of a universal metallicity relation between stellar mass, gas mass, and metallicities. In our simulations, galaxies above M* = 106Mo˙ are able to retain a large fraction of their metals inside the halo, because metal-rich winds fail to escape completely and are recycled into the galaxy. This resolves a longstanding discrepancy between 'subgrid' wind models (and semi-analytic models) and observations, where common subgrid models cannot simultaneously reproduce the MZR and the stellar mass functions.",

keywords = "Cosmology: theory, Galaxies: evolution, Galaxies: formation",

author = "Xiangcheng Ma and Hopkins, {Philip F.} and Faucher-Gigu{\`e}re, {Claude Andr{\'e}} and Nick Zolman and Muratov, {Alexander L.} and Du{\v s}an Kere{\v s} and Eliot Quataert",

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year = "2016",

doi = "10.1093/mnras/stv2659",

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T1 - The origin and evolution of the galaxy mass-metallicity relation

AU - Ma, Xiangcheng

AU - Hopkins, Philip F.

AU - Faucher-Giguère, Claude André

AU - Zolman, Nick

AU - Muratov, Alexander L.

AU - Kereš, Dušan

AU - Quataert, Eliot

PY - 2016

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AB - We use high-resolution cosmological zoom-in simulations from the Feedback in Realistic Environment (FIRE) project to study the galaxy mass-metallicity relations (MZR) from z = 0-6. These simulations include explicit models of the multiphase ISM, star formation, and stellar feedback. The simulations cover halo masses Mhalo = 109-1013Mo˙ and stellar masses M* = 104-1011Mo˙ at z=0 and have been shown to produce many observed galaxy properties from z=0-6. For the first time, our simulations agree reasonablywellwith the observedmass-metallicity relations at z = 0-3 for a broad range of galaxy masses. We predict the evolution of the MZR from z = 0-6, as log(Zgas/Zo˙) = 12 + log(O/H) -9.0 = 0.35[log(M*/Mo˙) -10] + 0.93 exp(-0.43z) -1.05 and log(Z*/Zo˙) = [Fe/H] + 0.2 = 0.40[log(M*/Mo˙) -10] + 0.67 exp(-0.50z) -1.04, for gas-phase and stellar metallicity, respectively. Our simulations suggest that the evolution of MZR is associated with the evolution of stellar/gas mass fractions at different redshifts, indicating the existence of a universal metallicity relation between stellar mass, gas mass, and metallicities. In our simulations, galaxies above M* = 106Mo˙ are able to retain a large fraction of their metals inside the halo, because metal-rich winds fail to escape completely and are recycled into the galaxy. This resolves a longstanding discrepancy between 'subgrid' wind models (and semi-analytic models) and observations, where common subgrid models cannot simultaneously reproduce the MZR and the stellar mass functions.

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KW - Galaxies: formation

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The origin and evolution of the galaxy mass-metallicity relation

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