Chemical enrichment in isolated barred spiral galaxies. Issue 4 (14th April 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Martel, Hugo; Carles, Christian; Robichaud, Fidèle; Ellison, Sara L; Williamson, David J
• Is Part Of: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Volume 477:Issue 4(2018)
• Page Start: 5367
• Page End: 5381
• Publication Date: 2018-04-14
• Subjects: stars: formation -- ISM: abundances -- galaxies: active -- galaxies: evolution -- galaxies: spiral; Astronomy -- Periodicals; Periodicals; 520.5
• DOI: 10.1093/mnras/sty932
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0035-8711

Abstract

Abstract: To investigate the role of bars in the chemical evolution of isolated disc galaxies, we performed a series of 39 gas dynamical simulations of isolated barred and unbarred galaxies with various masses, initial gas fractions, and active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback models. The presence of a bar drives a substantial amount of gas towards the central region of the galaxy. In the most massive galaxies, this results in a violent starburst, followed by a drop in star formation resulting from gas exhaustion. The time delay between Type Ia and Type II supernovae explosions means that barred galaxies experience a rapid increase in $\rm [O/H]$ in the central region, and a much more gradual increase in $\rm [Fe/H]$ . In unbarred galaxies, star formation proceeds at a slow and steady rate, and oxygen and iron are produced at steady rates which are similar except for a time offset. Comparing the abundance ratios in barred and unbarred galaxies with the same central stellar mass M *, we find in barred galaxies an enhancement of 0.07 dex in $\rm [O/H]$, 0.05 dex in $\rm [Fe/H]$, and 0.05 dex in $\rm [O/Fe]$ . The $\rm [O/H]$ enhancement is in excellent agreement with observations from the SDSS . The initial gas fraction has very little effect on the abundance ratios in barred and unbarred galaxies, unless the galaxies experience a starburst. We considered AGN-host galaxies located near the bottom of the AGN regime, M * ≳ 3 × 10 10 M ⊙, where AGN feedback dominates over supernovae feedback. We found that the impact of AGN feedback on the central abundances is marginal.