Environmental Dependence of the Mass–Metallicity Relation in Cosmological Hydrodynamical Simulations
We investigate the environmental dependence of the gas-phase metallicity for galaxies at z = 0 to z ≳ 2 and the underlying physical mechanisms driving this dependence using state-of-the-art cosmological hydrodynamical simulations. We find that, at fixed stellar mass, central galaxies in massive halo...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acd633 |
| _version_ | 1797694695035371520 |
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| author | Kai Wang Xin Wang Yangyao Chen |
| author_facet | Kai Wang Xin Wang Yangyao Chen |
| author_sort | Kai Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We investigate the environmental dependence of the gas-phase metallicity for galaxies at z = 0 to z ≳ 2 and the underlying physical mechanisms driving this dependence using state-of-the-art cosmological hydrodynamical simulations. We find that, at fixed stellar mass, central galaxies in massive halos have lower gas-phase metallicity than those in low-mass halos, while satellite galaxies residing in more massive halos are more metal-rich. The combined effect is that massive galaxies are more metal-poor in massive halos and low-mass galaxies are more metal-rich in massive halos. By inspecting the environmental dependence of other galaxy properties, we identify that the accretion of low-metallicity gas is responsible for the environmental dependence of central galaxies at high z , whereas the AGN feedback processes play a crucial role at low z . For satellite galaxies, we find that both the suppression of gas accretion and the stripping of existing gas are responsible for their environmental dependence, with negligible effect from the AGN feedback. Finally, we show that the difference of gas-phase metallicity as a function of stellar mass between protocluster and field galaxies agrees with recent observational results, for example from the MAMMOTH-Grism survey. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T03:00:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-da6da4c9f3424b7498b02aa44ac77453 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T03:00:34Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-da6da4c9f3424b7498b02aa44ac774532023-09-03T14:47:27ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572023-01-0195116610.3847/1538-4357/acd633Environmental Dependence of the Mass–Metallicity Relation in Cosmological Hydrodynamical SimulationsKai Wang0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3775-0484Xin Wang1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9373-3865Yangyao Chen2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4597-5798Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University , Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China ; wkcosmology@gmail.comSchool of Astronomy and Space Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) , Beijing 100049, People's Republic of China ; xwang@ucas.ac.cn; National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100101, People's Republic of China; Institute for Frontiers in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Beijing Normal University , Beijing 102206, People's Republic of ChinaSchool of Astronomy and Space Science, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China; Key Laboratory for Research in Galaxies and Cosmology, Department of Astronomy, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, 30026, People's Republic of ChinaWe investigate the environmental dependence of the gas-phase metallicity for galaxies at z = 0 to z ≳ 2 and the underlying physical mechanisms driving this dependence using state-of-the-art cosmological hydrodynamical simulations. We find that, at fixed stellar mass, central galaxies in massive halos have lower gas-phase metallicity than those in low-mass halos, while satellite galaxies residing in more massive halos are more metal-rich. The combined effect is that massive galaxies are more metal-poor in massive halos and low-mass galaxies are more metal-rich in massive halos. By inspecting the environmental dependence of other galaxy properties, we identify that the accretion of low-metallicity gas is responsible for the environmental dependence of central galaxies at high z , whereas the AGN feedback processes play a crucial role at low z . For satellite galaxies, we find that both the suppression of gas accretion and the stripping of existing gas are responsible for their environmental dependence, with negligible effect from the AGN feedback. Finally, we show that the difference of gas-phase metallicity as a function of stellar mass between protocluster and field galaxies agrees with recent observational results, for example from the MAMMOTH-Grism survey.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acd633ProtoclustersGalaxy evolutionGalaxy formationGalaxy dark matter halosGalaxy groups |
| spellingShingle | Kai Wang Xin Wang Yangyao Chen Environmental Dependence of the Mass–Metallicity Relation in Cosmological Hydrodynamical Simulations The Astrophysical Journal Protoclusters Galaxy evolution Galaxy formation Galaxy dark matter halos Galaxy groups |
| title | Environmental Dependence of the Mass–Metallicity Relation in Cosmological Hydrodynamical Simulations |
| title_full | Environmental Dependence of the Mass–Metallicity Relation in Cosmological Hydrodynamical Simulations |
| title_fullStr | Environmental Dependence of the Mass–Metallicity Relation in Cosmological Hydrodynamical Simulations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Environmental Dependence of the Mass–Metallicity Relation in Cosmological Hydrodynamical Simulations |
| title_short | Environmental Dependence of the Mass–Metallicity Relation in Cosmological Hydrodynamical Simulations |
| title_sort | environmental dependence of the mass metallicity relation in cosmological hydrodynamical simulations |
| topic | Protoclusters Galaxy evolution Galaxy formation Galaxy dark matter halos Galaxy groups |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acd633 |
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