Abstract
Abstract
We examine the correlations of star formation rate (SFR) and gas-phase metallicity Z. We first predict how the SFR, cold gas mass, and Z will change with variations in inflow rate or in star formation efficiency (SFE) in a simple gas-regulator framework. The changes
SFR and
are found to be negatively (positively) correlated when driving the gas regulator with time-varying inflow rate (SFE). We then study the correlation of
sSFR (specific SFR) and
(O/H) from observations, at both ∼100 pc and galactic scales, based on two two-dimensional spectroscopic surveys with different spatial resolutions, MAD and MaNGA. After taking out the overall mass and radial dependences, which may reflect changes in inflow gas metallicity and/or outflow mass loading, we find that
sSFR and
(O/H) on galactic scales are found to be negatively correlated, but
sSFR and
(O/H) are positively correlated on ∼100 pc scales within galaxies. If we assume that the variations across the population reflect temporal variations in individual objects, we conclude that variations in the SFR are primarily driven by time-varying inflow at galactic scales and driven by time-varying SFE at ∼100 pc scales. We build a theoretical framework to understand the correlation between SFR, gas mass, and metallicity, as well as their variability, which potentially uncovers the relevant physical processes of star formation at different scales.
Publisher
American Astronomical Society
Subject
Space and Planetary Science,Astronomy and Astrophysics
Cited by
15 articles.
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