Gas-phase metallicity gradients of TNG50 star-forming galaxies

Author:

Hemler Z S1ORCID,Torrey Paul1ORCID,Qi Jia1,Hernquist Lars2,Vogelsberger Mark3ORCID,Ma Xiangcheng4ORCID,Kewley Lisa J56,Nelson Dylan78ORCID,Pillepich Annalisa9ORCID,Pakmor Rüdiger710ORCID,Marinacci Federico11ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Department of Astronomy, University of Florida, 211 Bryant Space Sciences Center, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA

2. Institute for Theory and Computation, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

3. Department of Physics, Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

4. Department of Astronomy, University of California, 501 Campbell Hall 3411, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411, USA

5. Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Australian National University, Canberra 2611, Australia

6. ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D), Canberra, ACT 2611, Australia

7. Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str 1, D-85748 Garching, Germany

8. Universität Heidelberg, Zentrum für Astronomie, Institut für theoretische Astrophysik, Albert-Ueberle-Str 2, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany

9. Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany

10. Heidelberger Institut für Theoretische Studien, Schloss-Wolfsbrunnenweg 35, D-69118 Heidelberg, Germany

11. Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Bologna, via Gobetti 93/2, I-40129 Bologna, Italy

Abstract

ABSTRACT We present the radial gas-phase, mass-weighted metallicity profiles and gradients of the TNG50 star-forming galaxy population measured at redshifts z = 0–3. We investigate the redshift evolution of gradients and examine relations between gradient (negative) steepness and galaxy properties. We find that TNG50 gradients are predominantly negative at all redshifts, although we observe significant diversity among these negative gradients. We determine that the gradients of all galaxies grow more negative with redshift at a roughly constant rate of approximately $-0.02\ \mathrm{dex\, kpc^{-1}}/\Delta z$. This rate does not vary significantly with galaxy mass. We observe a weak negative correlation between gradient (negative) steepness and galaxy stellar mass at z < 2. However, when we normalize gradients by a characteristic radius defined by the galactic star formation distribution, we find that these normalized gradients do not vary significantly with either stellar mass or redshift. We place our results in the context of previous simulations and show that TNG50 high-redshift gradients are more negative than those of models featuring burstier feedback, which may further highlight high-redshift gradients as important discriminators of galaxy formation models. We also find that z = 0 and z = 0.5 TNG50 gradients are consistent with the gradients observed in galaxies at these redshifts, although the preference for flat gradients observed in redshift z ≳ 1 galaxies is not present in TNG50. If future JWST (James Webb Space Telescope) and ELT (Extremely Large Telescope) observations validate these flat gradients, it may indicate a need for simulation models to implement more powerful radial gas mixing within the ISM (interstellar medium), possibly via turbulence and/or stronger winds.

Funder

National Science Foundation

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

MIUR

BMBF

MWK

StMWFK

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)

Subject

Space and Planetary Science,Astronomy and Astrophysics

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