Progenitor-mass-dependent yields amplify intrinsic scatter in dwarf-galaxy elemental abundance ratios

Abstract

In hydrodynamic simulations, prevailing subgrid chemical-evolution models often use a single, "IMF-averaged" supernova yield, ignoring variations in elemental abundance ratios (particularly [$\alpha$/Fe]) in the ejecta of higher- and lower-mass supernova progenitors within a stellar population. To understand the impact of this simplification and understand the impact of more explicit models, we run FIRE simulations of a dwarf galaxy $(M_{\star }($z = 0$)\sim 10^6{M}_{\odot })$ using nucleosynthetic yields from the NuGrid database that depend on the stellar progenitor mass and metallicity. While NuGrid exhibits lower aggregate $\alpha$-element production than default-FIRE yields, we find that its explicit mass dependence substantially widens the intrinsic scatter in the simulated [Fe/H]-[$\alpha$/Fe] -- a phenomenon potentially visible in recent observations of dwarf galaxies.

MNRAS accepted. 9 pages; 8 figures. Comments and questions welcome

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Cited by in corpus (7)

• FIRE-3: Updated Stellar Evolution Models, Yields, & Microphysics and Fitting Functions for Applications in Galaxy Simulations
• Public data release of the FIRE-2 cosmological zoom-in simulations of galaxy formation
• 3-D gas-phase elemental abundances across the formation histories of Milky Way-mass galaxies in the FIRE simulations: initial conditions for chemical tagging
• Exploring metallicity-dependent rates of Type Ia supernovae and their impact on galaxy formation
• EDGE: The sensitivity of ultra-faint dwarfs to a metallicity-dependent initial mass function
• Predictions for Complex Distributions of Stellar Elemental Abundances in Low-Mass Galaxies
• 3D elemental abundances of stars at formation across the histories of Milky Way-mass galaxies in the FIRE simulations