Empirical constraints for the magnitude and composition of galactic winds

H J Zahid, Paul Torrey, Mark Vogelsberger, Lars Hernquist, Lisa Kewley, R Dave

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    Galactic winds are a key physical mechanism for understanding galaxy formation and evolution, yet empirical and theoretical constraints for the character of winds are limited and discrepant. Recent empirical models find that local star-forming galaxies have a deficit of oxygen that scales with galaxy stellar mass. The oxygen deficit provides unique empirical constraints on the magnitude of mass loss, com-position of outflowing material and metal reaccretion onto galaxies. We formulate the oxygen deficit constraints so they may be easily implemented into theoretical models of galaxy evolution. We parameterize an effective metal loading factor which combines the uncertainties of metal outflows and metal reaccretion into a single function of galaxy virial velocity.We determine the effective metal loading factor by forward-fitting the oxygen deficit. The effective metal loading factor we derive has important implications for the implementation of mass loss in models of galaxy evolution.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)873-879
    JournalAstrophysics and Space Science
    Volume349
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2014

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