Kavli Affiliate: Roberto Maiolino
| First 5 Authors: William M. Baker, Roberto Maiolino, Asa F. L. Bluck, Francesco Belfiore, Mirko Curti
| Summary:
One of the most important questions in astrophysics is what causes galaxies
to stop forming stars. Previous studies have shown a tight link between
quiescence and black hole mass. Other studies have revealed that quiescence is
also associated with ‘starvation’, the halting of gas inflows, which results in
the remaining gas being used up rapidly by star formation and in rapid chemical
enrichment. In this work we find the final missing link between these two
findings. Using a large sample of galaxies, we uncover the intrinsic
dependencies of the stellar metallicity on galaxy properties. In the case of
the star-forming galaxies, the stellar metallicity is driven by stellar mass.
However, for passive galaxies the stellar metallicity is primarily driven by
the black hole mass, as traced by velocity dispersion. This result finally
reveals the connection between previous studies, where the integrated effect of
black hole feedback prevents gas inflows, starving the galaxy, which is seen by
the rapid increase in the stellar metallicity, leading to the galaxy becoming
passive.
| Search Query: ArXiv Query: search_query=au:”Roberto Maiolino”&id_list=&start=0&max_results=3