Central Velocity Dispersion as the Primary Driver of Abundance Patterns in Quenched Galaxies

作者：Haixin Li, Enci Wang, Cheqiu Lyu, Yangyao Chen, Huiyuan Wang, Zeyu Chen, Haoran Yu, Jia Cheng, Chengyu Ma · 发表于：The Astrophysical Journal · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.3847/1538-4357/adbf94 · 被引用次数：3 · 研究领域：Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena、Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies、Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae

Abstract The element abundances of galaxies provide crucial insights into their formation and evolution. Using high-resolution integral field unit data from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory survey, we analyze the central spectra (0–0.5 R e ) of 1185 quenched galaxies ( z = 0.012−0.15) to study their element abundances and stellar populations. We employ the full-spectrum fitting code alf to derive stellar ages and element abundances from synthetic spectra and empirical libraries. Our key findings are: (1) the central velocity dispersion ( σ * ) is the most effective parameter correlating with the (relative) element abundances, especially [Na/Fe], [Mg/Fe], [C/Fe], and [N/Fe], outperforming M * and M * / R e ; (2) when binned by σ * , the relative abundances of Na, Mg, C, and N remain stable across different formation times ( T form ), suggesting these elements are primarily influenced by the burstiness of star formation (traced by σ * ) rather than prolonged evolutionary processes; and (3) Fe and Ca show little variation with σ * , indicating weaker sensitivity to σ * -driven processes. However, T form has a global influence on all elements, contributing to their overall chemical evolution, although this is secondary to σ * for most elements. These results support the primary role of σ * in shaping the abundance patterns, likely stemming from the connection with central massive black holes and possibly also that with dark matter halos, which influences th...