Investigation of the Mass-Metallicity Relation of GRB Host Galaxies at z ~ 4.7
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Ohio University / OhioLINK
2020
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1597762492071921 |
| id |
ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-ohiou1597762492071921 |
|---|---|
| record_format |
oai_dc |
| spelling |
ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-ohiou15977624920719212021-08-03T07:16:12Z Investigation of the Mass-Metallicity Relation of GRB Host Galaxies at z ~ 4.7 Sears, Huei M. Astrophysics Astronomy Physics Gamma-Ray Bursts GRBs GRB host galaxies Mass Metallicity Mass-Metallicity Relation redshift evolution In studying the chemical abundance evolution of star-forming galaxies across many cosmic epochs, we will be able to understand how the chemical abundance of the Milky Way came to be. Determining chemical abundances (often generalized as “the metallicity”) of galaxies is relatively straight forward to do but can become difficult at high redshift (z). Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) offer a unique way to spectroscopically view high redshift galaxies. Before GRBs can be confidently used as probes of the high-redshift star-forming universe, it must be first determined if GRBs trace star formation. In the local universe, it has been shown that GRBs prefer metal-poor environments and this preference does not evolve much with redshift. On the other hand, the Mass-Metallicity (M-Z) relation of star-forming galaxies evolves toward lower metallicities with increasing redshift. It is theorized that after z ~ 3, GRBs should be unbiased tracers of star-formation and could be used as probes of otherwise unobservable aspects of the high redshift universe. Presented here is the analysis of a sample of 11 GRB host galaxies at redshift z ~ 4.7. Though the larger project consists of a sample of 23 GRB host galaxies, at this time, only 11 had sufficient data for analysis. Analysis of the remaining 12 galaxies in the sample is ongoing. Spitzer Space Telescope images exist for all 23 hosts, while Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images were taken of 19 of the hosts over the last two years. Archival HST images will be used for the remaining four galaxies. Masses and metallicities for these 11 hosts were collected from the literature. Metallicities were converted to gas-phase oxygen abundances for comparison to M-Z relations of star-forming galaxies. Our collaborators measured observed-frame Infrared (IR) magnitudes for 5 of the galaxies in our sample, though further analysis for the remaining sample is ongoing. These magnitudes were converted to masses using a mass-to-light ratio for star-forming galaxies at z ~ 4. Despite theoretical prediction that GRBs should be unbiased tracers of star-formation after z ~ 3, we find that even at z ~ 4.7, GRBs prefer metal-poor host galaxies. The offset from the closest M-Z relation at z ~ 3.5 is on the order of 1 dex. There does seem to be some agreement with our sample and the M-Z relation of star-forming galaxies at z ~ 8, though further analysis is necessary due to the large scatter of the relation and incomplete GRB host sample. 2020 English text Ohio University / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1597762492071921 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1597762492071921 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws. |
| collection |
NDLTD |
| language |
English |
| sources |
NDLTD |
| topic |
Astrophysics Astronomy Physics Gamma-Ray Bursts GRBs GRB host galaxies Mass Metallicity Mass-Metallicity Relation redshift evolution |
| spellingShingle |
Astrophysics Astronomy Physics Gamma-Ray Bursts GRBs GRB host galaxies Mass Metallicity Mass-Metallicity Relation redshift evolution Sears, Huei M. Investigation of the Mass-Metallicity Relation of GRB Host Galaxies at z ~ 4.7 |
| author |
Sears, Huei M. |
| author_facet |
Sears, Huei M. |
| author_sort |
Sears, Huei M. |
| title |
Investigation of the Mass-Metallicity Relation of GRB Host Galaxies at z ~ 4.7 |
| title_short |
Investigation of the Mass-Metallicity Relation of GRB Host Galaxies at z ~ 4.7 |
| title_full |
Investigation of the Mass-Metallicity Relation of GRB Host Galaxies at z ~ 4.7 |
| title_fullStr |
Investigation of the Mass-Metallicity Relation of GRB Host Galaxies at z ~ 4.7 |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Investigation of the Mass-Metallicity Relation of GRB Host Galaxies at z ~ 4.7 |
| title_sort |
investigation of the mass-metallicity relation of grb host galaxies at z ~ 4.7 |
| publisher |
Ohio University / OhioLINK |
| publishDate |
2020 |
| url |
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1597762492071921 |
| work_keys_str_mv |
AT searshueim investigationofthemassmetallicityrelationofgrbhostgalaxiesatz47 |
| _version_ |
1719458054229983232 |