Velocity-Metallicity Correlation for high-z DLA Galaxies: Evidence for a Mass-Metallicity Relation?

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dc.creatorLedoux, C.
dc.creatorPetitjean, P.
dc.creatorFynbo, J. P. U.
dc.creatorMoller, P.
dc.creatorSrianand, R.
dc.date2006-06-08
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T07:12:10Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T07:12:10Z
dc.descriptionWe used our database of VLT-UVES quasar spectra to build up a sample of 70 Damped Lyman-alpha (DLA) or strong sub-DLA systems with total neutral hydrogen column densities of log N(HI)>20 and redshifts in the range 1.7<z_abs<4.3. For each of the systems, we measured in an homogeneous manner the metallicities relative to Solar, [X/H] (with X=Zn, or S or Si), and the velocity widths of low-ionization line profiles, Delta V. We provide for the first time evidence for a correlation between DLA metallicity and line profile velocity width, which is detected at the 6.1sigma significance level. This confirms the trend previously observed in a much smaller sample by Wolfe & Prochaska (1998). The best-fit linear relation is [X/H]=1.55(\pm 0.12) log Delta V -4.33(\pm 0.23) with Delta V expressed in km/s. The slope of the DLA velocity-metallicity relation is the same within uncertainties between the higher (z_abs>2.43) and the lower (z_abs<2.43) redshift halves of our sample. However, the two populations of systems are statistically different. There is a strong redshift evolution in the sense that the mean metallicity and mean velocity width increase with decreasing redshift. We argue that the existence of a DLA velocity-metallicity correlation, over more than a factor of 100 spread in metallicity, is probably the consequence of an underlying mass-metallicity relation for the galaxies responsible for DLA absorption lines. Assuming a simple linear scaling of the galaxy luminosity with the mass of the dark-matter halo, we find that the slope of the DLA velocity-metallicity relation is consistent with that of the luminosity-metallicity relation derived for local galaxies. [...] abridged.
dc.description10 pages, 4 figures, A&A in press
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0606185
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0606185
dc.identifierAstron.Astrophys. 457 (2006) 71-78
dc.identifierdoi:10.1051/0004-6361:20054242
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/111988
dc.subjectAstrophysics
dc.titleVelocity-Metallicity Correlation for high-z DLA Galaxies: Evidence for a Mass-Metallicity Relation?
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