JADES: Insights into the low-mass end of the mass-metallicity-SFR relation at 3 < z < 10 from deep JWST/NIRSpec spectroscopy

JADES: Insights into the low-mass end of the mass-metallicity-SFR relation at 3 < z < 10 from deep JWST/NIRSpec spectroscopy

Apr 10, 2024·
Mirko Curti
,
Roberto Maiolino
,
Emma Curtis-Lake
,
Jacopo Chevallard
,
Stefano Carniani
,
Francesco D'Eugenio
,
Tobias J. Looser
,
Jan Scholtz
,
Stephane Charlot
,
Alex Cameron
,
Hannah Übler
,
Joris Witstok
,
Kristian Boyett
,
Isaac Laseter
,
Lester Sandles
,
Santiago Arribas
,
Andrew Bunker
,
Giovanna Giardino
,
Michael v. Maseda
,
Tim Rawle
,
Bruno Rodrı́guez Del Pino
,
Renske Smit
,
Chris J. Willott
,
Daniel J. Eisenstein
,
Ryan Hausen
,
Benjamin Johnson
,
Marcia Rieke
,
Brant Robertson
,
Sandro Tacchella
,
Christina C. Williams
,
Christopher Willmer
,
William M. Baker
,
Rachana Bhatawdekar
,
Eiichi Egami
Jakob M. Helton
Jakob M. Helton
,
Zhiyuan Ji
,
Nimisha Kumari
,
Michele Perna
,
Irene Shivaei
,
Fengwu Sun
Abstract
We analysed the gas-phase metallicity properties of a sample of low-stellar-mass ($\mathrm{log}_{10}(M_{\ast}/M_{\odot}) \leq 9$ ) galaxies at $3 < z < 10$ observed with JWST/NIRSpec as part of the JADES programme in its deep GOODS-S tier. By combining this sample with more massive galaxies at similar redshifts from other programmes, we study the scaling relations between stellar mass ($M_{\ast}$ ), oxygen abundance ($\mathrm{O/H}$ ), and star-formation rate (SFR) for $146$ galaxies spanning three orders of magnitude in stellar mass and out to the epoch of early galaxy assembly. We find evidence for a shallower slope at the low-mass end of the mass-metallicity relation (MZR), with $12 + \mathrm{log}_{10}(\mathrm{O/H}) = (7.72 \pm 0.02) + (0.17 \pm 0.03)\,\mathrm{log}_{10}(M_{\ast}/10^{8}\,M_{\odot})$ ), in good agreement with the MZR probed by local analogues of high-redshift systems, such as the “Green Pea” and “Blueberry” galaxies. The inferred slope is well matched by models including “momentum-driven” supernova (SN) winds, suggesting that feedback mechanisms in dwarf galaxies (and at $\mathrm{high}-z$ ) might be different from those in place at higher masses. The evolution in the normalisation is observed to be relatively mild compared to previous determinations of the MZR at $z \sim 3$ ($\sim 0.1-0.2\ \mathrm{dex}$ across the explored mass regime). We observe a deviation from the local fundamental metallicity relation (FMR) for our sample at high redshift, especially at $z > 6$ , with galaxies significantly less enriched than predicted given their $M_{\ast}$ and SFR (with a median offset in $\mathrm{log}_{10}(\mathrm{O/H})$ of $\sim 0.5\ \mathrm{dex}$ , significant at $\sim 5\sigma$ ). These observations are consistent with an enhanced stochasticity in the gas accretion and star-formation history of high-redshift systems, prompting us to reconsider the nature of the relationship between $M_{\ast}$ , $\mathrm{O/H}$ , and SFR in the early Universe.
Type
Publication
Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 684, id.A75, 22 pages