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Paper: The Metallicity Evolution of Interacting Galaxies
Volume: 477, Galaxy Mergers in an Evolving Universe
Page: 237
Authors: Torrey, P.; Cox, T. J.; Kewley, L.; Hernquist, L.
Abstract: Nuclear inflows of metal–poor interstellar gas triggered by galaxy interactions can account for the systematically lower central oxygen abundances observed in local interacting galaxies. We investigate the metallicity evolution of a large set of simulations of colliding galaxies with numerical simulations including cooling, star formation, feedback, and mass recycling. We focus on the influence of merger–induced inflows and chemical enrichment in determining the nuclear metallicity evolution. We find an average depression in the nuclear metallicity of ∼0.07 for gas–poor disk–disk interactions. The simulations fare reasonably well when compared to the observed mass–metallicity and separation–metallicity relationships.
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