Related papers: The G-dwarf problem in the Galaxy
Growing evidence in recent years suggests a systematic variation of the stellar initial mass function (IMF), being top-heavy for starburst galaxies and possibly bottom-heavy for massive ellipticals. Galaxy chemical evolution simulations…
We predict the metallicity distribution of stars and the age-metallicity relation for 6 Dwarf Spheroidal (dSph) galaxies of the Local Group by means of a chemical evolution model which is able to reproduce several observed abundance ratios…
[Abridged abstract] We have performed an abundance analysis for 176 F- and G- dwarfs of the Galactic thick disk component. Using accurate radial velocities combined with $Hipparcos$ astrometry, kinematics (U, V, and W) and Galactic orbital…
We make use of a semi-analytical model of galaxy formation to investigate the origin of the observed correlation between [a/Fe] abundance ratios and stellar mass in elliptical galaxies. We implement a new galaxy-wide stellar initial mass…
Recent observations demonstrate that the thin and thick disks of the Galaxy have different chemical abundance trends and evolution timescales. The relative abundances of $\alpha$-elements in the thick Galactic disk are increased relative to…
Variations in the stellar initial mass function (IMF) have been invoked to explain the spectroscopic and dynamical properties of early-type galaxies. However, no observations have yet been able to disentangle the physical driver. We analyse…
The standard cosmological scenario predicts a hierarchical formation for galaxies. Many substructures were found in the Galactic halo, identified as clumps in kinematic spaces, like the energy-angular momentum one (E-Lz), under the…
We construct three extreme different scenarios of the star formation histories applicable to a sample of dwarf galaxies, based either on their present metallicity or their luminosity. The three possible scenarios imply different mechanical…
The aim of this paper is to quantify the amplitude of the predicted plateau in [alpha/Fe] ratios associated with the most metal-poor stars of a galaxy. We assume that the initial mass function in galaxies is steeper if the star formation…
Dust is important for star formation because it is the crucial component that couples gas to stellar radiation fields, allowing radiation feedback to influence gas fragmentation and thus the stellar initial mass function (IMF). Variations…
We determine the initial mass function (IMF) of the ``thin disk'' by means of a direct comparison between synthetic stellar samples (for different matching choices of IMF, star formation rate SFR and depletion) and a complete…
The Hubble Space Telescope has been used to obtain WFPC2 (V,I) photometry for a sample of 10,000 red giant stars in the outer halo of the giant elliptical NGC 5128. Comparison with the fiducial RGBs of Milky Way globular clusters and model…
The metallicity structure of stellar halos encodes the fossil record of galaxy assembly, tracing the chemical evolution and dynamical imprint of past mergers. Using five Milky Way-mass halos from the Aquarius simulations, we introduce an…
The chemical enrichment of dust and metals in the interstellar medium (ISM) of galaxies throughout cosmic time is one of the key driving processes of galaxy evolution. Here we study the evolution of the gas-phase metallicities, dust-to-gas…
ABRIDGED: METHODS: We have conducted a high-resolution spectroscopic study of 714 F and G dwarf and subgiant stars in the Solar neighbourhood. The star sample has been kinematically selected to trace the Galactic thin and thick disks to…
Resolved metallicity studies of local disk galaxies have revealed that their interstellar media (ISMs) are far from chemically homogeneous, displaying significant ($\sim 0.05$ dex) variations in the metallicity on characteristic scales of a…
The integrated galaxial initial mass function (IGIMF) is the relevant distribution function containing the information on the distribution of stellar remnants, the number of supernovae and the chemical enrichment history of a galaxy. Since…
The chemical evolution of galaxies is investigated within the framework of the star formation rate (SFR) dependent integrated galactic initial mass function (IGIMF). We study how the global chemical evolution of a galaxy and in particular…
The consistency of the metallicity distributions of F, G and K dwarfs is studied. We present a new metallicity distribution for K dwarfs using metallicities determined from uvby photometry. There is a remarkable paucity of metal-poor K…
We present a kinematic analysis of a sample of 23,908 G- and K-type dwarfs in the Galactic disk. Based on the $\alpha$-abundance ratio, [$\alpha$/Fe], we separated our sample into low-$\alpha$ thin-disk and high-$\alpha$ thick-disk stars.…