The cosmic buildup of dust and metals: Accurate abundances from GRB-selected star-forming galaxies at 1.7 < z < 6.3

K. E. Heintz; A. De Cia; C. C. Thöne; J. K. Krogager; R. M. Yates; S. Vejlgaard; C. Konstantopoulou; J. P.U. Fynbo; D. Watson; D. Narayanan; S. N. Wilson; M. Arabsalmani; S. Campana; V. D'Elia; M. De Pasquale; D. H. Hartmann; L. Izzo; P. Jakobsson; C. Kouveliotou; A. Levan; Q. Li; D. B. Malesani; A. Melandri; B. Milvang-Jensen; P. Møller; E. Palazzi; J. Palmerio; P. Petitjean; G. Pugliese; A. Rossi; A. Saccardi; R. Salvaterra; S. Savaglio; P. Schady; G. Stratta; N. R. Tanvir; A. De Ugarte Postigo; S. D. Vergani; K. Wiersema; R. A.M.J. Wijers; T. Zafar

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202347418

The cosmic buildup of dust and metals: Accurate abundances from GRB-selected star-forming galaxies at 1.7 < z < 6.3

K. E. Heintz, A. De Cia, C. C. Thöne, J. K. Krogager, R. M. Yates, S. Vejlgaard, C. Konstantopoulou, J. P.U. Fynbo, D. Watson, D. Narayanan, S. N. Wilson, M. Arabsalmani, S. Campana, V. D'Elia, M. De Pasquale, D. H. Hartmann, L. Izzo, P. Jakobsson, C. Kouveliotou, A. LevanQ. Li, D. B. Malesani, A. Melandri, B. Milvang-Jensen, P. Møller, E. Palazzi, J. Palmerio, P. Petitjean, G. Pugliese, A. Rossi, A. Saccardi, R. Salvaterra, S. Savaglio, P. Schady, G. Stratta, N. R. Tanvir, A. De Ugarte Postigo, S. D. Vergani, K. Wiersema, R. A.M.J. Wijers, T. Zafar

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Abstract

The chemical enrichment of dust and metals in the interstellar medium 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 (DTG) ratios, and dust-to-metal (DTM) ratios of 36 star-forming galaxies at 1.7 < z < 6.3 probed by gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). We compiled all GRB-selected galaxies with intermediate- ( = 7000) to high-resolution ( > 40 000) spectroscopic data, including three new sources, for which at least one refractory (e.g., Fe) and one volatile (e.g., S or Zn) element have been detected at S/N > 3. This is to ensure that accurate abundances and dust depletion patterns can be obtained. We first derived the redshift evolution of the dust-corrected, absorption-line-based gas-phase metallicity, [M/H]_tot, in these galaxies, for which we determine a linear relation with redshift [M/H]_tot(z) = (- 0.21 ± 0.04)z - (0.47 ± 0.14). We then examined the DTG and DTM ratios as a function of redshift and through three orders of magnitude in metallicity, quantifying the relative dust abundance both through the direct line-of-sight visual extinction, A_V, and the derived depletion level. We used a novel method to derive the DTG and DTM mass ratios for each GRB sightline, summing up the mass of all the depleted elements in the dust phase. We find that the DTG and DTM mass ratios are both strongly correlated with the gas-phase metallicity and show a mild evolution with redshift as well. While these results are subject to a variety of caveats related to the physical environments and the narrow pencil-beam sightlines through the interstellar medium probed by the GRBs, they provide strong implications for studies of dust masses that aim to infer the gas and metal content of high-redshift galaxies, and particularly demonstrate the large offset from the average Galactic value in the low-metallicity, high-redshift regime.

Original language	English
Article number	A91
Number of pages	15
Journal	Astronomy and Astrophysics
Volume	679
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202347418
Publication status	Published - 30 Nov 2023

Funding

First and foremost, we would like to thank all the astronomers around the globe that have been on duty throughout the years, tirelessly following up GRBs, which resulted in this exquisite GRB spectroscopic afterglow legacy sample. K.E.H. acknowledges support from the Carlsberg Foundation Reintegration Fellowship Grant CF21-0103. The Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) is funded by the Danish National Research Foundation under grant No. 140. A.D.C. and C.K. acknowledge support by the Swiss National Science Foundation under grant 185692. AR acknowledges support from the INAF project Premiale Supporto Arizona & Italia. A.S. and S.D.V. acknowledge support from CNES and DIM-ACAV+. G.S. acknowledges the support by the State of Hesse within the Research Cluster ELEMENTS (Project ID 500/10.006) Based on observations collected at the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere.

Funders	Funder number
Southern Hemisphere
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung	185692
Danmarks Grundforskningsfond	140
Carlsbergfondet	CF21-0103
Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales	500/10.006
INAF-Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali

Keywords

Dust
Extinction
Galaxies: abundances
Galaxies: high-redshift
Galaxies: ISM
Gamma-ray burst: general
ISM: abundances

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science

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10.1051/0004-6361/202347418Licence: CC BY

Cite this

Heintz, K. E., De Cia, A., Thöne, C. C., Krogager, J. K., Yates, R. M., Vejlgaard, S., Konstantopoulou, C., Fynbo, J. P. U., Watson, D., Narayanan, D., Wilson, S. N., Arabsalmani, M., Campana, S., D'Elia, V., De Pasquale, M., Hartmann, D. H., Izzo, L., Jakobsson, P., Kouveliotou, C., ... Zafar, T. (2023). The cosmic buildup of dust and metals: Accurate abundances from GRB-selected star-forming galaxies at 1.7 < z < 6.3. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 679, Article A91. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202347418

Heintz, KE, De Cia, A, Thöne, CC, Krogager, JK, Yates, RM, Vejlgaard, S, Konstantopoulou, C, Fynbo, JPU, Watson, D, Narayanan, D, Wilson, SN, Arabsalmani, M, Campana, S, D'Elia, V, De Pasquale, M, Hartmann, DH, Izzo, L, Jakobsson, P, Kouveliotou, C, Levan, A, Li, Q, Malesani, DB, Melandri, A, Milvang-Jensen, B, Møller, P, Palazzi, E, Palmerio, J, Petitjean, P, Pugliese, G, Rossi, A, Saccardi, A, Salvaterra, R, Savaglio, S, Schady, P, Stratta, G, Tanvir, NR, De Ugarte Postigo, A, Vergani, SD, Wiersema, K, Wijers, RAMJ & Zafar, T 2023, 'The cosmic buildup of dust and metals: Accurate abundances from GRB-selected star-forming galaxies at 1.7 < z < 6.3', Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 679, A91. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202347418

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title = "The cosmic buildup of dust and metals: Accurate abundances from GRB-selected star-forming galaxies at 1.7 < z < 6.3",

abstract = "The chemical enrichment of dust and metals in the interstellar medium 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 (DTG) ratios, and dust-to-metal (DTM) ratios of 36 star-forming galaxies at 1.7 < z < 6.3 probed by gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). We compiled all GRB-selected galaxies with intermediate- ( = 7000) to high-resolution ( > 40 000) spectroscopic data, including three new sources, for which at least one refractory (e.g., Fe) and one volatile (e.g., S or Zn) element have been detected at S/N > 3. This is to ensure that accurate abundances and dust depletion patterns can be obtained. We first derived the redshift evolution of the dust-corrected, absorption-line-based gas-phase metallicity, [M/H]tot, in these galaxies, for which we determine a linear relation with redshift [M/H]tot(z) = (- 0.21 ± 0.04)z - (0.47 ± 0.14). We then examined the DTG and DTM ratios as a function of redshift and through three orders of magnitude in metallicity, quantifying the relative dust abundance both through the direct line-of-sight visual extinction, AV, and the derived depletion level. We used a novel method to derive the DTG and DTM mass ratios for each GRB sightline, summing up the mass of all the depleted elements in the dust phase. We find that the DTG and DTM mass ratios are both strongly correlated with the gas-phase metallicity and show a mild evolution with redshift as well. While these results are subject to a variety of caveats related to the physical environments and the narrow pencil-beam sightlines through the interstellar medium probed by the GRBs, they provide strong implications for studies of dust masses that aim to infer the gas and metal content of high-redshift galaxies, and particularly demonstrate the large offset from the average Galactic value in the low-metallicity, high-redshift regime.",

keywords = "Dust, Extinction, Galaxies: abundances, Galaxies: high-redshift, Galaxies: ISM, Gamma-ray burst: general, ISM: abundances",

author = "Heintz, {K. E.} and {De Cia}, A. and Th{\"o}ne, {C. C.} and Krogager, {J. K.} and Yates, {R. M.} and S. Vejlgaard and C. Konstantopoulou and Fynbo, {J. P.U.} and D. Watson and D. Narayanan and Wilson, {S. N.} and M. Arabsalmani and S. Campana and V. D'Elia and {De Pasquale}, M. and Hartmann, {D. H.} and L. Izzo and P. Jakobsson and C. Kouveliotou and A. Levan and Q. Li and Malesani, {D. B.} and A. Melandri and B. Milvang-Jensen and P. M{\o}ller and E. Palazzi and J. Palmerio and P. Petitjean and G. Pugliese and A. Rossi and A. Saccardi and R. Salvaterra and S. Savaglio and P. Schady and G. Stratta and Tanvir, {N. R.} and {De Ugarte Postigo}, A. and Vergani, {S. D.} and K. Wiersema and Wijers, {R. A.M.J.} and T. Zafar",

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month = nov,

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doi = "10.1051/0004-6361/202347418",

language = "English",

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T1 - The cosmic buildup of dust and metals

T2 - Accurate abundances from GRB-selected star-forming galaxies at 1.7 < z < 6.3

AU - Heintz, K. E.

AU - De Cia, A.

AU - Thöne, C. C.

AU - Krogager, J. K.

AU - Yates, R. M.

AU - Vejlgaard, S.

AU - Konstantopoulou, C.

AU - Fynbo, J. P.U.

AU - Watson, D.

AU - Narayanan, D.

AU - Wilson, S. N.

AU - Arabsalmani, M.

AU - Campana, S.

AU - D'Elia, V.

AU - De Pasquale, M.

AU - Hartmann, D. H.

AU - Izzo, L.

AU - Jakobsson, P.

AU - Kouveliotou, C.

AU - Levan, A.

AU - Li, Q.

AU - Malesani, D. B.

AU - Melandri, A.

AU - Milvang-Jensen, B.

AU - Møller, P.

AU - Palazzi, E.

AU - Palmerio, J.

AU - Petitjean, P.

AU - Pugliese, G.

AU - Rossi, A.

AU - Saccardi, A.

AU - Salvaterra, R.

AU - Savaglio, S.

AU - Schady, P.

AU - Stratta, G.

AU - Tanvir, N. R.

AU - De Ugarte Postigo, A.

AU - Vergani, S. D.

AU - Wiersema, K.

AU - Wijers, R. A.M.J.

AU - Zafar, T.

PY - 2023/11/30

Y1 - 2023/11/30

N2 - The chemical enrichment of dust and metals in the interstellar medium 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 (DTG) ratios, and dust-to-metal (DTM) ratios of 36 star-forming galaxies at 1.7 < z < 6.3 probed by gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). We compiled all GRB-selected galaxies with intermediate- ( = 7000) to high-resolution ( > 40 000) spectroscopic data, including three new sources, for which at least one refractory (e.g., Fe) and one volatile (e.g., S or Zn) element have been detected at S/N > 3. This is to ensure that accurate abundances and dust depletion patterns can be obtained. We first derived the redshift evolution of the dust-corrected, absorption-line-based gas-phase metallicity, [M/H]tot, in these galaxies, for which we determine a linear relation with redshift [M/H]tot(z) = (- 0.21 ± 0.04)z - (0.47 ± 0.14). We then examined the DTG and DTM ratios as a function of redshift and through three orders of magnitude in metallicity, quantifying the relative dust abundance both through the direct line-of-sight visual extinction, AV, and the derived depletion level. We used a novel method to derive the DTG and DTM mass ratios for each GRB sightline, summing up the mass of all the depleted elements in the dust phase. We find that the DTG and DTM mass ratios are both strongly correlated with the gas-phase metallicity and show a mild evolution with redshift as well. While these results are subject to a variety of caveats related to the physical environments and the narrow pencil-beam sightlines through the interstellar medium probed by the GRBs, they provide strong implications for studies of dust masses that aim to infer the gas and metal content of high-redshift galaxies, and particularly demonstrate the large offset from the average Galactic value in the low-metallicity, high-redshift regime.

AB - The chemical enrichment of dust and metals in the interstellar medium 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 (DTG) ratios, and dust-to-metal (DTM) ratios of 36 star-forming galaxies at 1.7 < z < 6.3 probed by gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). We compiled all GRB-selected galaxies with intermediate- ( = 7000) to high-resolution ( > 40 000) spectroscopic data, including three new sources, for which at least one refractory (e.g., Fe) and one volatile (e.g., S or Zn) element have been detected at S/N > 3. This is to ensure that accurate abundances and dust depletion patterns can be obtained. We first derived the redshift evolution of the dust-corrected, absorption-line-based gas-phase metallicity, [M/H]tot, in these galaxies, for which we determine a linear relation with redshift [M/H]tot(z) = (- 0.21 ± 0.04)z - (0.47 ± 0.14). We then examined the DTG and DTM ratios as a function of redshift and through three orders of magnitude in metallicity, quantifying the relative dust abundance both through the direct line-of-sight visual extinction, AV, and the derived depletion level. We used a novel method to derive the DTG and DTM mass ratios for each GRB sightline, summing up the mass of all the depleted elements in the dust phase. We find that the DTG and DTM mass ratios are both strongly correlated with the gas-phase metallicity and show a mild evolution with redshift as well. While these results are subject to a variety of caveats related to the physical environments and the narrow pencil-beam sightlines through the interstellar medium probed by the GRBs, they provide strong implications for studies of dust masses that aim to infer the gas and metal content of high-redshift galaxies, and particularly demonstrate the large offset from the average Galactic value in the low-metallicity, high-redshift regime.

KW - Dust

KW - Extinction

KW - Galaxies: abundances

KW - Galaxies: high-redshift

KW - Galaxies: ISM

KW - Gamma-ray burst: general

KW - ISM: abundances

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DO - 10.1051/0004-6361/202347418

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85179125804

SN - 0004-6361

VL - 679

JO - Astronomy and Astrophysics

JF - Astronomy and Astrophysics

M1 - A91

ER -

The cosmic buildup of dust and metals: Accurate abundances from GRB-selected star-forming galaxies at 1.7 < z < 6.3

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