1998/08/24 by D. Thomas, Thomas, D.
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/9808262
6 pages, 3 ps-figures, LaTex2.09 uses paspcon.sty, to appear in Star Formation in Early-Type Galaxies, ASP Conf. Ser., eds. P. Carral and J. Cepa
arxiv created 1998/08/24 · openalex publication_date 1998/08/24 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
I discuss the formation of alpha-enhanced metal-rich stellar populations in the nuclei of luminous ellipticals. Based on hierarchical clustering, different galaxy formation scenarios, which imply different star formation histories, are considered. In contrast to the fast clumpy collapse mode, the late merger of two spiral galaxies fails to reproduce significantly α-enhanced abundance ratios, unless the IMF is flattened. Following the star formation history predicted by semi-analytic models of hierarchical clustering for the average elliptical, solar abundance ratios are obtained with Salpeter IMF. According to the models, bright ellipticals in the field are expected to have significantly lower Mg/Fe ratios than their counterparts in a cluster.