The chemical enrichment of the ICM from hydrodynamical simulations

The study of the metal enrichment of the intra-cluster and inter-galactic media (ICM and IGM) represents a direct means to reconstruct the past history of star formation, the role of feedback processes and the gas-dynamical processes which determine the evolution of the cosmic baryons. In this paper we review the approaches that have been followed so far to model the enrichment of the ICM in a cosmological context. While our presentation will be focused on the role played by hydrodynamical simulations, we will also discuss other approaches based on semi-analytical models of galaxy formation, also critically discussing pros and cons of the different methods. We will first review the concept of the model of chemical evolution to be implemented in any chemo-dynamical description. We will emphasise how the predictions of this model critically depend on the choice of the stellar initial mass function, on the stellar life-times and on the stellar yields. We will then overview the comparisons presented so far between X-ray observations of the ICM enrichment and model predictions. We will show how the most recent chemo-dynamical models are able to capture the basic features of the observed metal content of the ICM and its evolution. We will conclude by highlighting the open questions in this study and the direction of improvements for cosmological chemo-dynamical models of the next generation.Comment: 25 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews, special issue "Clusters of galaxies: beyond the thermal view", Editor J.S. Kaastra, Chapter 18; work done by an international team at the International Space Science Institute (ISSI), Bern, organised by J.S. Kaastra, A.M. Bykov, S. Schindler & J.A.M. Bleeke

Metal enrichment processes

There are many processes that can transport gas from the galaxies to their environment and enrich the environment in this way with metals. These metal enrichment processes have a large influence on the evolution of both the galaxies and their environment. Various processes can contribute to the gas transfer: ram-pressure stripping, galactic winds, AGN outflows, galaxy-galaxy interactions and others. We review their observational evidence, corresponding simulations, their efficiencies, and their time scales as far as they are known to date. It seems that all processes can contribute to the enrichment. There is not a single process that always dominates the enrichment, because the efficiencies of the processes vary strongly with galaxy and environmental properties.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews, special issue "Clusters of galaxies: beyond the thermal view", Editor J.S. Kaastra, Chapter 17; work done by an international team at the International Space Science Institute (ISSI), Bern, organised by J.S. Kaastra, A.M. Bykov, S. Schindler & J.A.M. Bleeke

New theoretical yields of intermediate mass stars

We present theoretical yields of H, 4He, 12C, 13C, 14N, and 16O for stars with initial masses between 0.8 and 8 $M_{\odot}$ and initial metallicities $Z = 0.001$, 0.004, 0.008, 0.02, and 0.04. We use the evolutionary tracks of the Geneva group up to the early asymptotic giant branch (AGB) in combination with a synthetic thermal-pulsing AGB evolution model to follow in detail the chemical evolution and mass loss up to the end of the AGB including the first, second, and third dredge-up phases. Most of the relations used are metallicity dependent to make a realistic comparison with stars of different initial abundances. The effect of Hot Bottom Burning (HBB) is included in an approximate way. The free parameters in our calculations are the mass loss scaling parameter $\eta_{\rm AGB}$ for stars on the AGB (using a Reimers law), the minimum core mass for dredge-up $M_{\rm c}^{\rm min}$, and the third dredge-up efficiency λ. As derived from previous extensive modeling, $\eta_{\rm AGB}$ = 4, $M_{\rm c}^{\rm min}$ = 0.58 $M_{\odot}$, and $\lambda = 0.75$ including HBB are in best agreement with observations of AGB stars both in the Galactic disk and Magellanic Clouds. The influence of specific model assumptions and adopted parameter values on the resulting AGB yields is examined and compared with earlier theoretical work. We compare the abundances predicted during the final stages of the AGB with those observed in planetary nebulae in the Galactic disk and show that the model with the aforementioned parameters is in good agreement with the observations. The metallicity dependent yields of intermediate mass stars presented in this paper are well suited for use in galactic chemical evolution models