The extended Schmidt law (ESL) is a variant of the Schmidt law which relates
the surface densities of gas and star formation, with the surface density of
stellar mass added as an extra parameter. We empirically investigate for the
first time whether low metallicity faint dwarf irregular galaxies (dIrrs)
follow the ESL. Here we consider the `global' law where surface densities are
averaged over the galactic discs. dIrrs are unique not only because they are at
the lowest end of mass and star formation scales for galaxies, but also because
they are metal-poor compared to the general population of galaxies. Our sample
is drawn from the Faint Irregular Galaxy GMRT Survey (FIGGS) which is the
largest survey of atomic hydrogen in such galaxies. The gas surface densities
are determined using their atomic hydrogen content. The star formation rates
are calculated using GALEX far ultraviolet fluxes after correcting for dust
extinction, whereas the stellar surface densities are calculated using Spitzer
3.6 μm fluxes. All surface densities are calculated over stellar discs
defined by the 3.6 μm images. We find dIrrs indeed follow the extended
Schmidt law. The mean deviation of the FIGGS galaxies from the relation is 0.01
dex, with a scatter around the relation of less than half that seen in the
original relation. In comparison, we also show that the FIGGS galaxies are much
more deviant when compared to the `canonical' Kennicutt-Schmidt relation. Our
results help strengthen the universality of the extended Schmidt law,
especially for galaxies with low metallicities. We suggest that models of star
formation in which feedback from previous generations of stars set the pressure
in the ISM, are promising candidates for explaining the ESL. We also confirm
that ESL is an independent relation and not a form of a relation between star
formation efficiency and metallicity.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. Figure 2 on
Page 5 shows the main resul
