%0 Generic %1 christensen2014verifying %A Christensen, L. %A Møller, P. %A Fynbo, J. P. U. %A Zafar, T. %D 2014 %K dla galaxy gradients host metallicity %T Verifying the mass-metallicity relation and metallicity gradients in damped Lyman-alpha selected galaxies at 0.1<z<3.2 %U http://arxiv.org/abs/1404.6529 %X A scaling relation has recently been suggested to combine the galaxy mass-metallicity relation with metallicities of damped Lyman-alpha systems (DLAs) in quasar spectra. Based on this relation the stellar masses of the absorbing galaxies can be predicted. We test this prediction by measuring the stellar masses of 12 galaxies in confirmed DLA absorber - galaxy pairs in the redshift range 0.1 < z < 3.2. Assuming that the difference between the predicted and measured stellar masses is due to a metallicity gradient in the gaseous discs or halos around the galaxies, we derive an expansion of the scaling relation to include the DLA metallicity, redshift, and metallicity gradient. The average metallicity gradient in a DLA galaxy is -0.022+/-0.002 dex/kpc consistent with gradients measured in disc galaxies at similar redshifts. By including a metallicity gradient in the scaling relation the scatter reduces to 0.41 dex in log M_*,DLA. We provide a prescription how to calculate the stellar mass (M_*,DLA) of the galaxy when the DLA metallicity and DLA galaxy impact parameter is known.

@misc{christensen2014verifying, abstract = {A scaling relation has recently been suggested to combine the galaxy mass-metallicity relation with metallicities of damped Lyman-alpha systems (DLAs) in quasar spectra. Based on this relation the stellar masses of the absorbing galaxies can be predicted. We test this prediction by measuring the stellar masses of 12 galaxies in confirmed DLA absorber - galaxy pairs in the redshift range 0.1 < z < 3.2. Assuming that the difference between the predicted and measured stellar masses is due to a metallicity gradient in the gaseous discs or halos around the galaxies, we derive an expansion of the scaling relation to include the DLA metallicity, redshift, and metallicity gradient. The average metallicity gradient in a DLA galaxy is -0.022+/-0.002 dex/kpc consistent with gradients measured in disc galaxies at similar redshifts. By including a metallicity gradient in the scaling relation the scatter reduces to 0.41 dex in log M_*,DLA. We provide a prescription how to calculate the stellar mass (M_*,DLA) of the galaxy when the DLA metallicity and DLA galaxy impact parameter is known.}, added-at = {2014-04-29T07:40:19.000+0200}, author = {Christensen, L. and Møller, P. and Fynbo, J. P. U. and Zafar, T.}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2144bdcf5b6a33655619eb14ad59a8c5b/miki}, description = {[1404.6529] Verifying the mass-metallicity relation and metallicity gradients in damped Lyman-alpha selected galaxies at 0.1&lt;z&lt;3.2}, interhash = {68e01098805467b041b58c7837553fc4}, intrahash = {144bdcf5b6a33655619eb14ad59a8c5b}, keywords = {dla galaxy gradients host metallicity}, note = {cite arxiv:1404.6529Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, submitted to MNRAS. Comments are welcome}, timestamp = {2014-04-29T07:40:19.000+0200}, title = {Verifying the mass-metallicity relation and metallicity gradients in damped Lyman-alpha selected galaxies at 0.1<z<3.2}, url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/1404.6529}, year = 2014 }