Speaker
Description
Studies of the chemical evolution of stellar populations in distant galaxies have improved in the past decade with the advance of large galaxy surveys and telescopes that provide high signal-to-noise spectra that can then be analyzed with improved full-spectrum fitting techniques. Using high resolution spectra taken at the centers of elliptical galaxies, I obtain ages, central velocity dispersions, and abundance ratios relative to Fe of elements from various nucleosynthesis processes such as the CNO, ɑ-elements (Mg, Si, Ca, Ti), Fe-peak elements (Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu), and the neutron capture elements (Sr, Ba, and for the first time Eu). I apply full-spectrum fitting techniques to three early-type galaxies (ETGs) NGC 2865, NGC 3818, and NGC 4915, which belong to an interesting subset of elliptical galaxies that have distinct, stellar substructures that indicate late, major merger activity. In this talk I will discuss how, using the chemical abundances of the stellar populations that make up these ETGs, a range of galactic chemical evolution scenarios could emerge and be impacted by the major mergers. Additionally, I will highlight how the derived stellar abundances suggest that ETGs with fine structure can form via multiple pathways.
