General constraints on the effect of gas flows in the chemical evolution of galaxies - II. Radial flows and abundance gradients
Open Access
- 15 January 1995
- journal article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Vol. 272 (2) , 241-264
- https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/272.2.241
Abstract
The basic equations for chemical evolution, allowing radial flow of gas in two- and three-dimensional galaxies, are examined, and a few general constraints are derived. A formalism is developed for the evolution of chemical abundances with radial flows, no accretion, and fairly general Schmidt-type star formation laws. Quantities of observational interest (such as gas density, gas chemical abundance, mean stellar metal abundance and star density) may be expressed as a function of galactic radius either as analytic functions or, at worst, as straightforward integrals. By investigating a few particularly simple cases in detail, we demonstrate the general effects of radial flows on the chemical evolution of galaxies and abundance gradients.Keywords
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