The role of outflows and star formation efficiency in the evolution of early-type cluster galaxies

Abstract

A phenomenological model for chemical enrichment in early-type galaxies is presented, in which the process of star formation is reduced to a set of four parameters: star formation efficiency (Ceff), fraction of ejected gas in outflows (Bout), formation redshift (zF) and infall timescale (Tf). Out of these four parameters, only variations of Bout or Ceff can account for the color-magnitude relation. A range of outflows results in a metallicity sequence, whereas a range of star formation efficiencies will yield a mixed age + metallicity sequence. The age-metallicity degeneracy complicates the issue of determining which mechanism contributes the most (i.e. outflows versus efficiency). However, the determination of the slope of the correlation between mass-to-light ratio and mass in clusters at moderate or high redshift will allow us to disentangle age and metallicity.