Metallicity Evolution in the Early Universe

Abstract

Observations of the damped Lya systems provide direct measurements on the chemical enrichment history of neutral gas in the early universe. In this Letter, we present new measurements for four damped Lya systems at high redshift. Combining these data with [Fe/H] values culled from the literature, we investigate the metallicity evolution of the universe from z~1.5-4.5. Contrary to our expectations and the predictions of essentially every chemical evolution model, the N(HI)-weighted mean [Fe/H] metallicity exhibits minimal evolution over this epoch. For the individual systems, we report tentative evidence for an evolution in the unweighted [Fe/H] mean and the scatter in [Fe/H] with the higher redshift systems showing lower scatter and lower typical [Fe/H] values. We also note that no damped Lya system has [Fe/H] < -2.7 dex. Finally, we discuss the potential impact of small number statistics and dust on our conclusions and consider the implications of these results on chemical evolution in the early universe.