Galactic Winds and the Photo-chemical Evolution of Elliptical Galaxies: The Classic Model Revisited

Abstract

We consider the simultaneous chemical, photometric, and gaseous thermal energy evolution of elliptical galaxies. The evolution of chemical abundances in the intracluster medium (ICM) is set by the differing timescales for gas ejection, via supernovae (SNe)-driven winds, from dwarf, normal, and giant ellipticals, and is monitored concurrently. Emphasis is placed upon the influence of, and sensitivity to, the underlying stellar initial mass function (IMF), star formation efficiency, supernovae Type Ia rates, supernovae remnant (SNR) dynamics, and the most recent advances in stellar nucleosynthesis. Unlike many previous studies, we adhere to a wide range of optical (e.g. colour-metallicity-luminosity relationship) and x-ray (e.g. recent ASCA ICM abundance measurements) observational constraints. IMFs biased toward high mass stars, at least during the early phases of star formation, are implicated in order to satisfy all the observational constraints.