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Description
Gas flows play a fundamental role in galaxy formation and evolution, providing the fuel for the star formation process. These mechanisms leave an imprint in the amount of heavy elements that enrich the interstellar medium (ISM). Thus, the analysis of this metallicity signature provides additional constraint on the galaxy formation scenario. We aim to discriminate between four different galaxy formation models based on two accretion scenarios and two different star formation recipes. We address the impact of a bimodal accretion scenario and a strongly regulated star formation recipe on the metal enrichment process of galaxies. We present a new extension of the eGalICS model, which allows us to track the metal enrichment process in both stellar populations and in the gas phase. Based on stellar metallicity bins from 0 to 2.5Z_{sun}_, our new chemodynamical model is applicable for situations ranging from metal-free primordial accretion to very enriched interstellar gas contents. We use this new tool to predict the metallicity evolution of both the stellar populations and gas phase. We compare these predictions with recent observational measurements. We also address the evolution of the gas metallicity with the star formation rate (SFR). We then focus on a sub-sample of Milky Way-like galaxies. We compare both the cosmic stellar mass assembly and the metal enrichment process of such galaxies with observations and detailed chemical evolution models.
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