# GLOBAL LAW FOR DUST-TO-GAS RATIO OF SPIRAL GALAXIES

## 1 INTRODUCTION

Interstellar dust is composed of heavy elements made and ejected by stars. Supernovae (SNe) govern the dust content in galaxies: Observationally, dust has been clearly detected in the SN1987a event (Moseley et al. 1989; see also Kozasa, Hasegawa, & Nomoto 1989), and theoretically, Dwek & Scalo (1980) demonstrated that SNe are the dominant sources for the formation of dust grains. Dwek & Scalo (1980) also showed that the dust is destroyed in SN remnants (SNRs).

Recently, galaxy-evolution models including the evolution of dust content have been developed (Wang 1991; Takagi & Arimoto 1997; Lisenfeld & Ferrara 1998, hereafter LF98; Dwek 1998, hereafter D98). The processes of dust formation and destruction by SNe are taken into account in LF98, in order to explain the relation between dust-to-gas mass ratio and metallicity of dwarf irregular galaxies and blue compact dwarf galaxies. We can find detailed mathematical frameworks to calculate the dust abundance in any galactic system in D98, in which the accretion of heavy elements onto preexisting dust grains is considered in addition to the processes considered in LF98.

In this paper, we examine the dust-to-gas ratio of nearby star-forming galaxies with a simple model. We use spiral galaxies as the sample of star-forming galaxies. First of all, in the next section, we apply instantaneous recycling approximation to the model equations in D98 to describe a simplified relation between dust-to-gas ratio and metallicity. Our model is a one-zone model (i.e., the spatial distribution of gas, metal, and dust within a galaxy is not taken into account). The result is compared with observational data in the same section. Finally, we present summary and conclusion in §3. 

## 2 MODEL

### 2.1 Basic Equations

We, here, present the equations which describe the changing rate of the mass of gas, metal and dust in a galaxy. Here, we adopt a simple one-zone model, because we are interested in the global properties of galaxies. For the model treating the radial distribution of gas, element, and dust in a galaxy, see D98. After some modifications, equations (6)–(8) of LF98 are written as

$`{\displaystyle \frac{dM_\mathrm{g}}{dt}}`$ $`=`$ $`\psi +E,`$ (1)   
$`{\displaystyle \frac{dM_i}{dt}}`$ $`=`$ $`X_i\psi +E_i,`$ (2)   
$`{\displaystyle \frac{dM_{\mathrm{d}i}}{dt}}`$ $`=`$ $`f_{\mathrm{in}i}E_i\alpha f_iX_i\psi +{\displaystyle \frac{M_{\mathrm{d}i}(1f_i)}{\tau _{\mathrm{acc}}}}{\displaystyle \frac{M_{\mathrm{d}i}}{\tau _{\mathrm{SN}}}}.`$ (3)   
Here, $`M_\mathrm{g}`$ is the mass of gas. The metal is labeled by $`i`$ ($`i=\mathrm{O}`$, C, Si, Mg, Fe, $`\mathrm{}`$), and $`M_i`$ and $`M_{\mathrm{d}i}`$ denote the total mass of the metal $`i`$ (in gas and dust phases) and the mass of the metal $`i`$ in the dust phase, respectively. The star formation rate is denoted by $`\psi `$; $`E`$ is the total injection rate of mass from stars; $`X_i`$ is the mass fraction of the element $`i`$ (i.e., $`X_iM_i/M_\mathrm{g}`$); $`E_i`$ is the total injection rate of element $`i`$ from stars; $`f_i`$ is the mass fraction of the element $`i`$ locked up in dust (i.e., $`f_i=M_{\mathrm{d}i}/M_i`$). The meanings of the other parameters in the above equations are as follows: $`f_{\mathrm{in}i}`$ represents the dust mass fraction in the injected material, in other words, the dust condensation efficiency in the ejecta<sup>1</sup><sup>1</sup>1In this formalism, we assume that this efficiency in stellar winds is the same as that in SN ejecta. The different efficiencies in the various ejecta are treated in D98.; $`\alpha `$ refers to the efficiency of dust destruction during star formation ($`\alpha =1`$ corresponds to destruction of only the dust incorporated into the star, and $`\alpha >1[\alpha <1]`$ corresponds to a net destruction \[formation\] in the star formation); $`\tau _{\mathrm{acc}}`$ is the accretion timescale of the element $`i`$ onto preexisting dust grains in molecular clouds; $`\tau _{\mathrm{SN}}`$ is the timescale of dust destruction by SN shocks. We hereafter assume that only dust incorporated into stars is destroyed when the stars form; i.e., $`\alpha =1`$.

Our equations above are different from the equations in LF98 in the following two ways. The one is that we neglect the outflow term (i.e., we set $`W=0`$ in the equations of LF98), since we expect that outflows of gas from spiral galaxies, in which we are interested, are not effective because their gravitational potentials are much deeper than those of dwarf galaxies, which LF98 treated. For this reason and for simplicity, we here neglect the outflow terms. The other is the addition of the third term of the left-hand side in equation (3). This term represents the accretion of element $`i`$ onto the preexisting dust grains. The process is effective in molecular clouds, where the density of gas is high enough for the dust particles to grow through collisions with the atoms of heavy elements. The timescale $`\tau _{\mathrm{acc}}`$ is determined from the lifetimes of molecular clouds. The detailed discussion about the accretion process can be found in §7 of D98.

Here, we adopt the instantaneous recycling approximation (Tinsley 1980): Stars less massive than $`m_\mathrm{l}`$ live forever and the others die instantaneously. This approximation allows us to write $`E`$ and $`E_i`$, respectively, as $`E=\psi `$ and $`E_i=(X_i+𝒴_i)\psi `$, where $``$ is the returned fraction of the mass that has formed stars which is subsequently ejected into the interstellar space, and $`𝒴_i`$ is the mass fraction of the element $`i`$ newly produced and ejected by stars.<sup>2</sup><sup>2</sup>2$`=R`$ and $`𝒴_i=y(1R)`$ for the notations in LF98. $``$ and $`𝒴_i`$ can be obtained using the following formulae (Maeder 1992):

$``$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle _{m_\mathrm{l}}^{m_\mathrm{u}}}(mw_m)\varphi (m)𝑑m,`$ (4)   
$`𝒴_i`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle _{m_\mathrm{l}}^{m_\mathrm{u}}}mp_i(m)\varphi (m)𝑑m,`$ (5)   
In equation (4), $`\varphi (m)`$ is the initial mass function (IMF), and $`m_\mathrm{u}`$ is the upper mass cutoff of stellar mass. The IMF is normalized so that integral of $`m\varphi (m)`$ in the full range of stellar mass becomes 1. Thus, $`\varphi (m)`$ has dimension of the inverse square of mass. In equation (5), $`w_m`$ is the remnant mass ($`w_m=0.7M_{}`$ for $`m<4M_{}`$ and $`w_m=1.4M_{}`$ for $`m>4M_{}`$) and $`p_i(m)`$ is the mass fraction of a star of mass $`m`$ converted into the element $`i`$ and ejected.

Using the above parameters $``$ and $`𝒴_i`$, equations (1)–(3) become

$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\psi }}{\displaystyle \frac{dM_\mathrm{g}}{dt}}`$ $`=`$ $`1+,`$ (6)   
$`{\displaystyle \frac{M_\mathrm{g}}{\psi }}{\displaystyle \frac{dX_i}{dt}}`$ $`=`$ $`𝒴_i,`$ (7)   
$`{\displaystyle \frac{M_\mathrm{g}}{\psi }}{\displaystyle \frac{d𝒟_i}{dt}}`$ $`=`$ $`f_{\mathrm{in}i}(X_i+𝒴_i)[\alpha 1+\beta _{\mathrm{acc}}(1f_i)+\beta _{\mathrm{SN}}]𝒟_i,`$ (8)   
where $`𝒟_iM_{\mathrm{d}i}/M_\mathrm{g}=f_iX_i`$, and $`\beta _{\mathrm{acc}}`$ and $`\beta _{\mathrm{SN}}`$ are, respectively, defined by $`\beta _{\mathrm{acc}}M_\mathrm{g}/(\tau _{\mathrm{acc}}\psi )`$ and $`\beta _{\mathrm{SN}}M_\mathrm{g}/(\tau _{\mathrm{SN}}\psi )`$. (See also Eqs. 10–12 in LF98.) We can regard $`\beta _{\mathrm{SN}}`$ as constant in time (§6.2 of D98). The reason is as follows. The destruction rate of dust by SNRs is written as $`(M_{\mathrm{d}i}/M_\mathrm{g})ϵM_{\mathrm{SNR}}R_{\mathrm{SN}}`$, where $`ϵ`$ is the grain destruction efficiency, $`M_{\mathrm{SNR}}`$ is the total mass of interstellar gas swept up by a SNR during its lifetime, and $`R_{\mathrm{SN}}`$ is the number of SNe (Type I and Type II) per unit time. Since this should be equivalent to the last term of right-hand side of equation (3), $`\tau _{\mathrm{SN}}=M_\mathrm{g}/(ϵM_{\mathrm{SNR}}R_{\mathrm{SN}})`$. Because the dependence of $`ϵM_{\mathrm{SNR}}`$ on the gas density is weak (Jones, Tielens, & Hollenbach 1996), we regard $`ϵM_{\mathrm{SNR}}`$ as a constant. If we reasonably assume that $`R_{\mathrm{SN}}`$ is proportional to the star formation rate, we derive $`\tau _{\mathrm{SN}}M_\mathrm{g}/\psi `$. This is why $`\beta _{\mathrm{SN}}=M_\mathrm{g}/(\tau _{\mathrm{SN}}\psi )`$ can be treated as a constant. The Galactic value shows $`\beta _{\mathrm{SN}}5`$ (LF98). This value corresponds to $`\tau _{\mathrm{SN}}10^8`$ yr, which is consistent with Jones et al. (1994) and Jones, Tielens, & Hollenbach (1996). The relation $`\tau _{\mathrm{acc}}\tau _{\mathrm{SN}}/2`$ (D98) leads to $`\beta _{\mathrm{acc}}2\beta _{\mathrm{SN}}10`$.

Combining equations (7) and (8), we obtain the following differential equation of $`𝒟_i`$ as a function of $`X_i`$:

$`𝒴_i{\displaystyle \frac{d𝒟_i}{dX_i}}=f_{\mathrm{in}i}(X_i+𝒴_i)(\alpha 1+\beta _{\mathrm{acc}}+\beta _{\mathrm{SN}})𝒟_i{\displaystyle \frac{\beta _{\mathrm{acc}}𝒟_i^2}{X_i}},`$ (9)   
where we used the relation of $`f_i=𝒟_i/X_i`$.

### 2.2 Comparison with Observations

The result of the numerical integration of equation (9) is compared with observational data of nearby spiral galaxies. We take again $`i=\mathrm{O}`$ (see also §2.1). Moreover, we make an assumption that total mass of dust including both oxygen dust and carbon dust<sup>3</sup><sup>3</sup>3We should note that the carbon dust is not traced by oxygen. is proportional to that of oxygen in the dust phase. In other words,

$`𝒟{\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}𝒟_i=C𝒟_\mathrm{O},`$ (10)   
where $`C`$ is assumed to be constant for all spiral galaxies. We adopt the Galactic value, $`C2.2`$ according to Table 2.2 of Whittet (1992).

For further quantification, we need to fix the values of $``$ and $`𝒴_i`$ for the traced element ($`i=\mathrm{O}`$). We choose oxygen as the tracer, because (i) Most of it is produced in type II SNe which are also responsible for the shock destruction of dust grains; (ii) oxygen is the main constituent of dust grains (see also LF98). The point (i) means that the instantaneous recycling approximation may be a reasonable approximation for the investigation of oxygen abundances, since the generation of oxygen is a massive-star-weighed phenomenon. In other words, results are insensitive to the value of $`m_\mathrm{l}`$ defined in equations (4) and (5). According to LF98, we put $`m_\mathrm{l}=1M_{}`$ and $`m_\mathrm{u}=120M_{}`$. We use a power-law form of the IMF: $`\varphi (m)m^x`$. Two kinds of the IMFs are investigated: $`x=2.35`$ (Salpeter 1955) and $`x=2.7`$ (Scalo 1986). If we assume that the lower cutoff of the stellar mass is equal to $`m_\mathrm{l}(=1M_{})`$, $`(,𝒴_\mathrm{O})=(0.79,1.8\times 10^2)`$ and $`(0.68,9.6\times 10^3)`$ for the IMFs of Salpeter and Scalo, respectively (LF98). Adopting the lower cutoff of $`0.1M_{}`$ instead, the values become $`(,𝒴_\mathrm{O})=(0.32,7.2\times 10^3)`$ and $`(0.13,1.8\times 10^3)`$ for the Salpeter and Scalo IMFs, respectively. We use the former values for $``$ and $`𝒴_\mathrm{O}`$. We treat the latter values only in §2.2.3.

#### 2.2.1 Dependence on $`\beta _{\mathrm{acc}}`$

First, we examine the dependence of $`X_\mathrm{O}`$$`𝒟`$ relation on the parameter $`\beta _{\mathrm{acc}}`$, the efficiency of accretion of heavy element onto the preexisting dust grains. The result is shown in Figure 1.

The data points are from Issa, MacLaren, & Wolfendale (1990; see also the references therein). The dust-to-gas ratio is calculated from the interstellar extinction and column densities of H i and H<sub>2</sub>. Each value is evaluated at a galactocentric distance equivalent to that of the Sun (the galactocentric distance of each galaxy is properly scaled according to its size).

We show the cases of $`\beta _{\mathrm{acc}}=5,10,`$ and 20 (the solid, dotted, and dashed lines, respectively), with the relation $`\beta _{\mathrm{acc}}=2\beta _{\mathrm{SN}}`$ fixed. The increase of $`\beta _{\mathrm{acc}}`$ means that accretion of heavy elements onto preexisting dust becomes efficient. Thus, for a fixed value of the metallicity, dust-to-gas ratio increases as $`\beta _{\mathrm{acc}}`$ increases. We also show the case of $`\beta _{\mathrm{acc}}=0`$ and $`\beta _{\mathrm{SN}}=10`$ (long-dashed line), which is far from reproducing the data. This means that we should take into account the accretion onto the preexisting dust as Dwek & Scalo (1980) asserted. Thus, the models in LF98, which do not include the term of the accretion, cannot be applied to spiral galaxies. The equations in LF98 can be applied to dwarf galaxies, where the accretion process may be inefficient because of their low metallicity. The accretion process is properly considered in D98. 

#### 2.2.2 Dependence on $`f_{\mathrm{in}i}`$

In Figure 2, the solid, dotted, and dashed lines show the $`𝒟`$$`X_\mathrm{O}`$ relations for $`f_{\mathrm{inO}}=0.4`$, 0.1, and 0.01, respectively (in the case of $`\beta _{\mathrm{acc}}=2\beta _{\mathrm{SN}}=10`$ and the Salpeter IMF). In LF98, $`f_{\mathrm{inO}}0.4`$ is suggested to be an optimistic upper limit. Figure 2 shows that the larger efficiency of metal production from heavy elements leads to the larger dust-to-gas ratio.

In the limit of $`X_\mathrm{O}0`$, the solution of equation (9) reduces to $`𝒟Cf_{\mathrm{inO}}X_\mathrm{O}`$ (see also LF98), so that $`𝒟`$ scales linearly with $`f_{\mathrm{inO}}`$. Thus, the precise value of $`f_{\mathrm{inO}}`$ can be constrained by low-metal galaxies. Indeed, the difference among the three cases is significant in the low-$`X_\mathrm{O}`$ region in Figure 2. It seems unlikely that $`f_{\mathrm{inO}}\begin{array}{c}<\hfill \\ \hfill \end{array}0.01`$, since the data of the low-metal spirals cannot be reproduced by such small $`f_{\mathrm{inO}}`$.

#### 2.2.3 Dependence on IMF

The difference of mass function is represented by different $``$ and $`𝒴_\mathrm{O}`$ (§2.1). We examine how the difference affects the result. We present the result in Figure 4. The Salpeter and Scalo IMFs are represented by the solid and dotted lines, respectively (lower ones). As commented above, if we use the lower mass cutoff for the stellar mass, $``$ and $`𝒴_\mathrm{O}`$ become smaller. We also show the case of lower mass cutoff ($`0.1M_{}`$; the upper line for each IMF). The differences among the results are too small (comparable to the typical observational errors) to determine which line is preferable.

## 3 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Based on the models proposed by LF98 and D98, we have examined the dust content in nearby spiral galaxies. We simplified the basic equations in D98 and applied the instantaneous recycling approximation to them. We treated one-zone model equations which describe the changing rate of dust-to-gas ratio including the terms of dust condensation from heavy elements ejected by stars, destruction by SN shocks, destruction in star-forming regions, and accretion of elements onto preexisting dust grains (§2.1). Assuming that the total dust mass is proportional to the mass of oxygen in the dust phase, we compared the results<sup>4</sup><sup>4</sup>4We should keep in mind the uncertainty concerning the observational data (e.g., the uncertainty in CO-to-H<sub>2</sub> mass conversion factor; Arimoto, Sofue, & Tsujimoto 1996).  with the data of nearby spiral galaxies (for the detailed comparison with the Galactic values, see D98, in which the data are excellently reproduced). Finally, we summarize the conclusions reached in this paper:

(i) Unless we do not take into account the accretion process of heavy elements onto the preexisting dust particles, we cannot explain the observed relations between dust-to-gas ratios and metallicities of nearby spiral galaxies. The accretion process is important for high-metallicity systems, since the collision rate between heavy-element atoms and dust grains is large. The data of dwarf galaxies, which are generally low-metallicity systems, may be explained even if the accretion process is neglected (LF98). The recent model by D98 properly treated the accretion. 

(ii) The efficiency of dust production from heavy element (denoted by $`f_{\mathrm{in}i}`$) can be constrained by the galaxies with low metallicity. It is unlikely that $`f_{\mathrm{in}i}\begin{array}{c}<\hfill \\ \hfill \end{array}0.01`$.

(iii) As for IMFs, both the Salpeter and Scalo types are consistent with the observed relation between dust-to-gas ratio and metallicity.

We are grateful to S. Mineshige for continuous encouragement. We wish to thank E. Dwek for many comments which improved discussions in this paper and our knowledge of recent studies on dust. We acknowledge the Research Fellowship of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science for Young Scientists.    

FIGURE CAPTIONS

FIG. 1— The relations between dust-to-gas mass ratio ($`𝒟`$) and oxygen abundance (oxygen mass fraction $`X_\mathrm{O}`$) for various $`\beta _{\mathrm{acc}}`$ and $`\beta _{\mathrm{SN}}`$ (dust accretion efficiency onto the preexisting dust grains and dust destruction efficiency in the SN shocks, respectively), with the relation $`\beta _{\mathrm{acc}}=2\beta _{\mathrm{SN}}`$ kept. The data points for nearby spiral galaxies are from Issa, MacLaren, & Wolfendale (1990). Here, $`f_{\mathrm{inO}}`$ is fixed to 0.1, and the Salpeter IMF is adopted. The solid, dotted, and dashed lines represent the cases of $`\beta _{\mathrm{acc}}=2\beta _{\mathrm{SN}}=5`$, 10, and 20, respectively. The long-dashed line shows the case of no accretion process onto the preexisting dust grains ($`\beta _{\mathrm{acc}}=0`$ and $`\beta _{\mathrm{SN}}=5`$).

FIG. 2— The same as Fig. 1 but for various $`f_{\mathrm{inO}}`$ (condensation efficiency of oxygen into dust grains). The other parameters are set to $`\beta _{\mathrm{acc}}=2\beta _{\mathrm{SN}}=10`$. The Salpeter IMF is adopted. The solid, dotted, and dashed lines represent the cases of $`f_{\mathrm{inO}}=0.5,0.1`$, and 0.01, respectively.

FIG. 3— The same as Fig. 1 but for the different IMFs (Salpeter and Scalo; solid and dashed lines, respectively). Two lower cutoffs of stellar mass are investigated for each IMF: the cutoff of $`1M_{}`$ and $`0.1M_{}`$ (the lower and upper lines, respectively). The parameters are fixed to $`\beta _{\mathrm{acc}}=2\beta _{\mathrm{SN}}=10`$ and $`f_{\mathrm{inO}}=0.1`$.