Formation History of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Galaxies

Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are one of the major dust components in the interstellar medium (ISM). We present our model calculations for the PAH abundance in the ISM on a galaxy-evolution timescale. We consider shattering of carbonaceous dust grains as the formation mechanism of PAHs while the PAH abundance is reduced by coagulation onto dust grains, destruction by supernova shocks, and injection into star formation. We implement these processes in an one-zone chemical evolution model to obtain the evolution of the PAH abundance in a galaxy. We find that PAH formation becomes accelerated at a certain metallicity at which shattering becomes efficient. For PAH destruction, while supernova shock is a primary mechanism in the metal-poor environment, coagulation is dominant in the metal-rich environment. We compare the calculated PAH abundances with the observed abundances in galaxies with a wide metallicity range. Our models reproduce both the low PAH abundance in low metallicity galaxies and the metallicity-dependence of the PAH abundance in high-metallicity galaxies. We conclude that the observational trend can be explained by shattering of carbonaceous grains being the source of PAHs in the ISM.