SIMBA-C: an updated chemical enrichment model for galactic chemical evolution in the SIMBA simulation

Abstract

ABSTRACT We introduce a new chemical enrichment and stellar feedback model into GIZMO, using the SIMBA sub-grid models as a base. Based on the state-of-the-art chemical evolution model of Kobayashi et al., SIMBA-C tracks 34 elements from H→Ge and removes SIMBA’s instantaneous recycling approximation. Furthermore, we make some minor improvements to SIMBA’s base feedback models. SIMBA-C provides significant improvements on key diagnostics such as the knee of the z = 0 galaxy stellar mass function, the faint end of the main sequence, and the ability to track black holes in dwarf galaxies. SIMBA-C also matches better with recent observations of the mass–metallicity relation at z = 0, 2. By not assuming instantaneous recycling, SIMBA-C provides a much better match to galactic abundance ratio measures such as [O/Fe] and [N/O]. SIMBA-C thus opens up new avenues to constrain feedback models using detailed chemical abundance measures across cosmic time.