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arXiv · 2605.08342

Satellite Metallicity Enhancement I: Suppressed Star Formation, Stellar Mass Loss, and Enriched Inflow of DESI and EAGLE Galaxies around Massive Clusters

Yuanye Lin·Ying Zu·Jessica Nicole Aguilar·Steven Ahlen·David Brooks·Todd Claybaugh·Andrei Cuceu·Axel de la Macorra·Andreu Font-Ribera·Jaime E. Forero-Romero·Satya Gontcho A Gontcho·Gaston Gutierrez·Dick Joyce·Martin Landriau·Laurent Le Guillou·Aaron Meisner·Ramon Miquel·John Moustakas·Will J. Percival·Francisco Prada·Ignasi Pérez-Ràfols·Graziano Rossi·Eusebio Sanchez·David Schlegel·Joseph Harry Silber·David Sprayberry·Gregory Tarlé·Benjamin Alan Weaver·Hu Zou
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Abstract

Environmental effects are a primary driver of elevated gas-phase metallicities in galaxies around massive clusters, but the underlying physical mechanisms for this satellite metallicity enhancement (SME) are still unclear. Using the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Data Release 1, we present the first measurement of the average SME as a function of projected cluster-centric distance. The resulting profile reveals three distinct regimes: a steep decline from the cluster center, a plateau near the cluster boundary, and an extended downturn across several cluster radii. Remarkably, the complex shape and amplitude of this observed SME profile are successfully reproduced in the EAGLE cosmological simulation. Drawing insights from EAGLE, we develop a novel satellite chemical evolution model to decompose the observed SME into physical contributions from suppressed star formation, stellar mass loss, and enriched gas inflow. Our analysis shows that continuous accretion of enriched intracluster medium dominates the SME plateau within the cluster virial radius, while mass loss and quenching jointly drive the rapid metallicity decline in the cluster core. Our method disentangles the impacts of three environmental processes on galactic chemical enrichment in the cosmic web, providing a powerful framework for understanding cluster galaxy evolution with current and future spectroscopic surveys.

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Yuanye Lin, Ying Zu, Jessica Nicole Aguilar, Steven Ahlen, David Brooks, Todd Claybaugh, Andrei Cuceu, Axel de la Macorra, Andreu Font-Ribera, Jaime E. Forero-Romero, Satya Gontcho A Gontcho, Gaston Gutierrez, Dick Joyce, Martin Landriau, Laurent Le Guillou, Aaron Meisner, Ramon Miquel, John Moustakas, Will J. Percival, Francisco Prada, Ignasi Pérez-Ràfols, Graziano Rossi, Eusebio Sanchez, David Schlegel, Joseph Harry Silber, David Sprayberry, Gregory Tarlé, Benjamin Alan Weaver, Hu Zou. 2026-05-08. Satellite Metallicity Enhancement I: Suppressed Star Formation, Stellar Mass Loss, and Enriched Inflow of DESI and EAGLE Galaxies around Massive Clusters. https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.08342

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