Mapping Dust Attenuation at Kiloparsec Scales. IV. A Dust-model Interpretation of Attenuation Curves in Nearby Galaxies

Abstract

In this fourth paper on kiloparsec-scale dust attenuation, we ask whether the empirical trends found in Papers I--III can be translated into effective dust properties. Using attenuation curves for 2487 high-continuum-S/N spaxels in 91 SwiM v4.2 galaxies, we construct a grid of uniform-screen dust models composed of astronomical silicate and graphite grains with MRN-like size distributions. We fit the normalized attenuation-curve shape to constrain model parameters and then use the attenuation amplitude to estimate the model-dependent dust mass surface density. The inferred dust masses, compositions, and small-grain fractions are therefore effective quantities defined within the adopted attenuation model. The fitted models reproduce the main attenuation-curve variations and provide a direct bridge to Papers I--III: within this model, the relative 2175\AA\ bump sequence maps mainly onto the effective fraction of small graphitic/carbonaceous grains, while the NUV-slope sequence maps onto the effective small-silicate grain fraction and total silicate mass fraction. Non-SF regions have higher dust mass surface densities but lower dust-to-stellar mass ratios than SF regions, separating absolute dust content from dust content per unit stellar mass. Regions with larger specific H$\alpha$ surface brightness have larger dust-to-stellar mass ratios but lower inferred small-grain fractions, especially lower small-silicate fractions. In non-SF regions this quantity is interpreted as ionized-gas emission per unit stellar mass rather than as a direct sSFR. These model-dependent trends support a picture in which local dust processing changes the relative abundance of small grains and thereby shapes the attenuation-curve variations found across the series.