Metallicity evolution, metallicity gradients and gas fractions at z~3.4

Understand

We used near-infrared integral field spectroscopic observations from the AMAZE and LSD programs to constrain the metallicity in a sample of 40 star forming galaxies at 3<z<5 (most of which at z~3.4).

• We measure metallicities by exploiting strong emission line diagnostics.
• We found that a significant fraction of star-forming galaxies at z~3.4 deviate from the Fundamental Metallicity Relation (FMR), with a metallicity up to a factor of ten lower than expected according to the FMR.
• This deviation does not correlate with the dynamical properties of the galaxy or with the presence of interactions.