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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0The Astrophysical Journal

That’s So Retro: The Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus Merger Trajectory as the Origin of the Chemical Abundance Bimodality in the Milky Way Disk

  • James W. Johnson1
  • Diane K. Feuillet2
  • Ana Bonaca1
  • Danielle de Brito Silva2
  1. 1Carnegie Science Observatories
  2. 2Uppsala University
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Abstract

The Milky Way (MW) is thought to have experienced a ∼3:1 mass-ratio merger event near redshift z ∼ 2 with a significantly retrograde trajectory. This now-disrupted dwarf galaxy is commonly known as the Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus (GSE). In this paper, we investigate the impact of the GSE merger trajectory on metal abundances in the MW disk. We construct numerical models of Galactic chemical evolution (GCE) incorporating radial gas flows to account for angular momentum transport during the merger event. Unlike prograde trajectories, radial and retrograde mergers are generally accompanied by a major sinking event in which much of the interstellar medium falls toward the Galactic center. This effect leads to a net decrease in surface density across much of the disk. Ongoing Type Ia supernova explosions then drive a rapid decline in [ α /Fe] due to the lowered gas supply. Consequently, radial and retrograde trajectories increase (decrease) the number of low- (high-) [ α /Fe] stellar populations relative to prograde trajectories. If high-[ α /Fe] stars form in sufficient numbers through other mechanisms, the effect of the retrograde trajectory can produce a bimodal [ α /Fe] distribution at fixed [Fe/H], as observed in the MW. In models dominated by low-[ α /Fe] stellar populations, a bimodality does not arise because the retrograde trajectory cannot increase the number of high-[ α /Fe] stars. More broadly, our results highlight the importance of gas dynamics in GCE models featuring major merger events.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{johnson2026thats,
  title = {{That’s So Retro: The Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus Merger Trajectory as the Origin of the Chemical Abundance Bimodality in the Milky Way Disk}},
  author = {James W. Johnson and Diane K. Feuillet and Ana Bonaca and Danielle de Brito Silva},
  journal = {The Astrophysical Journal},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/ae9eb0},
  url = {https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ae9eb0},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - That’s So Retro: The Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus Merger Trajectory as the Origin of the Chemical Abundance Bimodality in the Milky Way Disk
AU  - James W. Johnson
AU  - Diane K. Feuillet
AU  - Ana Bonaca
AU  - Danielle de Brito Silva
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/09
JO  - The Astrophysical Journal
DO  - 10.3847/1538-4357/ae9eb0
UR  - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ae9eb0
AB  - The Milky Way (MW) is thought to have experienced a ∼3:1 mass-ratio merger event near redshift z ∼ 2 with a significantly retrograde trajectory. This now-disrupted dwarf galaxy is commonly known as the Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus (GSE). In this paper, we investigate the impact of the GSE merger trajectory on metal abundances in the MW disk. We construct numerical models of Galactic chemical evolution (GCE) incorporating radial gas flows to account for angular momentum transport during the merger event. Unlike prograde trajectories, radial and retrograde mergers are generally accompanied by a major sinking event in which much of the interstellar medium falls toward the Galactic center. This effect leads to a net decrease in surface density across much of the disk. Ongoing Type Ia supernova explosions then drive a rapid decline in [ α /Fe] due to the lowered gas supply. Consequently, radial and retrograde trajectories increase (decrease) the number of low- (high-) [ α /Fe] stellar populations relative to prograde trajectories. If high-[ α /Fe] stars form in sufficient numbers through other mechanisms, the effect of the retrograde trajectory can produce a bimodal [ α /Fe] distribution at fixed [Fe/H], as observed in the MW. In models dominated by low-[ α /Fe] stellar populations, a bimodality does not arise because the retrograde trajectory cannot increase the number of high-[ α /Fe] stars. More broadly, our results highlight the importance of gas dynamics in GCE models featuring major merger events.
SN  - 0004-637X
SN  - 1538-4357
ER  -