Chemical evolution of the Galactic bulge as traced by microlensed dwarf and subgiant stars. VI. Age and abundance structure of the stellar populations in the central sub-kpc of the Milky Way

T. Bensby, S. Feltzing, A. Gould, J. C. Yee, J. A. Johnson, M. Asplund, J. Meléndez, S. Lucatello, L. M. Howes, A. McWilliam, A. Udalski, M. K. Szymański, I. Soszyński, R. Poleski, Ł. Wyrzykowski, K. Ulaczyk, S. Kozłowski, P. Pietrukowicz, J. Skowron, P. Mróz, M. Pawlak, F. Abe, Y. Asakura, A. Bhattacharya, I. A. Bond, D. P. Bennett, Y. Hirao, M. Nagakane, N. Koshimoto, T. Sumi, D. Suzuki, P. J. Tristram

Published 2017-02-09Version 1

We present a detailed elemental abundance study of 90 F and G dwarf, turn-off and subgiant stars in the Galactic bulge. Based on high-resolution spectra acquired during gravitational microlensing events, stellar ages and abundances for 11 elements (Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, Cr, Fe, Zn, Y and Ba) have been determined. We find that the Galactic bulge has a wide metallicity distribution with significant peaks at [Fe/H]=-1.09, -0.63, -0.20, +0.12, +0.41. We also find a high fraction of intermediate-age to young stars: at [Fe/H]>0 more than 35 % are younger than 8 Gyr. For [Fe/H]<-0.5 most stars are 10 Gyr or older. We have also identified several episodes when significant star formation in the bulge happened: 3, 6, 8, and 12 Gyr ago. We further find that the "knee" in the alpha-element abundance trends of the sub-solar metallicity bulge is located at about 0.1 dex higher [Fe/H] than in the local thick disk. The Galactic bulge has complex age and abundance properties that appear to be tightly connected to the main Galactic stellar populations. In particular, the peaks in the metallicity distribution, the star formation episodes, and the abundance trends, show similarities with the properties of the Galactic thin and thick disks. At the same time there are additional components not seen outside the bulge region, and that most likely can be associated with the Galactic bar. For instance, the star formation rate appears to have been slightly faster in the bulge than in the local thick disk, which most likely is an indication of the denser stellar environment closer to the Galactic centre. Our results strengthen the observational evidence that support the idea of a secular origin for the Galactic bulge, formed out of the other main Galactic stellar populations present in the central regions of our Galaxy.