Photochemical evolution of elliptical galaxies – II. The impact of merging-induced starbursts

The effects of late gas accretion episodes and subsequent merger-induced starbursts on the photochemical evolution of elliptical galaxies are studied and compared to the picture of galaxy formation occurring at high redshift with a unique and intense starburst modulated by a very short infall, as suggested by Pipino and Matteucci in Paper I. By means of the comparison with the colour–magnitude relations (CMRs) and the  〈Mg/Fe〉 _V ]–σ  relation observed in ellipticals, we conclude that either bursts involving a gas mass comparable to the mass already transformed into stars during the first episode of star formation (SF) and occurring at any redshift, or bursts occurring at low redshift (i.e. z ≤ 0.2) and with a large range of accreted mass, are ruled out. These models fail in matching the above relations even if the initial infalling hypothesis is relaxed, and the galaxies form either by means of more complicated SF histories or by means of the classical monolithic model. On the other hand, galaxies accreting a small amount of gas at high redshift (i.e. z ≥ 3) produce a spread in the model results, with respect to the best model of Paper I, which is consistent with the observational scatter of the CMRs, although there is only marginal agreement with the  〈Mg/Fe〉 _V ]–σ  relation. Therefore, only small perturbations to the standard scenario seem to be allowed. We stress that the strongest constraints to galaxy-formation mechanisms are represented by the chemical abundances, whereas the colours can be reproduced under several different hypotheses.