Abstract
Gas-phase metallicities of galaxies are typically measured through auroral or
nebular emission lines, but metallicity also leaves an imprint on the overall
spectral energy distribution (SED) of a galaxy and can be estimated through SED
fitting. We use the ProSpect SED fitting code with a flexible parametric star
formation history and an evolving metallicity history to self-consistently
measure metallicities, stellar mass, and other galaxy properties for
$\sim90\,000$ galaxies from the Deep Extragalactic VIsible Legacy Survey
(DEVILS) and Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey. We use these to trace the
evolution of the mass-metallicity relation (MZR) and show that the MZR only
evolves in normalisation by $\sim0.1\,$dex at stellar mass $M_=
10^10.5\,M_ødot$. We find no difference in the MZR between galaxies with and
without SED evidence of active galactic nuclei emission at low redshifts
($z<0.3$). Our results suggest an anti-correlation between metallicity and star
formation activity at fixed stellar mass for galaxies with $M_>
10^10.5\,M_ødot$ for $z<0.3$. Using the star formation histories extracted
using ProSpect we explore higher-order correlations of the MZR with properties
of the star formation history including age, width, and shape. We find that at
a given stellar mass, galaxies with higher metallicities formed most of their
mass over shorter timescales, and before their peak star formation rate. This
work highlights the value of exploring the connection of a galaxy's current
gas-phase metallicity to its star formation history in order to understand the
physical processes shaping the MZR.
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