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The levels of heavy elements in stars are the product of enhancement by previous stellar generations, and the distribution of this metallicity among the population contains clues to the process by which a galaxy formed. Most famously, the “G-dwarf problem” highlighted the small number of low-metallicity G-dwarf stars in the Milky Way, which is inconsistent with the simplest picture of a galaxy formed from a “closed box” of gas. It can be resolved by treating the Galaxy as an open system that accretes gas throughout its life. This observation has classically only been made in the Milky Way, but the availability of high-quality spectral data from SDSS-IV MaNGA and the development of new analysis techniques mean that we can now make equivalent measurements for a large sample of spiral galaxies. Our analysis shows that high-mass spirals generically show a similar deficit of low-metallicity stars, implying that the Milky Way’s history of gas accretion is common. By contrast, low-mass spirals show little sign of a G-dwarf problem, presenting the metallicity distribution that would be expected if such systems evolved as pretty much closed boxes. This distinction can be understood from the differing timescales for star formation in galaxies of differing masses.

It remains an open question as to how long ago the morphology that we see in a present-day galaxy was typically imprinted. Studies of galaxy populations at different redshifts reveal that the balance of morphologies has changed over time, but such snapshots cannot uncover the typical time-scales over which individual galaxies undergo morphological transformation, nor which are the progenitors of today’s galaxies of different types. However, these studies also show a strong link between morphology and star formation rate (SFR) over a large range in redshift, which offers an alternative probe of morphological transformation. We therefore derive the evolution in SFR and stellar mass of a sample of 4342 galaxies in the SDSS-IV MaNGA survey through a stellar population ‘fossil record’ approach, and show that the average evolution of the population shows good agreement with known behaviour from previous studies. Although the correlation between a galaxy’s contemporaneous morphology and SFR is strong over a large range of lookback times, we find that a galaxy’s present-day morphology only correlates with its relatively recent (⁠∼2Gyr⁠) star formation history. We therefore find strong evidence that morphological transitions to galaxies’ current appearance occurred on time-scales as short as a few billion years.

Bars are common in low-redshift disk galaxies, and hence quantifying their influence on their host is of importance to the field of galaxy evolution. We determine the stellar populations and star formation histories of 245 barred galaxies from the MaNGA galaxy survey, and compare them to a mass-and morphology-matched comparison sample of unbarred galaxies. At fixed stellar mass and morphology, barred galaxies are optically redder than their unbarred counterparts. From stellar population analysis using the full spectral fitting code Starlight, we attribute this difference to both older and more metal-rich stellar populations. Dust attenuation however, is lower in the barred sample. The star formation histories of barred galaxies peak earlier than their non-barred counterparts, and the galaxies build up their mass at earlier times. We can detect no significant differences in the local environment of barred and un-barred galaxies in this sample, but find that the HI gas mass fraction is significantly lower in high-mass (M > 10 10 M) barred galaxies than their non-barred counterparts. We speculate on the mechanisms that have allowed barred galaxies to be older, more metal-rich and more gas-poor today, including the efficient redistribution of galactic fountain byproducts, and a runaway bar formation scenario in gas-poor disks. While it is not possible to fully determine the effect of the bar on galaxy quenching, we conclude that the presence of a bar and the early cessation of star formation within a galaxy are intimately linked.