The Role of Starbursts in the Chemical Evolution of Galaxies

Despite two decades of intense studies, the origin of Starburst Nucleus Galaxies (SBNGs) is poorly understood and their nature is still in debate. It is generally believed, for example, that SBNGs are “old” galaxies which were rejuvenated by inflow of matter resulting from interactions with other galaxies (Huchra 1977). But this scenario is inconsistent with observations which show that most SBNGs are relatively isolated (Coziol et al. 1995; Contini et al. 1998) and less chemically evolved than normal galaxies with similar morphologies and comparable luminosities (Coziol et al. 1997). We could gain a better understanding of the nature and origin of the SBNGs by drawing a more complete picture of their chemical evolution.