Core to Cosmic Edge: <tt>SIMBA-C</tt>’s New Take on Abundance Profiles in the Intragroup Medium at <i>z</i> = 0

We employ the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">simba-c</span> cosmological simulation to study the impact of its upgraded chemical enrichment model (Chem5) on the distribution of metals in the intragroup medium (IGrM). We investigate the projected X-ray emission-weighted abundance profiles of key elements over two decades in halo mass (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msup><mn>10</mn><mn>13</mn></msup><mo>≤</mo><msub><mi>M</mi><mn>500</mn></msub><mo>/</mo><msub><mi mathvariant="normal">M</mi><mo>⊙</mo></msub><mo>≤</mo><msup><mn>10</mn><mn>15</mn></msup></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>). Typically, <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">simba-c</span> generates lower-amplitude abundance profiles than <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">simba</span> with flatter cores, in better agreement with observations. For low-mass groups, both simulations over-enrich the IGrM with Si, S, Ca, and Fe compared to observations, a trend likely related to inadequate modeling of metal dispersal and mixing. We analyze the 3D mass-weighted abundance profiles, concluding that the lower <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">simba-c</span> IGrM abundances are primarily a consequence of fewer metals in the IGrM, driven by reduced metal yields in Chem5, and the removal of the instantaneous recycling of metals approximation employed by <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">simba</span>. Additionally, an increased IGrM mass in low-mass <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">simba-c</span> groups is likely triggered by changes to the AGN and stellar feedback models. Our study suggests that a more realistic chemical enrichment model broadly improves agreement with observations, but physically motivated sub-grid models for other key processes, like AGN and stellar feedback and turbulent diffusion, are required to realistically reproduce observed group environments.