The dust-to-stellar mass ratio as a valuable tool to probe the evolution
  of local and distant star forming galaxies
  The survival of dust grains in galaxies depends on various processes. Dust
can be produced in stars, it can grow in the interstellar medium and be
destroyed by astration and interstellar shocks. In this paper, we assemble a
few data samples of local and distant star-forming galaxies to analyse various
dust-related quantities in low and high redshift galaxies, to study how the
relations linking the dust mass to the stellar mass and star formation rate
evolve with redshift. We interpret the available data by means of chemical
evolution models for discs and proto-spheroid (PSPH) starburst galaxies. In
particular, we focus on the dust-to-stellar mass (DTS) ratio, as this quantity
represents a true measure of how much dust per unit stellar mass survives the
various destruction processes in galaxies and is observable. The theoretical
models outline the strong dependence of this quantity on the underlying star
formation history. Spiral galaxies are characterised by a nearly constant DTS
as a function of the stellar mass and cosmic time, whereas PSPHs present an
early steep increase of the DTS, which stops at a maximal value and decreases
in the latest stages. In their late starburst phase, these models show a
decrease of the DTS with their mass, which allows us to explain the observed
anti-correlation between the DTS and the stellar mass. The observed redshift
evolution of the DTS ratio shows an increase from z~0 to z~1, followed by a
roughly constant behaviour at 1<z<2.5. Our models indicate a steep decrease of
the global DTS at early times, which implies an expected decrease of the DTS at
larger redshift.
