The current \Lambda CDM cosmological model predicts that galaxy evolution proceeds more slowly in lower density environments , suggesting that voids are a prime location to search for relatively pristine galaxies that are representative of the building blocks of early massive galaxies .
To test the assumption that void galaxies are more pristine , we compare the evolutionary properties of a sample of dwarf galaxies selected specifically to lie in voids with a sample of similar isolated dwarf galaxies in average density environments .
We measure gas-phase oxygen abundances and gas fractions for eight dwarf galaxies ( M _ { r } > -16.2 ) , carefully selected to reside within the lowest density environments of seven voids , and apply the same calibrations to existing samples of isolated dwarf galaxies .
We find no significant difference between these void dwarf galaxies and the isolated dwarf galaxies , suggesting that dwarf galaxy chemical evolution proceeds independent of the large-scale environment .
While this sample is too small to draw strong conclusions , it suggests that external gas accretion is playing a limited role in the chemical evolution of these systems , and that this evolution is instead dominated mainly by the internal secular processes that are linking the simultaneous growth and enrichment of these galaxies .