The survey of planetary nebulae in Andromeda (M31) - IV. Radial oxygen and argon abundance gradients of the thin and thicker disc

We obtain a magnitude-limited sample of Andromeda (M 31) disc PNe with chemical abundance estimated through the direct detection of the [O III] 4363 Å line. This leads to 205 and 200 PNe with oxygen and argon abundances, respectively. We find that high- and low-extinction M 31 disc PNe have statistically distinct argon and oxygen abundance distributions. In the radial range of 2-30 kpc, the older low-extinction disc PNe are metal-poorer on average with a slightly positive radial oxygen abundance gradient (0.006 ± 0.003 dex kpc^-1) and slightly negative for argon (-0.005 ± 0.003 dex kpc^-1), while the younger high-extinction disc PNe are metal-richer on average with steeper radial abundance gradients for both oxygen (-0.013 ± 0.006 dex kpc^-1) and argon (-0.018 ± 0.006 dex kpc^-1), similar to the gradients computed for the M 31 H II regions. The M 31 disc abundance gradients are consistent with values computed from major merger simulations, with the majority of the low-extinction PNe being the older pre-merger disc stars in the thicker disc, and the majority of the high-extinction PNe being younger stars in the thin disc, formed during and after the merger event. The chemical abundance of the M 31 thicker disc has been radially homogenized because of the major merger. Accounting for disc scale lengths, the positive radial oxygen abundance gradient of the M 31 thicker disc is in sharp contrast to the negative one of the MW thick disc. However, the thin discs of the MW and M 31 have remarkably similar negative oxygen abundance gradients.