The VANDELS survey: the star-formation histories of massive quiescent galaxies at 1.0 < z < 1.3
Abstract
We present a Bayesian full-spectral-fitting analysis of 75 massive (M_* > 10^{10.3} M_⊙ ) UVJ-selected galaxies at redshifts of 1.0 < z < 1.3, combining extremely deep rest-frame ultraviolet spectroscopy from VANDELS with multiwavelength photometry. By the use of a sophisticated physical plus systematic uncertainties model, constructed within the BAGPIPES code, we place strong constraints on the star-formation histories (SFHs) of individual objects. We first constrain the stellar mass versus stellar age relationship, finding a steep trend towards earlier average formation time with increasing stellar mass (downsizing) of 1.48^{+0.34}_{-0.39} Gyr per decade in mass, although this shows signs of flattening at M_* > 10^{11} M_⊙ . We show that this is consistent with other spectroscopic studies from 0 < z < 2. This relationship places strong constraints on the AGN-feedback models used in cosmological simulations. We demonstrate that, although the relationships predicted by SIMBA and ILLUSTRISTNG agree well with observations at z = 0.1, they are too shallow at z = 1, predicting an evolution of ≲0.5 Gyr per decade in mass. Secondly, we consider the connections between green-valley, post-starburst, and quiescent galaxies, using our inferred SFH shapes and the distributions of galaxy physical properties on the UVJ diagram. The majority of our lowest-mass galaxies (M_* ∼ 10^{10.5} M_⊙ ) are consistent with formation in recent (z < 2), intense starburst events, with time-scales of ≲500 Myr. A second class of objects experience extended star-formation epochs before rapidly quenching, passing through both green-valley and post-starburst phases. The most massive galaxies in our sample are extreme systems: already old by z = 1, they formed at z ∼ 5 and quenched by z = 3. However, we find evidence for their continued evolution through both AGN and rejuvenated star-formation activity.
- Publication:
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- November 2019
- DOI:
- 10.1093/mnras/stz2544
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1903.11082
- Bibcode:
- 2019MNRAS.490..417C
- Keywords:
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- methods: statistical;
- galaxies: evolution;
- galaxies: star formation;
- Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies;
- Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 25 pages, 13 figures, MNRAS accepted