Optically-faint massive Balmer Break Galaxies at z>3 in the CANDELS/GOODS fields

Abstract

We present a sample of 33 Balmer Break Galaxies (BBGs) selected as HST/F160W dropouts in the deepest CANDELS/GOODS fields ($H\gtrsim 27.3$~mag) but relatively bright in {\it Spitzer}/IRAC ($[3.6],[4.5]<24.5$~mag), implying red colors (median and quartiles: $⟨H-[3.6]⟩=3.1_{2.8}^{3.4}$\,mag). Half of these BBGs are newly identified sources. Our BBGs are massive ($⟨\log (\mathrm{M}/{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot })⟩=10.8$) high redshift ($⟨z⟩=4.8$) dusty ($⟨\mathrm{A}(\mathrm{V})⟩=2.0$~mag) galaxies. The SEDs of half of our sample indicate that they are star-forming galaxies with typical specific SFRs 0.5-1.0~Gyr${}^{-1}$, qualifying them as main sequence (MS) galaxies at $3<z<6$. One third of those SEDs indicates the presence of prominent emission lines (H$\beta$+$[OIII]$, H$\alpha$$+$[NII]) boosting the IRAC fluxes and red colors. Approximately 20\% of the BBGs are very dusty ($\mathrm{A}(\mathrm{V})\sim 2.5$~mag) starbursts with strong mid-to-far infrared detections and extreme SFRs ($\mathrm{SFR}>10^3{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot }/yr$) that place them above the MS. The rest, 30\%, are post-starbursts or quiescent galaxies located $>2\sigma$ below the MS with mass-weighted ages older than 700~Myr. Only 2 of the 33 galaxies are X-ray detected AGN with optical/near-infrared SEDs dominated by stellar emission, but the presence of obscured AGN in the rest of sources cannot be discarded. Our sample accounts for 8\% of the total number density of $\log (\mathrm{M}/{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot })>10$ galaxies at $z>3$, but it is a significant contributor (30\%) to the general population of red $\log (\mathrm{M}/{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot })>11$ galaxies at $4<z<6$. Finally, our results point out that 1 of every 30 massive $\log (\mathrm{M}/{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot })>11$ galaxies in the local Universe was assembled in the first 1.5~Gyr after the Big Bang, a fraction that is not reproduced by state-of-the-art galaxy formation simulations.

arXiv comment38 pages, 18 figures, Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal 26/03/2019

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