The structure of post-starburst galaxies at $0.5<z<2$: evidence for two distinct quenching routes at different epochs

Abstract

We present an analysis of the structure of post-starburst (PSB) galaxies in the redshift range $0.5<z<2$, using a photometrically-selected sample identified in the Ultra Deep Survey (UDS) field. We examine the structure of $\sim 80$ of these transient galaxies using radial light $\mu (r)$ profiles obtained from CANDELS $\text{Hubble Space Telescope}$ near-infrared/optical imaging, and compare to a large sample of $\sim 2000$ passive and star-forming galaxies. For each population, we determine their typical structural properties (effective radius $r_{\mathrm{e}}$, Sérsic index $n$) and find significant differences in PSB structure at different epochs. At high redshift ($z>1$), PSBs are typically massive ($M_{\ast }>10^{10}{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot }$), very compact and exhibit high Sérsic indices, with structures that differ significantly from their star-forming progenitors but are similar to massive passive galaxies. In contrast, at lower redshift ($0.5<z<1$), PSBs are generally of low mass ($M_{\ast }<10^{10}{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot }$) and exhibit compact but less concentrated profiles (i.e. lower Sérsic indices), with structures similar to low-mass passive discs. Furthermore, for both epochs we find remarkably consistent PSB structure across the optical/near-infrared wavebands (which largely trace different stellar populations), suggesting that any preceding starburst and/or quenching in PSBs was not strongly centralized. Taken together, these results imply that PSBs at $z>1$ have been recently quenched during a major disruptive event (e.g. merger or protogalactic collapse) which formed a compact remnant, while at $z<1$ an alternative less disruptive process is primarily responsible. Our results suggest that high-$z$ PSBs are an intrinsically different population to those at lower redshifts, and indicate different quenching routes are active at different epochs.

21 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

References in corpus (27)

• The UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS)
• Cold streams in early massive hot haloes as the main mode of galaxy formation
• 3D-HST+CANDELS: The Evolution of the Galaxy Size-Mass Distribution since $z=3$
• Compaction and Quenching of High-z Galaxies in Cosmological Simulations: Blue and Red Nuggets
• The Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Survey (SXDS) - II. Optical Imaging and Photometric Catalogs
• AGN-controlled cooling in elliptical galaxies
• The Formation of Massive, Compact Galaxies at z=2 in the Illustris Simulation
• The Majority of Compact Massive Galaxies at z~2 are Disk Dominated
• Post-starburst galaxies: more than just an interesting curiosity
• The evolution of the near-IR galaxy Luminosity Function and colour bimodality up to z ~ 2 from the UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey Early Data Release
• The environments of starburst and post-starburst galaxies at z=0.4-0.8
• The evolution of post-starburst galaxies from z=2 to z= 0.5
• Stellar populations from spectroscopy of a large sample of quiescent galaxies at z > 1: Measuring the contribution of progenitor bias to early size growth
• Discovery of Large Molecular Gas Reservoirs in Post-Starburst Galaxies
• High-Velocity Outflows Without AGN Feedback: Eddington-Limited Star Formation in Compact Massive Galaxies
• A Catalog of Local E+A(post-starburst) Galaxies selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 5
• The evolution of the cold interstellar medium in galaxies following a starburst
• Massive quenched galaxies at z~0.7 retain large molecular gas reservoirs
• The origins of post-starburst galaxies at z<0.05
• Minor Mergers or Progenitor Bias? The Stellar Ages of Small and Large Quenched Early-Type Galaxies
• Radio Continuum Observations of the Galactic Center: Photoevaporative Proplyd-like Objects near Sgr A*
• The Decomposed Bulge and Disk Size-Mass Relations of Massive Galaxies at 1<z<3 in CANDELS
• Galaxy clusters at 0.6 < z < 1.4 in the UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey Early Data Release
• The enhancement of rapidly quenched galaxies in distant clusters at 0.5<z<1.0
• The environmental dependence of the structure of galactic discs in STAGES S0 galaxies: implications for S0 formation
• Evidence for (and Against) Progenitor Bias in the Size Growth of Compact Red Galaxies
• Growing up in a megalopolis: Environmental effects on galaxy evolution in a supercluster at z~0.65 in UKIDSS UDS

Cited by in corpus (54)

• MOSFIRE Spectroscopy of Quiescent Galaxies at 1.5 < z < 2.5. II - Star Formation Histories and Galaxy Quenching
• The VANDELS survey: the star-formation histories of massive quiescent galaxies at 1.0 < z < 1.3
• Fast, Slow, Early, Late: Quenching Massive Galaxies at z~0.8
• Mergers, Starbursts, and Quenching in the Simba Simulation
• Fast and slow paths to quiescence: ages and sizes of 400 quiescent galaxies from the LEGA-C survey
• Gone after one orbit: How cluster environments quench galaxies
• The star formation histories of z~1 post-starburst galaxies
• Evolution Through the Post-Starburst Phase: Using Post-Starburst Galaxies as Laboratories for Understanding the Processes that Drive Galaxy Evolution
• Dissecting the size-mass and ${\Sigma }_1$-mass relations at 1.0 < z < 2.5: galaxy mass profiles and color gradients as a function of spectral shape
• Post-Starburst Galaxies in SDSS-IV MaNGA
• On the Gas Content, Star Formation Efficiency, and Environmental Quenching of Massive Galaxies in Proto-Clusters at z~2.0-2.5
• Color gradients along the quiescent galaxy sequence: clues to quenching and structural growth
• The colors and sizes of recently quenched galaxies: a result of compact starburst before quenching
• Two Growing Modes and the Morphology-Quiescence Relation in Galaxies
• Galaxy Sizes Since $z=2$ from the Perspective of Stellar Mass Distribution within Galaxies
• Evolution of the cold gas properties of simulated post-starburst galaxies
• Sub-millimetre compactness as a critical dimension to understand the Main Sequence of star-forming galaxies
• Rapid Quenching of Galaxies at Cosmic Noon
• HST grism spectroscopy of z~3 massive quiescent galaxies: Approaching the metamorphosis
• High-velocity outflows in massive post-starburst galaxies at z > 1
• Inverse stellar population age gradients of post-starburst galaxies at z=0.8 with LEGA-C
• ProFuse: Physical Multi-Band Structural Decomposition of Galaxies and the Mass-Size-Age Plane
• Compact, bulge dominated structures of spectroscopically confirmed quiescent galaxies at z~3
• Massive quiescent galaxies at $z\sim 3$: a comparison of selection, stellar population and structural properties with simulation predictions
• Rise and fall of post-starburst galaxies in Magneticum Pathfinder
• The Compact Structures of Massive $z\sim 0.7$ Post-Starburst Galaxies in the SQuIGG$\vec{L}$E Sample
• From starburst to quiescence: post-starburst galaxies and their large-scale clustering over cosmic time
• The role of mass and environment in the build up of the quenched galaxy population since cosmic noon
• The galaxy mass-size relation in CARLA clusters and proto-clusters at 1.4 < z < 2.8: larger cluster galaxy sizes
• SQuIGG$\vec{L}$E Survey: Massive z$\sim$0.6 Post-Starburst Galaxies Exhibit Flat Age Gradients
• Chemical evolution of local post-starburst galaxies: Implications for the mass-metallicity relation
• Compact star-forming galaxies preferentially quenched to become PSBs in $z<1$ clusters
• JADES: Rest-frame UV-to-NIR Size Evolution of Massive Quiescent Galaxies from Redshift z=5 to z=0.5
• No evidence for excess AGN activity in recently quenched massive galaxies at cosmic noon
• High-velocity outflows persist up to 1 Gyr after a starburst in recently-quenched galaxies at z > 1
• The Size-Mass Relation of Post-Starburst Galaxies in the Local Universe
• Rapidly quenched galaxies in the Simba cosmological simulation and observations
• Age and metal gradients in massive quiescent galaxies at $0.6\lesssim z\lesssim 1.0$: implications for quenching and assembly histories
• Ages and metallicities of quiescent galaxies: confronting broadband ($UVJ$) colours with stellar absorption lines
• Post-starburst galaxies in SDSS-IV MaNGA: Two broad categories of evolutionary pathways
• Quenching in the Right Place at the Right Time: Tracing the Shared History of Starbursts, AGNs, and Post-starburst Galaxies Using Their Structures and Multiscale Environments
• DESI Survey Validation Spectra Reveal an Increasing Fraction of Recently Quenched Galaxies at $z\sim 1$
• J-PLUS: A catalogue of globular cluster candidates around the M81/M82/NGC3077 triplet of galaxies
• DESI Massive Post-Starburst Galaxies at $\mathbf{z}\sim 1.2$ have compact structures and dense cores
• Searching for local counterparts of high-redshift post-starburst galaxies in integral field unit spectroscopic surveys of nearby galaxies
• J-PLUS: the impact of bars on quenching time-scales in nearby green valley disc galaxies
• The bi-modal ${}^7$Li distribution of the Milky Way's thin-disk dwarf stars: The role of Galactic-scale events and stellar evolution
• Self-Similar Buildup and Inside-Out Growth: Tracing the Evolution of Intermediate to High-Mass Star-Forming Galaxies Since $z=2$
• Central Concentration of Asymmetric Features in Post-starburst Galaxies at $z\sim 0.8$
• The stellar host in star-forming low-mass galaxies: Evidence for two classes
• The LEGA-C galaxy survey: multiple quenching channels for quiescent galaxies at $z\sim 1$
• The Compact Star-Forming Galaxies at $2<z<3$ in 3D-HST/CANDELS: AGN and Non-AGN Physical Properties
• SQuIGGLE: Studying Quenching in Intermediate-z Galaxies -- Gas, AnguLar Momentum, and Evolution
• The multiwavelength structure of post-starburst galaxies at 0.5 < z < 3 with JWST PRIMER: compact morphologies and residual disturbances