The star formation history and the nature of the mass-metallicity relation of passive galaxies at 1.0<z<1.4 from VANDELS

Abstract

We derived stellar ages and metallicities [Z/H] for $\sim$70 passive early type galaxies (ETGs) selected from VANDELS survey over the redshift range 1.0$<$$z$$<$1.4 and stellar mass range 10$<$log(M${}_{\ast }$/M${}_{\odot }$)$<$11.6. We find significant systematics in their estimates depending on models and wavelength ranges considered. Using the full-spectrum fitting technique, we find that both [Z/H] and age increase with mass as for local ETGs. Age and metallicity sensitive spectral indices independently confirm these trends. According to EMILES models, for 67 per cent of the galaxies we find [Z/H]$>$0.0, a percentage which rises to $\sim$90 per cent for log(M${}_{\ast }$/M${}_{\odot }$)$>$11 where the mean metallicity is [Z/H]=0.17$\pm$0.1. A comparison with homogeneous measurements at similar and lower redshift does not show any metallicity evolution over the redshift range 0.0<z<1.4. The derived star formation (SF) histories show that the stellar mass fraction formed at early epoch increases with the mass of the galaxy. Galaxies with log(M${}_{\ast }$/M${}_{\odot }$)$>$11.0 host stellar populations with [Z/H]>0.05, formed over short timescales ($\Delta t50$$<$1 Gyr) at early epochs (t${}_{form}$$<$2 Gyr), implying high star formation rates (SFR$>$100 M${}_{\odot }$/yr) in high mass density regions (log(${\Sigma }_{1kpc}$)$>$10 M${}_{\odot }$/kpc${}^2$). This sharp picture tends to blur at lower masses: log(M${}_{\ast }$/M${}_{\odot }$)$\sim$10.6 galaxies can host either old stars with [Z/H]$<$0.0 or younger stars with [Z/H]$>$0.0, depending on the duration ($\Delta t50$) of the SF. The relations between galaxy mass, age and metallicities are therefore largely set up ab initio as part of the galaxy formation process. Mass, SFR and SF time-scale all contribute to shape up the stellar mass-metallicity relation with the mass that modulates metals retention.

18 pages + Appendix, 16 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

References in corpus (44)

• Cosmic Star Formation History
• Cold streams in early massive hot haloes as the main mode of galaxy formation
• Improving the full spectrum fitting method: accurate convolution with Gauss-Hermite functions
• 3D-HST+CANDELS: The Evolution of the Galaxy Size-Mass Distribution since $z=3$
• Strangulation as the primary mechanism for shutting down star formation in galaxies
• UV-extended E-MILES stellar population models: young components in massive early-type galaxies
• The Origin of the Galaxy Mass-Metallicity Relation and Implications for Galactic Outflows
• The Atlas3D Project - XXX. Star formation histories and stellar population scaling relations of early-type galaxies
• Ages and metallicities of early-type galaxies in the SDSS: new insight into the physical origin of the colour-magnitude and the Mg2-sigmaV relations
• Evolutionary stellar population synthesis with MILES - II. Scaled-solar and α-enhanced models
• The Formation of Massive, Compact Galaxies at z=2 in the Illustris Simulation
• Simulations of Cosmic Chemical Enrichment
• Charting the evolution of the ages and metallicities of massive galaxies since z=0.7
• Fast, Slow, Early, Late: Quenching Massive Galaxies at z~0.8
• A massive, quiescent, population II galaxy at a redshift of 2.1
• The VANDELS survey: the stellar metallicities of star-forming galaxies at 2.5 < z < 5.0
• The stellar accretion origin of stellar population gradients in massive galaxies at large radii
• Evolution of the Color-Magnitude relation in High-Redshift Clusters: Early-type Galaxies in the Lynx Supercluster at z~1.26
• The VANDELS ESO public spectroscopic survey: final Data Release of 2087 spectra and spectroscopic measurements
• The importance of dry and wet merging on the formation and evolution of elliptical galaxies
• Minor Mergers or Progenitor Bias? The Stellar Ages of Small and Large Quenched Early-Type Galaxies
• Galaxy evolution across environments as probed by the ages, stellar metallicities and [alpha/Fe] of central and satellite galaxies
• CLEAR II: Evidence for Early Formation of the Most Compact Quiescent Galaxies at High Redshift
• The VANDELS survey: the relation between UV continuum slope and stellar metallicity in star-forming galaxies at z~3
• Sub one percent mass fractions of young stars in red massive galaxies
• Spectroscopic confirmation of a mature galaxy cluster at redshift two
• The Rapid Build-up of Massive Early-type Galaxies. Supersolar Metallicity, High Velocity Dispersion and Young Age for an ETG at z=3.35
• Elemental Abundances and Ages of $z\sim 0.7$ Quiescent Galaxies on the Mass-Size Plane: Implication for Chemical Enrichment and Star-Formation Quenching
• Cluster and field elliptical galaxies at z~1.3. The marginal role of the environment and the relevance of the galaxy central regions
• The stellar metallicities of massive quiescent galaxies at 1.0 < z < 1.3 from KMOS+VANDELS
• Gravitational Potential and Surface Density Drive Stellar Populations -- II. Star-Forming Galaxies
• Recovering stellar population parameters via different population models and stellar libraries
• Synthetic Mid-UV Spectroscopic Indices of Stars
• Galaxy populations in massive z=0.2-0.9 clusters: I. Analysis of spectroscopy
• The evolution of the mass-metallicity relations from the VANDELS survey and the GAEA Semi-Analytic model
• AGN feedback and the origin of the $\alpha$ enhancement in early type galaxies - insights from the GAEA model
• The formation of early-type galaxies through monolithic collapse of gas clouds in Milgromian gravity
• The population of early-type galaxies: how it evolves with time and how it differs from passive and late-type galaxies
• Stellar population properties of individual massive early-type galaxies at 1.4 < z < 2
• Spectral detection of multiple stellar populations in z~1 early-type galaxies
• The metal enrichment of passive galaxies in cosmological simulations of galaxy formation
• Age, metallicity and star formation history of spheroidal galaxies in cluster at z~1.2
• Ubiquitous [OII] Emission in Quiescent Galaxies at z ~ 0.85
• The Fundamental Plane of cluster spheroidal galaxies at z$\sim 1.3$. Evidence for mass-dependent evolution

Cited by in corpus (9)

• A new measurement of the expansion history of the Universe at z=1.26 with cosmic chronometers in VANDELS
• A new perspective on the stellar Mass-Metallicity Relation of quiescent galaxies from the LEGA-C survey
• Variation of the stellar initial mass function in semi-analytical models III: testing the cosmic ray regulated integrated galaxy-wide initial mass function
• A Global Census of Metals in the Universe
• Simulating continuum-based redshift measurement in the \textit{Roman's} High Latitude Spectroscopy Survey
• A Comparison of Full Spectral Fitting Codes for Measuring the Stellar Initial Mass Function and Other Stellar Population Properties in Elliptical Galaxies
• Correcting the fiber-aperture bias affecting galaxy stellar populations in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Aperture corrections to absorption indices based on CALIFA integral field observations
• LEGA-C stellar populations scaling relations. II: Dissecting mass-complete archaeological trends and their evolution since z~0.7 with LEGA-C and SDSS
• Cosmography via stellar archaeology of low-redshift early-type galaxies from SDSS