Tracing the Quenching Journey across Cosmic Time

Abstract

We present the latest version of the GAEA model of galaxy formation. Our new model combines (i) an updated treatment of AGN feedback including an improved modelling of cold gas accretion on super-massive BHs and an explicit implementation of quasar winds; and (ii) an improved modelling of cold and hot gas stripping from satellite galaxies. We show that our latest model predicts specific SFR distributions that are in remarkable agreement with observational measurements in the local Universe. Our updated model predicts quenched fractions that are in very nice agreement with data up to z~3-4, and a turn-over of the number densities of quenched galaxies at low stellar masses that is in qualitative agreement with current observational estimates. We show that the main reasons for the improved behaviour with respect to previous renditions of our model are the updated treatment for satellites at low galaxy masses (<10^10 Msun) and the inclusion of quasar winds at intermediate to large stellar masses (>10^10 Msun). However, we show that the better treatment of the star formation threshold, due to our explicit partitioning of the cold gas in its atomic and molecular components, also plays an important role in suppressing excessive residual star formation in massive galaxies. While our analysis is based on a selection of quiescent galaxies that takes advantage of the information about their SFR, we demonstrate that the impact of a different (colour-colour) selection is not significant, at least for galaxies above the completeness limits of current surveys. Our new model predicts number densities of massive quiescent galaxies at z>3 that are the largest among recently published models. Yet, our model predictions appear still to be below post-JWST observational measurements. We show that the expected cosmic variance is large, and can easily accommodate some of the most recent measurements.

14 pages; 13 figures; A&A in press

References in corpus (23)

• The propagation of uncertainties in stellar population synthesis modeling I: The relevance of uncertain aspects of stellar evolution and the IMF to the derived physical properties of galaxies
• UV Star Formation Rates in the Local Universe
• The hierarchical formation of the brightest cluster galaxies
• Simba: Cosmological Simulations with Black Hole Growth and Feedback
• Galaxy Groups in the SDSS DR4: I. The Catalogue and Basic Properties
• Detection of quiescent galaxies in a bicolor sequence from z=0-2
• A unified model for AGN feedback in cosmological simulations of structure formation
• Structure and star formation in galaxies out to z=3: evidence for surface density dependent evolution and upsizing
• An Atlas of Color-selected Quiescent Galaxies at $z>3$ in Public $JWST$ Fields
• Properties of Galaxy Groups in the SDSS: II.- AGN Feedback and Star Formation Truncation
• Effects of AGN feedback on LCDM galaxies
• The influence of the environmental history on quenching star formation in a $\Lambda$CDM universe
• The Dependence of Galaxy Formation on Cosmological Parameters: Can we distinguish the WMAP1 and WMAP3 Parameter Sets?
• Galaxy environment in the 3D-HST fields. Witnessing the onset of satellite quenching at z ~ 1-2
• Elemental Abundances in Milky Way-like Galaxies from a Hierarchical Galaxy Formation Model
• The GOGREEN Survey: A deep stellar mass function of cluster galaxies at 1.0<z<1.4 and the complex nature of satellite quenching
• Gemini Observations of Galaxies in Rich Early Environments (GOGREEN) I: Survey Description
• The GOGREEN and GCLASS Surveys: First Data Release
• Gas accretion regulates the scatter of the mass-metallicity relation
• The Stellar Mass Function in CANDELS and Frontier Fields: the build-up of low mass passive galaxies since z~3
• GOGREEN: a critical assessment of environmental trends in cosmological hydrodynamical simulations at z ~ 1
• SIMBA-C: An updated chemical enrichment model for galactic chemical evolution in the SIMBA simulation
• Variation of the stellar initial mass function in semi-analytical models III: testing the cosmic ray regulated integrated galaxy-wide initial mass function

Cited by in corpus (31)

• COSMOS-Web: stellar mass assembly in relation to dark matter halos across $0.2<z<12$ of cosmic history
• Euclid. V. The Flagship galaxy mock catalogue: a comprehensive simulation for the Euclid mission
• Gas outflows in two recently quenched galaxies at z = 4 and 7
• Exploring over 700 massive quiescent galaxies at z = 2-7: Demographics and stellar mass functions
• A merging pair of massive quiescent galaxies at $z=3.44$ in the Cosmic Vine
• Discovering Large-Scale Structure at $2<z<5$ in the C3VO Survey
• Molecular gas and dust properties in $z>7$ quasar hosts
• PRIMER & JADES reveal an abundance of massive quiescent galaxies at 2 < z < 5
• MAGAZ3NE: Massive, Extremely Dusty Galaxies at $z\sim 2$ Lead to Photometric Overestimation of Number Densities of the Most Massive Galaxies at $3<z<4$
• Probing galaxy evolution from $z=0$ to $z\simeq 10$ through galaxy scaling relations in three L-Galaxies flavours
• RUBIES spectroscopically confirms the high number density of quiescent galaxies from $2<\mathbf{z}<5$
• Virgo Filaments V: Disrupting the Baryon Cycle in the NGC 5364 Galaxy Group
• Differences in the Physical Properties of Satellite Galaxies within Relaxed and Disturbed Galaxy Groups and Clusters
• A census of quiescent galaxies across $0.5<z<8$ with JWST/MIRI: Mass-dependent number density evolution of quiescent galaxies in the early Universe
• Galaxy Assembly and Evolution in the P-Millennium simulation: galaxy clustering
• On the unique evolutionary mechanisms of massive quiescent galaxies in the epoch of reionisation
• The impact of ram pressure on cluster galaxies, insights from GAEA and TNG
• Environmental history of filament galaxies: stellar mass assembly and star-formation of filament galaxies
• TP-AGB stars and stellar population properties of a post-starburst galaxy at $z\sim 2$ through optical and NIR spectroscopy with JWST
• The stellar mass function of quiescent and star-forming galaxies and its dependence on morphology in COSMOS-Web
• CASCO: Cosmological and AStrophysical parameters from Cosmological simulations and Observations -- II. Constraining cosmology and astrophysical processes with early- and late-type galaxies
• CLASH-VLT: The variance in the velocity anisotropy profiles of galaxy clusters
• Euclid Quick Data Release (Q1): The evolution of the passive-density and morphology-density relations between $z=0.25$ and $z=1$
• The HST-Hyperion Survey: Companion Fraction and Overdensity in a z ~ 2.5 Proto-supercluster
• CLASH-VLT velocity anisotropy profiles in a stack of massive galaxy clusters
• Mechanisms Affecting Galaxies Nearby and Environmental Trends (MAGNET)
• The Connection between Dusty Star-Forming Galaxies and the First Massive Quenched Galaxies
• Black hole merger rates for LISA and LGWA from semi-analytical modelling of light seeds
• The clustering of C IV and Si IV at the end of reionisation: A perspective from the E-XQR-30 survey
• Probing the large-scale structure with 21cm-galaxy cross-bispectrum: Estimates from simulations and forecasts for upcoming cosmological surveys
• NeutralUniverseMachine: Predictions of HI gas in Different Theoretical Models