The COSMOS Wall at z$\sim$0.73: star-forming galaxies and their evolution in different environments

Abstract

We present a study of the evolution of star-forming galaxies within the so-called Wall structure at z$\sim$0.73 in the field of the COSMOS survey. We use a sample of star-forming galaxies from a comprehensive range of environments and across a wide stellar mass range and discuss the correlation between the environment and the galaxy's internal properties, including its metallicity from the present-day gas-phase value measured from emission-lines and its past evolution as imprinted in its stellar populations. We build a simple yet comprehensive galaxy chemical evolution model, which is constrained by the gas-phase metallicities, stacked spectra and photometry of galaxies to reach a full description of the galaxies' past star formation and chemical evolution histories in different environments. We reproduce the `downsizing' formation of galaxies in both their star formation histories and chemical evolution histories at $z\sim 0.73$ so that more massive galaxies tend to grow their stellar mass and become enriched in metals earlier than less massive ones. In addition, the current gas-phase metallicity of a galaxy and its past evolution correlate with the environment it inhabits. Galaxies in groups, especially massive groups that have X-ray counterparts, tend to have higher gas-phase metallicities and are enriched in metals earlier than field galaxies of similar stellar mass. Galaxies in the highest stellar mass bin and located in X-ray groups exhibit a more complex and varied chemical composition. Strangulation due to interactions with the group environment, leading to an early cessation of gas supply, may have driven the faster mass growth and chemical enrichment observed in group galaxies. Additionally, the removal of metal-enriched gas could play a key role in the evolution of the most massive galaxies. Alternative mechanisms other than environmental processes are also discussed.

18 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in A&A. See also the complementary paper on passive galaxies by Ditrani et al. 2025

References in corpus (29)

• Mass and environment as drivers of galaxy evolution in SDSS and zCOSMOS and the origin of the Schechter function
• The Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) -- Overview
• Improving the full spectrum fitting method: accurate convolution with Gauss-Hermite functions
• zCOSMOS: A Large VLT/VIMOS redshift survey covering 0 < z < 3 in the COSMOS field
• UltraVISTA: a new ultra-deep near-infrared survey in COSMOS
• The Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS): Subaru Observations of the HST COSMOS Field
• The star formation histories of galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• Full spectrum fitting with photometry in pPXF: stellar population versus dynamical masses, non-parametric star formation history and metallicity for 3200 LEGA-C galaxies at redshift z~0.8
• Stellar populations of early-type galaxies in different environments II. Ages and metallicities
• Charting the evolution of the ages and metallicities of massive galaxies since z=0.7
• Effect of local environment and stellar mass on galaxy quenching and morphology at $0.5<z<2.0$
• The Role of Environment in the Mass-Metallicity Relation
• SDSS-IV MaNGA: environmental dependence of stellar age and metallicity gradients in nearby galaxies
• The zCOSMOS 20k Group Catalog
• The 0.1<z<1.65 evolution of the bright end of the [OII] luminosity function
• From 'bathtub' galaxy evolution models to metallicity gradients
• The Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS): a large-scale structure at z=0.73 and the relation of galaxy morphologies to local environment
• The mass-metallicity relations for gas and stars in star-forming galaxies: strong outflow vs variable IMF
• Elemental Abundances and Ages of $z\sim 0.7$ Quiescent Galaxies on the Mass-Size Plane: Implication for Chemical Enrichment and Star-Formation Quenching
• The mass-metallicity relation at cosmic noon in overdense environments: first results from the MAMMOTH-Grism HST slitless spectroscopic survey
• The mass-metallicity relation of zCOSMOS galaxies at z ~ 0.7, its dependence on SFR, and the existence of massive low-metallicity galaxies
• The Mass-Metallicity Relation at $z\sim 0.8$: Redshift Evolution and Parameter Dependency
• SDSS-IV MaNGA: Excavating the fossil record of stellar populations in spiral galaxies
• (Re)mind the gap: a hiatus in star formation history unveiled by APOGEE DR17
• The dark side of galaxy stellar populations I: The stellar-to-halo mass relation and the velocity dispersion - halo mass relation
• WEAVE-StePS. A stellar population survey using WEAVE at WHT
• Ubiquitous [OII] Emission in Quiescent Galaxies at z ~ 0.85
• On the maximum age resolution achievable through stellar population synthesis models
• Measuring the physical imprints of gas flows in galaxies I: Accretion rate histories

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Contrasting evolutionary pathways of fast- and slow-rotating galaxies in the green valley