Mass assembly and morphological transformations since z∼ 3 from CANDELS

Huertas-Company, M.; Bernardi, M.; P�rez-Gonz�lez, P.G.; Ashby, M.L.N.; Barro, G.; Conselice, Christopher J.; Daddi, E.; Dekel, A.; Dimauro, P.; Faber, S.M.; Grogin, N.A.; Kartaltepe, J.S.; Kocevski, D.D.; Koekemoer, A.M.; Koo, D.C.; Mei, S.; Shankar, F.

Abstract

We quantify the evolution of the stellar mass functions (SMFs) of star-forming and quiescent galaxies as a function of morphology from z ∼ 3 to the present. Our sample consists of ∼50 000 galaxies in the CANDELS fields (∼880 arcmin2), which we divide into four main morphological types, i.e. pure bulge-dominated systems, pure spiral disc-dominated, intermediate two-component bulge+disc systems and irregular disturbed galaxies. At z ∼ 2, 80 per cent of the stellarmass density of star-forming galaxies is in irregular systems. However, by z ∼ 0.5, irregular objects only dominate at stellar masses below 109M_. A majority of the star-forming irregulars present at z ∼ 2 undergo a gradual transformation from disturbed to normal spiral disc morphologies by z ∼ 1 without significant interruption to their star formation. Rejuvenation after a quenching event does not seem to be common except perhaps for the most massive objects, because the fraction of bulge-dominated star-forming galaxies with M∗/M_ > 1010.7 reaches 40 per cent at z < 1. Quenching implies the presence of a bulge: the abundance of massive red discs is negligible at all redshifts over 2 dex in stellar mass. However, the dominant quenching mechanism evolves. At z > 2, the SMF of quiescent galaxies aboveM ∗ is dominated by compact spheroids. Quenching at this early epoch destroys the disc and produces a compact remnant unless the star-forming progenitors at even higher redshifts are significantly more dense. At 1 < z<2, the majority of newly quenched galaxies are discs with a significant central bulge. This suggests that mass quenching at this epoch starts from the inner parts and preserves the disc. At z < 1, the high-mass end of the passive SMF is globally in place and the evolution mostly happens at stellar masses below 1010M_. These low-mass galaxies are compact, bulge-dominated systems, which were environmentally quenched: destruction of the disc through ram-pressure stripping is the likely process.

Citation

Huertas-Company, M., Bernardi, M., Pérez-González, P., Ashby, M., Barro, G., Conselice, C. J., Daddi, E., Dekel, A., Dimauro, P., Faber, S., Grogin, N., Kartaltepe, J., Kocevski, D., Koekemoer, A., Koo, D., Mei, S., & Shankar, F. (2016). Mass assembly and morphological transformations since z∼ 3 from CANDELS. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 462(4), 4495-4516. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw1866

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 22, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Jul 30, 2016
• Publication Date: Nov 11, 2016
• Deposit Date: Jan 4, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 4, 2017
• Journal: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
• Print ISSN: 0035-8711
• Electronic ISSN: 1365-2966
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 462
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 4495-4516
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw1866
• Keywords: galaxies: abundances, galaxies: evolution, galaxies: high-redshift, galaxies: structure.
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/829009
• Publisher URL: http://mnras.oxfordjournals.org/content/462/4/4495
• Additional Information: This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©: 2016 The authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
• Contract Date: Jan 4, 2017