TY - JOUR
T1 - The LEGA-C and SAMI galaxy surveys
T2 - quiescent stellar populations and the mass-size plane across 6 Gyr
AU - Barone, Tania M.
AU - D'Eugenio, Francesco
AU - Scott, Nicholas
AU - Colless, Matthew
AU - Vaughan, Sam P.
AU - Van Der Wel, Arjen
AU - Fraser-Mckelvie, Amelia
AU - De Graaff, Anna
AU - Van De Sande, Jesse
AU - Wu, Po Feng
AU - Bezanson, Rachel
AU - Brough, Sarah
AU - Bell, Eric
AU - Croom, Scott M.
AU - Cortese, Luca
AU - Driver, Simon
AU - Gallazzi, Anna R.
AU - Muzzin, Adam
AU - Sobral, David
AU - Bland-Hawthorn, Joss
AU - Bryant, Julia J.
AU - Goodwin, Michael
AU - Lawrence, Jon S.
AU - Lorente, Nuria P.F.
AU - Owers, Matt S.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society.
PY - 2022/5/1
Y1 - 2022/5/1
N2 - We investigate changes in stellar population age and metallicity ([Z/H]) scaling relations for quiescent galaxies from intermediate redshift (0.60 ≤ z ≤ 0.76) using the LEGA-C Survey to low redshift (0.014 ≤ z ≤ 0.10) using the SAMI Galaxy Survey. Specifically, we study how the spatially integrated global age and metallicity of individual quiescent galaxies vary in the mass-size plane, using the stellar mass M∗ and a dynamical mass proxy derived from the virial theorem MD α σ2 Re. We find that, similarly to at low redshift, the metallicity of quiescent galaxies at 0.60 ≤ z ≤ 0.76 closely correlates with M/Re (a proxy for the gravitational potential or escape velocity), in that galaxies with deeper potential wells are more metal-rich. This supports the hypothesis that the relation arises due to the gravitational potential regulating the retention of metals by determining the escape velocity for metal-rich stellar and supernova ejecta to escape the system and avoid being recycled into later stellar generations. Conversely, we find no correlation between age and surface density (M/Re2) at 0.60 ≤ z ≤ 0.76, despite this relation being strong at low redshift. We consider this change in the age-M/Re2 relation in the context of the redshift evolution of the star-forming and quiescent mass-size relations, and find our results are consistent with galaxies forming more compactly at higher redshifts and remaining compact throughout their evolution. Furthermore, galaxies appear to quench at a characteristic surface density that decreases with decreasing redshift. The z ∼ 0 age-M/Re2 relation is therefore a result of building up the quiescent and star-forming populations with galaxies that formed at a range of redshifts and therefore a range of surface densities.
AB - We investigate changes in stellar population age and metallicity ([Z/H]) scaling relations for quiescent galaxies from intermediate redshift (0.60 ≤ z ≤ 0.76) using the LEGA-C Survey to low redshift (0.014 ≤ z ≤ 0.10) using the SAMI Galaxy Survey. Specifically, we study how the spatially integrated global age and metallicity of individual quiescent galaxies vary in the mass-size plane, using the stellar mass M∗ and a dynamical mass proxy derived from the virial theorem MD α σ2 Re. We find that, similarly to at low redshift, the metallicity of quiescent galaxies at 0.60 ≤ z ≤ 0.76 closely correlates with M/Re (a proxy for the gravitational potential or escape velocity), in that galaxies with deeper potential wells are more metal-rich. This supports the hypothesis that the relation arises due to the gravitational potential regulating the retention of metals by determining the escape velocity for metal-rich stellar and supernova ejecta to escape the system and avoid being recycled into later stellar generations. Conversely, we find no correlation between age and surface density (M/Re2) at 0.60 ≤ z ≤ 0.76, despite this relation being strong at low redshift. We consider this change in the age-M/Re2 relation in the context of the redshift evolution of the star-forming and quiescent mass-size relations, and find our results are consistent with galaxies forming more compactly at higher redshifts and remaining compact throughout their evolution. Furthermore, galaxies appear to quench at a characteristic surface density that decreases with decreasing redshift. The z ∼ 0 age-M/Re2 relation is therefore a result of building up the quiescent and star-forming populations with galaxies that formed at a range of redshifts and therefore a range of surface densities.
KW - galaxies: abundances
KW - galaxies: evolution
KW - galaxies: fundamental parameters
KW - galaxies: statistics
KW - galaxies: stellar content
KW - galaxies: structure
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85128759448&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/mnras/stac705
DO - 10.1093/mnras/stac705
M3 - Article
SN - 0035-8711
VL - 512
SP - 3828
EP - 3845
JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
IS - 3
ER -