TY - JOUR
T1 - Mass assembly and morphological transformations since z ~ 3 from CANDELS
AU - Huertas-Company, M.
AU - Bernardi, M.
AU - Pérez-González, P. G.
AU - Ashby, M. L.N.
AU - Barro, G.
AU - Conselice, C.
AU - Daddi, E.
AU - Dekel, A.
AU - Dimauro, P.
AU - Faber, S. M.
AU - Grogin, N. A.
AU - Kartaltepe, J. S.
AU - Kocevski, D. D.
AU - Koekemoer, A. M.
AU - Koo, D. C.
AU - Mei, S.
AU - Shankar, F.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.
PY - 2016/11/11
Y1 - 2016/11/11
N2 - 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 stellar mass density of star-forming galaxies is in irregular systems. However, by z ~ 0.5, irregular objects only dominate at stellar masses below 109 M·. 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 above M* 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 1010 M·. 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.
AB - 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 stellar mass density of star-forming galaxies is in irregular systems. However, by z ~ 0.5, irregular objects only dominate at stellar masses below 109 M·. 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 above M* 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 1010 M·. 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.
KW - Galaxies: abundances
KW - Galaxies: evolution
KW - Galaxies: high-redshift
KW - Galaxies: structure
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84994479648&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/mnras/stw1866
DO - 10.1093/mnras/stw1866
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AN - SCOPUS:84994479648
SN - 0035-8711
VL - 462
SP - 4495
EP - 4516
JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
IS - 4
ER -