Evolution Of Star Formation Rate Research Articles

The Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey 2: A Stacking Analysis Investigating the Evolution of Star Formation Rates and Stellar Masses in Groups and Clusters

The evolution of galaxies depends on their masses and local environments; understanding when and how environmental quenching starts to operate remains a challenge. Furthermore, studies of the high-redshift regime have been limited to massive cluster members, owing to sensitivity limits or small fields of view when the sensitivity is sufficient, intrinsically biasing the picture of cluster evolution. In this work, we use stacking to investigate the average star formation history of more than 10,000 groups and clusters drawn from the Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey 2. Our analysis covers near-ultraviolet to far-infrared wavelengths, for galaxy overdensities at 0.5 ≲ z ≲ 2.54. We employ spectral energy distribution fitting to measure the specific star formation rates (sSFRs) in four annular apertures with radii between 0 and 1000 kpc. At z ≳ 1.6, the average sSFR evolves similarly to the field in both the core and the cluster outskirts. Between z¯=1.60 and z¯=1.35 , the sSFR in the core drops sharply, and it continues to fall relative to the field sSFR at lower redshifts. We interpret this change as evidence that the impact of environmental quenching dramatically increases at z ∼ 1.5, with the short time span of the transition suggesting that the environmental quenching mechanism dominant at this redshift operates on a rapid timescale. We find indications that the sSFR may decrease with increasing host halo mass, but lower-scatter mass tracers than the signal-to-noise ratio are needed to confirm this relationship.

Early Growth of the Star Formation Rate Function in the Epoch of Reionization: An Approach with Rest-frame Optical Emissions

We present a star formation rate function (SFRF) at z ∼ 6 based on star formation rates (SFRs) derived by spectral energy distribution fitting on data from rest-frame UV to optical wavelengths of galaxies in the CANDELS GOODS-South and North fields. The resulting SFRF shows an excess compared to the previous estimations by using rest-frame UV luminosity functions (LFs) corrected for the dust attenuation and is comparable to that estimated from a far-infrared LF. This suggests that the number density of dust-obscured intensively star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 6 has been underestimated in the previous approach based only on rest-frame UV observations. We parameterize the SFRF using the Schechter function and obtain the best-fit parameter of the characteristic SFR (SFR*) when the faint-end slope and characteristic number density are fixed. The best-fit SFR* at z ∼ 6 is comparable to that at z ∼ 2, when the cosmic star formation activity reaches its peak. Together with SFRF estimations with a similar approach using rest-frame UV to optical data, the SFR* is roughly constant from z ∼ 2 to ∼6 and may decrease above z ∼ 6. Since the SFR* is sensitive to the high-SFR end of the SFRF, this evolution of SFR* suggests that the high-SFR end of the SFRF grows rapidly during the epoch of reionization and reaches a similar level observed at z ∼ 2.

Cosmology with gamma-ray bursts

Gamma-ray bursts constitute one of the most fascinating and relevant phenomena in modern science, with strong implications for several fields of astrophysics, cosmology and fundamental physics. In this short review, I focus on the prospective key-role of GRBs for cosmology. Indeed, the huge luminosity, the redshift distribution extending at least up to $z\sim10$ and the association with the explosive death of very massive stars make long GRBs (i.e., those lasting up to a few minutes) potentially extremely powerful probes for shedding light on main open issues in our understanding of the early Universe: star formation rate evolution up to the first generation of stars (pop-III), cosmic reionization, luminosity function and metallicity evolution of primordial galaxies up to the ``cosmic dawn". At the same time, interesting correlations between luminosity/radiated energy and spectral photon peak energy are the subject of intensive investigations for ``standardizing" GRBs and using them for measuring cosmological parameters, investigating the nature and evolution of ``dark energy" and testing non-standard cosmological models. I will also report on the status, concepts and expected performances of space mission projects aiming at fully exploiting these potentialities of the GRB phenomenon, thus providing an ideal sinergy with the large e.m. facilities of the future like LSST, ELT, TMT, SKA, CTA, ATHENA.

Cosmic Star Formation History Measured at 1.4 GHz

Abstract We matched the 1.4 GHz local luminosity functions of star-forming galaxies (SFGs) and active galactic nuclei to the 1.4 GHz differential source counts from 0.25 μJy to 25 Jy using combinations of luminosity and density evolution. We present the most robust and complete local far-infrared (FIR)/radio luminosity correlation to date in a volume-limited sample of ≈4.3 × 103 nearby SFGs, finding that it is very tight but distinctly sublinear: L FIR ∝ L 1.4 GHz 0.85 . If the local FIR/radio correlation does not evolve, the evolving 1.4 GHz luminosity function of SFGs yields the evolving star formation rate density (SFRD) ψ(M ⊙ yr−1 Mpc−3) as a function of time since the Big Bang. The SFRD measured at 1.4 GHz grows rapidly at early times, peaks at “cosmic noon” when t ≈ 3 Gyr and z ≈ 2, and subsequently decays with an e-folding timescale τ = 3.2 Gyr. This evolution is similar to, but somewhat stronger than, SFRD evolution estimated from UV and FIR data.

SDSS-IV MaNGA: when is morphology imprinted on galaxies?

ABSTRACT It remains an open question as to how long ago the morphology that we see in a present-day galaxy was typically imprinted. Studies of galaxy populations at different redshifts reveal that the balance of morphologies has changed over time, but such snapshots cannot uncover the typical time-scales over which individual galaxies undergo morphological transformation, nor which are the progenitors of today’s galaxies of different types. However, these studies also show a strong link between morphology and star formation rate (SFR) over a large range in redshift, which offers an alternative probe of morphological transformation. We therefore derive the evolution in SFR and stellar mass of a sample of 4342 galaxies in the SDSS-IV MaNGA survey through a stellar population ‘fossil record’ approach, and show that the average evolution of the population shows good agreement with known behaviour from previous studies. Although the correlation between a galaxy’s contemporaneous morphology and SFR is strong over a large range of lookback times, we find that a galaxy’s present-day morphology only correlates with its relatively recent ($\sim \! 2\, \textrm {Gyr}$) star formation history. We therefore find strong evidence that morphological transitions to galaxies’ current appearance occurred on time-scales as short as a few billion years.

The XXL Survey

We studied a sample of 274 radio and X-ray selected quasars (XQSOs) detected in the COSMOS and XXL-S radio surveys at 3 GHz and 2.1 GHz, respectively. This sample was identified by adopting a conservative threshold in X-ray luminosity, LX [2−10 keV] ≥ 1044 erg s−1, selecting only the most powerful quasars. A number of previous studies on the origin of radio emission in type-1 quasars have focused on the radio loudness distributions, some claiming to have found evidence for bimodality, pointing toward the existence of two physically different mechanisms for the radio emission. Using available multiwavelength data, we examined various criteria for the selection of radio-loud (RL) and radio-quiet (RQ) XQSOs and found that the number of RL/RQ XQSOs changes significantly depending on the chosen criterion. This discrepancy arises due to the different criteria tracing different physical processes and due to the fact that our sample was selected from flux-limited radio and X-ray surveys. Another approach to study the origin of radio emission in XQSOs is via their radio luminosity functions (RLF). We constructed the XQSO 1.4 GHz RLFs in six redshift bins at 0.5 ≤ z ≤ 3.75. The lower-1.4 GHz luminosity end shows a higher normalization than expected only from AGN contribution in all studied redshift bins. We found that the so-called “bump” is mostly dominated by emission due to star-forming processes within the host galaxies of XQSOs. As expected, AGN-related radio emission is the dominant contribution at the higher-luminosity end of RLF. To study the evolution of the XQSO RLF, we used a combination of analytic forms from the literature to constrain the “bump” due to star formation and the higher-luminosity AGN part of the RLF. We defined two 1.4 GHz luminosity thresholds, Lth, SF and Lth, AGN, below and above which more than 80% of sources contributing to the RLF are dominated by star formation and AGN-related activity, respectively. The two thresholds evolve with redshift, which is most likely driven by the strong evolution of star formation rates of the XQSO host galaxies. We found that both the lower and higher luminosity ends evolve significantly in density, while their luminosity evolution parameters are consistent with being constant. We found that the lower-luminosity end evolves both in density and luminosity, while the higher-luminosity end evolves significantly only in density. Our results expose the dichotomy of the origin of radio emission: while the higher-luminosity end of the XQSO RLF is dominated by AGN activity, the lower-luminosity end is dominated by the star formation-related processes.

The Coevolution of Galaxies and the Cool Circumgalactic Medium Probed with the SDSS and DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys

Abstract We study the evolution of galaxies and the circumgalactic medium (CGM) through cosmic time by correlating ∼50,000 Mg ii absorbers, tracers of cool gas (∼104 K), detected in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey quasar spectra with galaxies detected in the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys. By doing so, we extract the properties of galaxies associated with absorbers from redshift 0.4 to 1.3 with effectively ∼15,000 pairs and explore the covering fraction of Mg ii absorbers as a function of galaxy type, stellar mass, impact parameter, and redshift. We find that the gas covering fraction increases with stellar mass of galaxies by . However, after we normalize the impact parameter by the virial radius of dark matter halos, the gas profiles around galaxies with masses ranging from 109 to become weakly dependent on stellar mass. In addition, the gas distribution depends on galaxy type: the covering fraction within around star-forming galaxies is 2–4 times higher than that around passive galaxies at all redshifts. We find that the covering fraction of strong absorbers ( ) around both types of galaxies evolves significantly with redshift, similarly to the evolution of star formation rate (SFR) of galaxies, while such an evolution is not detected for weak absorbers ( ). We quantify the H i mass traced by strong absorbers and find that the gas mass around galaxies evolves consistently with the SFR of galaxies. This result suggests that the properties of galaxies and their CGM coevolve through cosmic time. Finally, we discuss the origins of strong absorbers around passive galaxies and argue that its redshift evolution may trace the star formation activity of satellite galaxies.

Evolution of star formation rate–density relation over cosmic time in a simulated universe: the observed reversal reproduced

ABSTRACT We use the IllustrisTNG cosmological hydrodynamical simulation to study the evolution of star formation rate (SFR)–density relation over cosmic time. We construct several samples of galaxies at different redshifts from z = 2.0 to z = 0.0, which have the same comoving number density. The SFR of galaxies decreases with local density at z = 0.0, but its dependence on local density becomes weaker with redshift. At z ≳ 1.0, the SFR of galaxies increases with local density (reversal of the SFR–density relation), and its dependence becomes stronger with redshift. This change of SFR–density relation with redshift still remains even when fixing the stellar masses of galaxies. The dependence of SFR on the distance to a galaxy cluster also shows a change with redshift in a way similar to the case based on local density, but the reversal happens at a higher redshift, z ∼ 1.5, in clusters. On the other hand, the molecular gas fraction always decreases with local density regardless of redshift at z = 0.0–2.0 even though the dependence becomes weaker when we fix the stellar mass. Our study demonstrates that the observed reversal of the SFR–density relation at z ≳ 1.0 can be successfully reproduced in cosmological simulations. Our results are consistent with the idea that massive, star-forming galaxies are strongly clustered at high redshifts, forming larger structures. These galaxies then consume their gas faster than those in low-density regions through frequent interactions with other galaxies, ending up being quiescent in the local universe.

Synthetic nebular emission lines of simulated galaxies over cosmic time

AbstractThis article presents an up-dated analysis of synthetic optical and UV emission lines of simulated galaxies over cosmic time. The strong emission lines are derived from self-consistently coupling novel spectral models accounting for nebular emission from young stars, AGN and Post-AGB stars to cosmological zoom-in as well as large-scale simulations. Investigating the evolution of optical line-ratios in the BPT diagrams, the simulations can successfully reproduce the observed trend of [OIII]/Hβ ratio increasing from low to high redshifts, due to evolving star formation rate and gas metallicity. Standard selection criteria in the BPT diagrams can appropriately distinguish the main ionising source(s) of galaxies at low redshifts, but they are less reliable for metal-poor galaxies, dominating the early Universe. To robustly classify the ionising radiation of such metal-poor galaxies, diagnostic diagrams based on luminosity ratios of UV lines are discussed. The novel interface between simulations and observations is potentially important for the interpretation of high-quality spectra of very distant galaxies to be gathered by next-generation telescopes, such as the James Webb Space Telescope.

Stellar Mass and 3.4 μm M/L Ratio Evolution of Brightest Cluster Galaxies in COSMOS since z ∼ 1.0

Abstract We investigate the evolution of star formation rates (SFRs), stellar masses, and M/L 3.4 μm ratios of brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) in the COSMOS survey since z ∼ 1 to determine the contribution of star formation to the growth-rate of BCG stellar mass over time. Through the spectral energy density (SED) fitting of the GALEX, CFHT, Subaru, Vista, Spitzer, and Herschel photometric data available in the COSMOS2015 catalog, we estimate the stellar mass and SFR of each BCG. We use a modified version of the iSEDfit package to fit the SEDs of our sample with both stellar and dust emission models, as well as constrain the impact of star formation history assumptions on our results. We find that in our sample of COSMOS BCGs, star formation evolves similarly to that in BCGs in samples of more massive galaxy clusters. However, compared to the latter, the magnitude of star formation in our sample is lower by ∼1 dex. Additionally, we find an evolution of BCG baryonic mass-to-light ratio (M/L 3.4 μm) with redshift which is consistent with a passively aging stellar population. We use this to build upon Wen et al.'s low-redshift νL 3.4 μm–M Stellar relation, quantifying a correlation between νL 3.4 μm and M Stellar to z ∼ 1. By comparing our results to BCGs in Sunyaev–Zel’dovich and X-ray-selected samples of galaxy clusters, we find evidence that the normalization of star formation evolution in a cluster sample is driven by the mass range of the sample and may be biased upwards by cool cores.

Galaxy evolution in the cluster Abell 85: new insights from the dwarf population

We present the first results of a new spectroscopic survey of the cluster Abell 85 targeting 1466 candidate cluster members within the central $\sim$1 deg$^2$ of the cluster and having magnitudes $m_r < 20.5$ using VIMOS/VLT and HYDRA/WIYN. A total of 520 galaxies are confirmed as either relaxed cluster members or part of an infalling population. A significant fraction are low mass; the median stellar mass of the sample is $10^{9.6} M_{\odot} $, and 25% have stellar masses below $10^9 M_{\odot}$ (i.e. 133 dwarf galaxies). We also identify seven active galactic nuclei (AGN), four of which reside in dwarf host galaxies. We probe the evolution of star formation rates, based on H$\alpha$ emission and continuum modeling, as a function of both mass and environment. We find that more star forming galaxies are observed at larger clustercentric distances, while infalling galaxies show evidence for recently enhanced star forming activity. Main sequence galaxies, defined by their continuum star formation rates, show different evolutionary behavior based on their mass. At the low mass end, the galaxies have had their star formation recently quenched, while more massive galaxies show no significant change. The timescales probed here favor fast quenching mechanisms, such as ram-pressure stripping. Galaxies within the green valley, defined similarly, do not show evidence of quenching. Instead, the low mass galaxies maintain their levels of star forming activity, while the more massive galaxies have experienced a recent burst.

From voids to filaments: environmental transformations of galaxies in the SDSS

We investigate the impact of filament and void environments on galaxies, looking for residual effects beyond the known relations with environment density. We quantified the host environment of galaxies as the distance to the spine of the nearest filament, and compared various galaxy properties within 12 bins of this distance. We considered galaxies up to 10 $h^{-1}$Mpc from filaments, i.e. deep inside voids. The filaments were defined by a point process (the Bisous model) from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey data release 10. In order to remove the dependence of galaxy properties on the environment density and redshift, we applied weighting to normalise the corresponding distributions of galaxy populations in each bin. After the normalisation with respect to environment density and redshift, several residual dependencies of galaxy properties still remain. Most notable is the trend of morphology transformations, resulting in a higher elliptical-to-spiral ratio while moving from voids towards filament spines, bringing along a corresponding increase in the $g-i$ colour index and a decrease in star formation rate. After separating elliptical and spiral subsamples, some of the colour index and star formation rate evolution still remains. The mentioned trends are characteristic only for galaxies brighter than about $M_{r} = -20$ mag. Unlike some other recent studies, we do not witness an increase in the galaxy stellar mass while approaching filaments. The detected transformations can be explained by an increase in the galaxy-galaxy merger rate and/or the cut-off of extragalactic gas supplies (starvation) near and inside filaments. Unlike voids, large-scale galaxy filaments are not a mere density enhancement, but have their own specific impact on the constituent galaxies, reducing the star formation rate and raising the chances of elliptical morphology also at a fixed environment density level.

Evolution of Balmer jump selected galaxies in the ALHAMBRA survey

We present a new color-selection technique, based on the Bruzual & Charlot models convolved with the bands of the ALHAMBRA survey, and the redshifted position of the Balmer jump to select star-forming galaxies in the redshift range 0.5 < z < 1.5. These galaxies are dubbed Balmer jump Galaxies BJGs. We apply the iSEDfit Bayesian approach to fit each detailed SED and determine star-formation rate (SFR), stellar mass, age and absolute magnitudes. The mass of the haloes where these samples reside are found via a clustering analysis. Five volume-limited BJG sub-samples with different mean redshifts are found to reside in haloes of median masses $\sim 10^{12.5 \pm 0.2} M_\odot$ slightly increasing toward z=0.5. This increment is similar to numerical simulations results which suggests that we are tracing the evolution of an evolving population of haloes as they grow to reach a mass of $\sim 10^{12.7 \pm 0.1} M_\odot$ at z=0.5. The likely progenitors of our samples at z$\sim$3 are Lyman Break Galaxies, which at z$\sim$2 would evolve into star-forming BzK galaxies, and their descendants in the local Universe are elliptical galaxies.Hence, this allows us to follow the putative evolution of the SFR, stellar mass and age of these galaxies. From z$\sim$1.0 to z$\sim$0.5, the stellar mass of the volume limited BJG samples nearly does not change with redshift, suggesting that major mergers play a minor role on the evolution of these galaxies. The SFR evolution accounts for the small variations of stellar mass, suggesting that star formation and possible minor mergers are the main channels of mass assembly.

YOUNG GALAXY CANDIDATES IN THE HUBBLE FRONTIER FIELDS. III. MACS J0717.5+3745

ABSTRACT In this paper we present the results of our search for and study of z ≳ 6 galaxy candidates behind the third Frontier Fields (FFs) cluster, MACS J0717.5+3745, and its parallel field, combining data from Hubble and Spitzer. We select 39 candidates using the Lyman break technique, for which the clear non-detection in optical make the extreme mid-z interlopers hypothesis unlikely. We also take benefit from z ≳ 6 samples selected using the previous FF data sets of Abell 2744 and MACS 0416 to improve the constraints on the properties of very high redshift objects. We compute the redshift and the physical properties such emission lines properties, star formation rate, reddening, and stellar mass for all FF objects from their spectral energy distribution using templates including nebular emission lines. We study the relationship between several physical properties and confirm the trend already observed in previous surveys for evolution of star formation rate with galaxy mass and between the size and the UV luminosity of our candidates. The analysis of the evolution of the UV luminosity function with redshift seems more compatible with an evolution of density. Moreover, no robust z ≥ 8.5 object is selected behind the cluster field and few z ∼ 9 candidates have been selected in the two previous data sets from this legacy survey, suggesting a strong evolution in the number density of galaxies between z ∼ 8 and 9. Thanks to the use of the lensing cluster, we study the evolution of the star formation rate density produced by galaxies with L &gt; 0.03 L ⋆ , and confirm the strong decrease observed between z ∼ 8 and 9.

The evolving star formation rate:M⋆relation and sSFR sincez≃ 5 from the VUDS spectroscopic survey

We study the evolution of the star formation rate (SFR) - stellar mass (M_star) relation and specific star formation rate (sSFR) of star forming galaxies (SFGs) since a redshift z~5.5 using 2435 (4531) galaxies with highly reliable (reliable) spectroscopic redshifts in the VIMOS Ultra-Deep Survey (VUDS). It is the first time that these relations can be followed over such a large redshift range from a single homogeneously selected sample of galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts. The log(SFR) - log(M_star) relation for SFGs remains roughly linear all the way up to z=5 but the SFR steadily increases at fixed mass with increasing redshift. We find that for stellar masses M_star>3.2 x 10^9 M_sun the SFR increases by a factor ~13 between z=0.4 and z=2.3. We extend this relation up to z=5, finding an additional increase in SFR by a factor 1.7 from z=2.3 to z=4.8 for masses M_star > 10^10 M_sun. We observe a turn-off in the SFR-M_star relation at the highest mass end up to a redshift z~3.5. We interpret this turn-off as the signature of a strong on-going quenching mechanism and rapid mass growth. The sSFR increases strongly up to z~2 but it grows much less rapidly in 2<z<5. We find that the shape of the sSFR evolution is not well reproduced by cold gas accretion-driven models or the latest hydrodynamical models. Below z~2 these models have a flatter evolution (1+z)^{Phi} with Phi=2-2.25 compared to the data which evolves more rapidly with Phi=2.8+-0.2. Above z~2, the reverse is happening with the data evolving more slowly with Phi=1.2+-0.1. The observed sSFR evolution over a large redshift range 0<z<5 and our finding of a non linear main sequence at high mass both indicate that the evolution of SFR and M_star is not solely driven by gas accretion. The results presented in this paper emphasize the need to invoke a more complex mix of physical processes {abridge}

Galaxy formation in the Planck cosmology – I. Matching the observed evolution of star formation rates, colours and stellar masses

We have updated the Munich galaxy formation model to the Planck first-year cosmology, while modifying the treatment of baryonic processes to reproduce recent data on the abundance and passive fractions of galaxies from z= 3 down to z=0. Matching these more extensive and more precise observational results requires us to delay the reincorporation of wind ejecta, to lower the surface density threshold for turning cold gas into stars, to eliminate ram-pressure stripping in haloes less massive than ~10^14 Msun, and to modify our model for radio mode feedback. These changes cure the most obvious failings of our previous models, namely the overly early formation of low-mass galaxies and the overly large fraction of them that are passive at late times. The new model is calibrated to reproduce the observed evolution both of the stellar mass function and of the distribution of star formation rate at each stellar mass. Massive galaxies (M>10^11 [Msun]) assemble most of their mass before z=1 and are predominantly old and passive at z=0, while lower mass galaxies assemble later and, for M<10^9.5 (Msun), are still predominantly blue and star forming at z=0. This phenomenological but physically based model allows the observations to be interpreted in terms of the efficiency of the various processes that control the formation and evolution of galaxies as a function of their stellar mass, gas content, environment and time.

Dust-regulated galaxy formation and evolution: a new chemodynamical model with live dust particles

Interstellar dust plays decisive roles in the conversion of neutral to molecular hydrogen (H_2), the thermodynamical evolution of interstellar medium (ISM), and the modification of spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of galaxies. These important roles of dust have not been self-consistently included in previous numerical simulations of galaxy formation and evolution. We have therefore developed a new model by which one can investigate whether and how galaxy formation and evolution can be influenced by dust-related physical processes such as photo-electric heating, H_2 formation on dust, and stellar radiation pressure on dust in detail. A novel point of the model is that different dust species in a galaxy are represented by `live dust' particles (i.e., not test particles). Therefore, dust particles in a galaxy not only interact gravitationally with all four components of the galaxy (i.e., dark matter, stars, gas, and dust) but also are grown and destroyed through physical processes of ISM. First we describe a way to include dust-related physical processes in Nbody+hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy evolution in detail. Then we show some preliminary results of dust-regulated galaxy evolution. The preliminary results suggest that the evolution of dust distributions driven by radiation pressure of stars is very important for the evolution of star formation rates, chemical abundances, H_2 fractions, and gas distributions in galaxies.

AN EVOLUTIONARY MODEL FOR COLLAPSING MOLECULAR CLOUDS AND THEIR STAR FORMATION ACTIVITY. II. MASS DEPENDENCE OF THE STAR FORMATION RATE

We discuss the dependence of various properties of the star formation rate (SFR) and efficiency (SFE) in molecular clouds (MCs) on the maximum mass reached by the clouds, based on a previously-published model for MC and SFR evolution in which the clouds were assumed to be undergoing global collapse, and the SFR was controlled by ioniztion feedback. Because the model neglects various other processes, the results presented are upper limits. We find that clouds with $\Mmax \lesssim 10^4 \Msun$ end their lives with a mini-burst, at which the SFR reaches a peak of $\sim 10^4 ~\Msun \Myr^{-1}$, although its time average is only $\SFRavg \sim \hbox{ a few} \times 10^2 \Msun \Myr^{-1}$. The corresponding efficiencies are $\SFEmax \lesssim $60\%$ and $\SFEavg \lesssim $1\%$. For more massive clouds ($\Mmax \gtrsim 10^5 ~ \Msun$), the SFR first increases and then remains roughly constant for $\sim 10^7$ yr, because the clouds are influenced by the stellar feedback since earlier in their evolution. We find that $\SFRavg$ and $\SFEavg$ are well represented by the fits $\SFRavg \approx 100 (1+\Mmax/2 \times 10^5 ~ \Msun)^{2} ~ \Msun \Myr^{-1}$ and $\SFEavg \approx 0.024 (\Mmax/10^5 ~ \Msun)^{0.28}$, respectively. The massive model clouds follow the SFR-dense gas mass relation obtained by Gao \& Solomon for infrared galaxies, extrapolated down to MCs scales. Low-mass clouds fall above this relation, in agreement with recent observations. An integration of the model-predicted $\SFRavg$ over a Galactic GMC mass spectrum yields a realistic value for the Galactic SFR. Our results reinforce the suggestion that star-forming GMCs may be in global collapse, and still have low net SFRs and SFEs, due to the evaporation of most of the cloud material by the feedback from massive stars.

Overconsumption, outflows and the quenching of satellite galaxies

Abstract The baryon cycle of galaxies is a dynamic process involving the intake, consumption and ejection of vast quantities of gas. In contrast, the conventional picture of satellite galaxies has them methodically turning a large gas reservoir into stars until this reservoir is forcibly removed due to external ram pressure. This picture needs revision. Our modern understanding of the baryon cycle suggests that in some regimes the simple interruption of the fresh gas supply may quench satellite galaxies long before stripping events occur, a process we call overconsumption. We compile measurements from the literature of observed satellite quenching times at a range of redshifts to determine if satellites are principally quenched through orbit-based gas stripping events – either direct stripping of the disc (ram pressure stripping) or the extended gas halo (strangulation) – or from internally driven star formation outflows via overconsumption. These time-scales show significant deviations from the evolution expected for gas stripping mechanisms and suggest that either ram pressure stripping is much more efficient at high redshift, or that secular outflows quench satellites before orbit-based stripping occurs. Given the strong redshift evolution of star formation rates, at high redshift even moderate outflow rates will lead to extremely short delay times with the expectation that high-redshift (z &amp;gt; 1.5) satellites will be quenched almost immediately following the cessation of cosmological inflow. Observations of high-redshift satellites give an indirect but sensitive measure of the outflow rate, with current measurements suggesting that outflows are no larger than 2.5 times the star formation rate for galaxies with a stellar mass of 1010.5 M⊙.

The two regimes of the cosmic sSFR evolution are due to spheroids and discs

This paper aims at explaining the two phases in the observed specific star formation rate (sSFR), namely the high (>3/Gyr) values at z>2 and the smooth decrease since z=2. In order to do this, we compare to observations the specific star formation rate evolution predicted by well calibrated models of chemical evolution for elliptical and spiral galaxies, using the additional constraints on the mean stellar ages of these galaxies (at a given mass). We can conclude that the two phases of the sSFR evolution across cosmic time are due to different populations of galaxies. At z>2 the contribution comes from spheroids: the progenitors of present-day massive ellipticals (which feature the highest sSFR) as well as halos and bulges in spirals (which contribute with average and lower-than-average sSFR). In each single galaxy the sSFR decreases rapidly and the star formation stops in <1 Gyr. However the combination of different generations of ellipticals in formation might result in an apparent lack of strong evolution of the sSFR (averaged over a population) at high redshift. The z<2 decrease is due to the slow evolution of the gas fraction in discs, modulated by the gas accretion history and regulated by the Schmidt law. The Milky Way makes no exception to this behaviour.