The VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey (VIPERS). Downsizing of the blue cloud and the influence of galaxy size on mass quenching over the last eight billion years

P. Haines , A. Iovino (1) , J. Krywult , L. Guzzo (2) , I. Davidzon (3) , M. Bolzonella (4) , B. Garilli , M. Scodeggio (1) , R. Granett , S. de La Torre (3) , G. de Lucia (5) , U. Abbas , C. Adami (3) , S. Arnouts (3) , D. Bottini (6) , A. Cappi (2, 7) , O. Cucciati (6) , P. Franzetti (1) , A. Fritz , A. Gargiulo , V. Le Brun (3) , O. Le Fevre (3) , D. Maccagni (6) , K. Małek , F. Marulli , T. Moutard (3) , M. Polletta (8) , A. Pollo (3) , M. Tasca (3) , R. Tojeiro , D. Vergani (9) , A. Zanichelli (6) , G. Zamorani (1) , Julien Bel (10, 11) , E. Branchini , J. Coupon (12) , O. Ilbert (3) , L. Moscardini , J. A. Peacock (13) , M. Siudek

1 OAC - INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte
2 IASF-Bo - Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica cosmica - Bologna
3 LAM - Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille
4 UNIBO - Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna = University of Bologna
5 INAF- Milano
6 OAB - INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera
7 LAGRANGE - Joseph Louis LAGRANGE
8 IRAP - Institut de recherche en astrophysique et planétologie
9 OAA - INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri
10 CPT - E3 Cosmologie
11 CPT - Centre de Physique Théorique - UMR 7332
12 IAP - Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris
13 University of Leeds

We use the full VIPERS redshift survey in combination with SDSS-DR7 to explore the relationships between star-formation history (using d4000), stellar mass and galaxy structure, and how these relationships have evolved since z~1. We trace the extents and evolutions of both the blue cloud and red sequence, by fitting double Gaussians to the d4000 distribution of galaxies in narrow stellar mass bins, for four redshift intervals over 010^11 M_sun, d4000<1.55) drops sharply by a factor five between z~0.8 and z~0.5. These galaxies are becoming quiescent at a rate that largely matches the increase in the numbers of massive passive galaxies seen over this period. We examine the size-mass relation of blue cloud galaxies, finding that its high-mass boundary runs along lines of constant M*/r_e or equivalently inferred velocity dispersion. Larger galaxies can continue to form stars to higher stellar masses than smaller galaxies. As blue cloud galaxies approach this high-mass limit, they start to be quenched, their d4000 values increasing to push them towards the green valley. In parallel, their structures change, showing higher Sersic indices and central stellar mass densities. For these galaxies, bulge growth is necessary for them to reach the high-mass limit of the blue cloud and be quenched by internal mechanisms. The blue cloud galaxies that are being quenched at z~0.8 lie along the same size-mass relation as present day quiescent galaxies, and seem the likely progenitors of today's S0s.

Mots clés: Galaxies: evolution; star formation; stellar content; structure

Domaines: Astrophysique galactique [astro-ph.GA]

P. Haines, A. Iovino, J. Krywult, L. Guzzo, I. Davidzon, et al.. The VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey (VIPERS). Downsizing of the blue cloud and the influence of galaxy size on mass quenching over the last eight billion years. Astronomy and Astrophysics - A&A, 2017, 605, pp.A4. ⟨10.1051/0004-6361/201630118⟩. ⟨hal-01662840⟩