Affiliation: University of Massachusetts Amherst

Contribution: Oral

Title: Constraining quenching mechanisms at high redshift: The sizes, masses and star-formation histories of massive galaxies

Abstract: Some of the key results that have shaped our understanding of galaxy evolution are the relationships between galaxy stellar mass, size and age. Ultra-deep spectroscopic data and HST imaging from large-scale surveys have provided us with the ability to study downsizing (older galaxies at higher masses) and galaxy formation and quenching in detail. In this talk, I will present studies exploring the most massive galaxies at 1.0 < z < 1.3, using ultra-deep spectroscopy from the VANDELS survey. I explore the relationships between stellar mass, size and age, building upon previous work to better constrain star-formation histories, stellar masses and quenching times of these quiescent galaxies. I then discuss trends with galaxy physical properties in our samples and show that our results are consistent with the downsizing scenario. Building on these important results at z ~ 1, I will also present a study exploring in greater depth the sizes and morphologies of quiescent galaxies at 0.25 < z < 2.25, through the use of photometric and imaging data from the JWST public data release survey PRIMER. I present new quiescent galaxy size-mass relations at over a wider range of stellar masses than previously allowed by HST, and show how the morphologies and sizes of low mass quiescent galaxies are consistent with environmental quenching.

This contribution can be found here (pdf).