DESI Survey Validation Spectra Reveal an Increasing Fraction of Recently Quenched Galaxies at \(z\sim1\)

• Published in: arXiv.org 2023-04
• Main Authors: Setton, David J, Dey, Biprateep, Khullar, Gourav, Bezanson, Rachel, Newman, Jeffrey A, Aguilar, Jessica N, Ahlen, Steven, Andrews, Brett H, Brooks, David, de la Macorra, Axel, Dey, Arjun, Eftekharzadeh, Sarah, Font-Ribera, Andreu, Satya Gontcho A Gontcho, Kremin, Anthony, Juneau, Stephanie, Landriau, Martin, Meisner, Aaron, Miquel, Ramon, Moustakas, John, Pearl, Alan, Prada, Francisco, Tarle, Gregory, Siudek, Malgorzata, Weaver, Benjamin Alan, Zhou, Zhimin, Zou, Hu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Dark energy; Galactic evolution; Quenching; Red shift; Spectra; Spectroscopy; Star & galaxy formation; Star formation; Starburst galaxies; Stars & galaxies; Stellar mass
• ISSN: 2331-8422
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2212.05070

We utilize \(\sim17000\) bright Luminous Red Galaxies (LRGs) from the novel Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument Survey Validation spectroscopic sample, leveraging its deep (\(\sim2.5\) hour/galaxy exposure time) spectra to characterize the contribution of recently quenched galaxies to the massive galaxy population at \(0.45\%\) constitute \(\sim10\%\) of the massive galaxy population at \(z\sim0.8\). We also identify a small but significant sample of galaxies at \(z=1.1-1.3\) that formed with \(f_\mathrm{1 Gyr}>50\%\), implying that they may be analogues to high-redshift quiescent galaxies that formed on similar timescales. Future analysis of this unprecedented sample promises to illuminate the physical mechanisms that drive the quenching of massive galaxies after cosmic noon.