Angular momentum evolution of galaxies over the past 10 Gyr: a MUSE and KMOS dynamical survey of 400 star-forming galaxies from z=0.3 to 1.7
Authors
Swinbank, AM
Harrison, CM
Trayford, J
Schaller, M
Smail, Ian
Schaye, J
Theuns, T
Smit, R
Alexander, DM
Bacon, R
Bower, RG
Contini, T
Crain, RA
de Breuck, C
Decarli, R
Epinat, B
Fumagalli, M
Furlong, M
Galametz, A
Johnson, HL
Lagos, C
Richard, J
Vernet, J
Sharples, RM
Sobral, D
Stott, JP
Publication Date
2017-06Journal Title
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
ISSN
0035-8711
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Volume
467
Issue
3
Pages
3140-3159
Type
Article
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Swinbank, A., Harrison, C., Trayford, J., Schaller, M., Smail, I., Schaye, J., Theuns, T., et al. (2017). Angular momentum evolution of galaxies over the past 10 Gyr: a MUSE and KMOS dynamical survey of 400 star-forming galaxies from z=0.3 to 1.7. MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, 467 (3), 3140-3159. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx201
Abstract
We present a MUSE (Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer) and KMOS (K-band Multi-Object Spectrograph) dynamical study 405 star-forming galaxies at redshift z = 0.28–1.65 (median redshift z¯ = 0.84). Our sample is representative of the star-forming ‘main sequence’, with star formation rates of SFR = 0.1–30 M yr−1 and stellar masses M = 108–1011 M. For
49 ± 4 per cent of our sample, the dynamics suggest rotational support, 24 ± 3 per cent are unresolved systems and 5 ± 2 per cent appear to be early-stage major mergers with components on 8–30 kpc scales. The remaining 22 ± 5 per cent appear to be dynamically complex, irregular (or face-on systems). For galaxies whose dynamics suggest rotational
support, we derive inclination-corrected rotational velocities and show that these systems lie on a similar scaling between stellar mass and specific angular momentum as local spirals with j = J/M ∝ M2/3 but with a redshift evolution that scales as j ∝ M2/3 (1 + z) −1. We also
identify a correlation between specific angular momentum and disc stability such that galaxies with the highest specific angular momentum (log(j/M2/3 ) > 2.5) are the most stable, with Toomre Q = 1.10 ± 0.18, compared to Q = 0.53 ± 0.22 for galaxies with log(j/M2/3 ) < 2.5.
At a fixed mass, the Hubble Space Telescope morphologies of galaxies with the highest specific angular momentum resemble spiral galaxies, whilst those with low specific angular momentum are morphologically complex and dominated by several bright star-forming regions. This
suggests that angular momentum plays a major role in defining the stability of gas discs: atz∼1, massive galaxies that have discs with low specific angular momentum are globally unstable, clumpy and turbulent systems. In contrast, galaxies with high specific angular momentum
have evolved into stable discs with spiral structure where star formation is a local (rather than global) process.
Embargo Lift Date
2100-01-01
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx201
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/283314
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