{
  "id": "2412.09592",
  "version": "v1",
  "published": "2024-12-12T18:58:01.000Z",
  "updated": "2024-12-12T18:58:01.000Z",
  "title": "JWST PRIMER: strong evidence for the environmental quenching of low-mass galaxies out to $\\mathbf{\\textit{z} \\simeq 2}$",
  "authors": [
    "M. L. Hamadouche",
    "R. J. McLure",
    "A. Carnall",
    "D. J. McLeod",
    "J. S. Dunlop",
    "K. Whitaker",
    "C. T. Donnan",
    "R. Begley",
    "T. M. Stanton",
    "O. Almaini",
    "J. Aird",
    "F. Cullen",
    "S. Cutler",
    "A. M. Koekemoer"
  ],
  "comment": "14 pages, 5 figures. Submitted to MNRAS. Comments welcome!",
  "categories": [
    "astro-ph.GA"
  ],
  "abstract": "We present the results of a study investigating the galaxy stellar-mass function (GSMF), size-mass relations and morphological properties of star-forming and quiescent galaxies over the redshift range $0.25<z<2.25$, using the JWST PRIMER survey. The depth of the PRIMER near-IR imaging allows us to confirm the double Schechter function shape of the quiescent GSMF out to $z\\simeq2.0$, via a clear detection of the upturn at $\\mathrm{log}_{10}(M_{\\star}/ M_{\\odot}) \\leq 10$ thought to be induced by environmental quenching. In addition to the GSMF, we confirm that quiescent galaxies can be split into separate populations at $\\mathrm{log}_{10}(M_{\\star}/M_{\\odot}) \\simeq 10$, based on their size-mass relations and morphologies. We find that low-mass quiescent galaxies have more disk-like morphologies (based on S\\'ersic index, Gini coefficient and $M_{20}$ metrics) and follow a shallower size-mass relation than their high-mass counterparts. Indeed, the slope of the size-mass relation followed by low-mass quiescent galaxies is indistinguishable from that followed by star-forming galaxies, albeit with a lower normalization. Moreover, within the errors, the evolution in the median size of low-mass quiescent galaxies is indistinguishable from that followed by star-forming galaxies ($R_{e}\\propto(1+z)^{-0.25\\pm0.03})$, and significantly less rapid than that displayed by high-mass quiescent galaxies ($R_{e}\\propto (1+z)^{-1.14\\pm 0.03})$. Overall, our results are consistent with low and high-mass quiescent galaxies following different quenching pathways. The evolution of low-mass quiescent galaxies is qualitatively consistent with the expectations of external/environmental quenching (e.g. ram-pressure stripping). In contrast, the evolution of high-mass quiescent galaxies is consistent with internal/mass quenching (e.g. AGN feedback) followed by size growth driven by minor mergers.",
  "revisions": [
    {
      "version": "v1",
      "updated": "2024-12-12T18:58:01.000Z"
    }
  ],
  "analyses": {
    "keywords": [
      "low-mass quiescent galaxies",
      "jwst primer",
      "high-mass quiescent galaxies",
      "environmental quenching",
      "strong evidence"
    ],
    "note": {
      "typesetting": "TeX",
      "pages": 14,
      "language": "en",
      "license": "arXiv",
      "status": "editable"
    }
  }
}