Search

We study stellar population and structural properties of massive $\log(M_{\star} / M_{\odot}) >11$ galaxies at $z\sim 2.7$ in the Magneticum and IllustrisTNG hydrodynamical simulations and GAEA semi-analytic model. We find stellar mass functions broadly consistent with observations, with no scarcity of massive, quiescent galaxies at $z\sim 2.7$, but with a higher quiescent galaxy fraction at high masses in IllustrisTNG. Average ages of simulated quiescent galaxies are between $\sim 0.8$ and 1.0 Gyr, older by a factor $\sim 2$ than observed in spectroscopically-confirmed quiescent galaxies at similar redshift. Besides being potentially indicative of limitations of simulations in reproducing observed star formation histories, this discrepancy may also reflect limitations in the estimation of observed ages. We investigate the purity of simulated UVJ rest-frame color-selected massive quiescent samples with photometric uncertainties typical of deep surveys (e.g., COSMOS). We find evidence for significant contamination (up to 60 percent) by dusty star-forming galaxies in the UVJ region that is typically populated by older quiescent sources. Furthermore, the completeness of UVJ-selected quiescent samples at this redshift may be reduced by 30 percent due to a high fraction of young quiescent galaxies not entering the UVJ quiescent region. Massive, quiescent galaxies in simulations have on average lower angular momenta and higher projected axis ratios and concentrations than star-forming counterparts. Average sizes of simulated quiescent galaxies are broadly consistent with observations within the uncertainties. The average size ratio of quiescent and star-forming galaxies in the probed mass range is formally consistent with observations, although this result is partly affected by poor statistics., Comment: 23 pages, 9 figures. Submitted to MNRAS

We study structural properties of spectroscopically confirmed massive quiescent galaxies at $z\approx 3$ with one of the first sizeable samples of such sources, made of ten $10.8<\log(M_{\star}/M_{\odot})<11.3$ galaxies at $2.4 < z < 3.2$ in the COSMOS field whose redshifts and quiescence are confirmed by HST grism spectroscopy. Although affected by a weak bias toward younger stellar populations, this sample is deemed to be largely representative of the majority of the most massive and thus intrinsically rarest quiescent sources at this cosmic time. We rely on targeted HST/WFC3 observations and fit S\'ersic profiles to the galaxy surface brightness distributions at $\approx 4000$ angstrom restframe. We find typically high S\'ersic indices and axis ratios (medians $\approx 4.5$ and $0.73$, respectively) suggesting that, at odds with some previous results, the first massive quiescent galaxies may largely be already bulge-dominated systems. We measure compact galaxy sizes with an average of $\approx 1.4$kpc at $\log(M_{\star}/M_{\odot})\approx 11.2$, in good agreement with the extrapolation at the highest masses of previous determinations of the stellar mass - size relation of quiescent galaxies, and of its redshift evolution, from photometrically selected samples at lower and similar redshifts. This work confirms the existence of a population of compact, bulge dominated, massive, quiescent sources at $z\approx 3$, providing one of the first statistical estimates of their structural properties, and further constraining the early formation and evolution of the first quiescent galaxies., Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS