TL;DR
This paper investigates how the relation between star formation rate, stellar mass, and cosmic time leads to divergent galaxy evolution paths, explaining the origin of galaxy types.
Contribution
It introduces a model linking SFR, mass, and cosmic time to explain galaxy evolution divergence and the passive versus star-forming galaxy dichotomy.
Findings
Galaxies with above-average SFR grow exponentially in mass and SFR.
Galaxies with below-average SFR avoid exponential growth and evolve more moderately.
Divergent growth paths may explain the origin of galaxy morphological types.
Abstract
The consequences are explored of an observationally established relation of the star formation rate (SFR) of star-forming galaxies with their stellar mass (M) and cosmic time (t), such that SFR is proportional to M x t^{-2.5}. It is shown, that small systematic differences in SFR dramatically amplify in the course of time: galaxies with above average SFR run into quasi-exponential mass and SFR growth, while galaxies with below average SFR avoid such exponential growth and evolve with moderate mass increase. It is argued that galaxies following the first path would enormously overgrow if keeping to form stars all the way to the present, hence should quench star formation and turn passive. By the same token, those instead avoiding the quasi-exponential growth may keep to form stars up to the present. Thus, it is conjectured that this divergent behaviour can help understanding the origin…
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