The properties of the stellar populations in ULIRGs II: the star formation histories and evolution

TL;DR

This study reveals that ULIRGs have complex, multi-epoch star formation histories with intense nuclear activity, and finds that their stellar populations and masses align with merger-driven evolution models, with no significant age differences related to AGN activity.

Contribution

It provides a detailed spectroscopic analysis of ULIRGs' stellar populations, confirming merger-related star formation episodes and their spatial distribution, and compares properties across different ULIRG types.

Findings

ULIRGs exhibit at least two star formation epochs.

Young stellar populations are younger and more reddened in nuclear regions.

ULIRGs have stellar masses comparable to or smaller than the galaxy mass function break.

Abstract

This is the second of two papers presenting a detailed long-slit spectroscopic study of the stellar populations in a sample of 36 ULIRGs. In the previous paper we presented the sample, the data and the spectral synthesis modelling while in this paper, we carry out a detailed analysis of the modelling results. We find that the star formation histories of ULIRGs are complex, with at least two epochs of star formation activity and that the charcteristic timescale of the star formation acivity is <100Myr. These results are consistent with models that predict an epoch of enhanced star formation coinciding with the first pass of the merging nuclei, along with a further, more intense, episode of star formation occurring as the nuclei finally merge together. It is also found that the young stellar populations (YSPs) tend to be younger and more reddened in the nuclear regions of the galaxies. This is in good agreement with the merger simulations, which predict that the bulk of the star formation activity in the final stages of mergers will occur in the nuclear regions of the merging galaxies. In addition, our results show that ULIRGs have total stellar masses that are similar to, or smaller than, the break of the galaxy mass function (m* = 1.4 x 10^{11} Msolar). Finally, we find no significant differences between the ages of the YSP in ULIRGs with and without optically detected Seyfert nuclei, nor between those with warm and cool mid- to far-IR colours. While this results do not entirely rule out the idea that cool ULIRGs with HII/LINER spectra evolve into warm ULIRGs with Seyfert-like spectra, it is clear that the AGN activity in local Seyfert-like ULIRGs has not been triggered a substantial period (>=100 Myr) after the major merger-induced starbursts in the nuclear regions.