Fast and slow paths to quiescence: ages and sizes of 400 quiescent galaxies from the LEGA-C survey
Po-Feng Wu, Arjen van der Wel, Rachel Bezanson, Anna Gallazzi, Camilla, Pacifici, Caroline M. S. Straatman, Ivana Barisic, Eric F. Bell, Priscilla, Chauke, Josha van Houdt, Marijn Franx, Adam Muzzin, David Sobral, and, Vivienne Wild

TL;DR
This study examines the ages and sizes of quiescent galaxies at z~0.7, revealing complex relationships and multiple evolutionary pathways to quiescence, including slow and rapid quenching processes.
Contribution
It provides a detailed analysis of stellar age indicators and sizes of quiescent galaxies, uncovering nuanced correlations and evidence for diverse quenching mechanisms.
Findings
Larger galaxies tend to be slightly younger at fixed mass.
Galaxies with recent rapid quenching are generally smaller.
Significant scatter in age indicators suggests multiple evolutionary pathways.
Abstract
We analyze stellar age indicators (D4000 and EW(H)) and sizes of 467 quiescent galaxies with at drawn from DR2 of the LEGA-C survey. Interpreting index variations in terms of equivalent single stellar population age, we find that the median stellar population is younger for larger galaxies at fixed stellar mass. The effect is significant, yet small; the ages of the larger and the smaller subsets differ by only Myr, much less than the age variation among individual galaxies ( Gyr). At the same time, quiescent galaxies with the strongest H absorption --- those experienced recent and rapid quenching events --- tend to be smaller than the average. These co-existing trends unify seemingly contradictory results in the literature; the complex correlations between size and age indicators revealed by our large sample of…
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