The specific star formation rate function at different mass scales and quenching: A comparison between cosmological models and SDSS

TL;DR

This study measures the specific star formation rate function across different galaxy masses using SDSS data, compares it with cosmological models, and highlights discrepancies in reproducing observed galaxy quenching and bi-modality.

Contribution

It provides the first Eddington bias corrected sSFRF at multiple mass scales from SDSS, revealing bi-modality and challenging current cosmological simulations to accurately model galaxy quenching.

Findings

Low-mass galaxies are mostly star-forming.

Bi-modality appears at higher masses, with passive and star-forming peaks.

Most simulations fail to reproduce the observed bi-modality.

Abstract

We present the eddington bias corrected Specific Star Formation Rate Function (sSFRF) at different stellar mass scales from a sub-sample of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release DR7 (SDSS), which is considered complete both in terms of stellar mass (${\rm M_{\star}}$) and star formation rate (SFR). The above enable us to study qualitatively and quantitatively quenching, the distribution of passive/star-forming galaxies and perform comparisons with the predictions from state-of-the-art cosmological models, within the same ${\rm M_{\star}}$ and SFR limits. We find that at the low mass end (${\rm M_{\star}} = 10^{9.5} - 10^{10} \, {\rm M_{\odot}}$) the sSFRF is mostly dominated by star-forming objects. However, moving to the two more massive bins (${\rm M_{\star}} = 10^{10} - 10^{10.5} \, {\rm M_{\odot}}$ and ${\rm M_{\star}} = 10^{10.5} - 10^{11} \, {\rm M_{\odot}}$) a bi-modality with two peaks emerges. One peak represents the star-forming population, while the other describes a rising passive population. The bi-modal form of the sSFRFs is not reproduced by a range of cosmological simulations (e.g. Illustris, EAGLE, Mufasa, IllustrisTNG) which instead generate mostly the star-forming population, while a bi-modality emerges in others (e.g. L-Galaxies, Shark, Simba). Our findings reflect the need for the employed quenching schemes in state-of-the-art models to be reconsidered, involving prescriptions that allow "quenched galaxies" to retain a small level of SF activity (sSFR $=$ ${\rm 10^{-11} {\rm yr^{-1}}}$-${\rm 10^{-12} {\rm yr^{-1}}}$) and generate an adequate passive population/bi-modality even at intermediate masses (${\rm M_{\star}} = 10^{10} - 10^{10.5} \, {\rm M_{\odot}}$).