MAGNUS II: Rotational support of massive early-type galaxies decreased over the past 7 billion years

TL;DR

This study shows that massive early-type galaxies have decreased their rotational support over the past 7 billion years, indicating significant kinematic evolution likely driven by dry mergers.

Contribution

First direct comparison of rotational support in massive ETGs at intermediate and low redshift using integral-field spectroscopy, revealing a decline in angular momentum over time.

Findings

Intermediate-redshift ETGs are more rotationally supported than local counterparts.

Median $\,\lambda_R$ decreases from 0.48 to 0.34 from z~0.6 to z~0.

Rotational support decline is most significant in the most massive galaxies.

Abstract

Understanding how the internal kinematics of massive galaxies evolve is key to constraining the physical processes that drive their assembly. We investigate the evolution of rotational support in massive ($\log M_{\ast}/M_{\odot} \geq 10.6$) early-type galaxies (ETGs) over the past $\sim$7 Gyr. We use MUSE integral-field spectroscopic (IFS) data for 212 ETGs at intermediate redshift ($0.25 < z < 0.75$) from the MAGNUS sample. We compare their kinematics to a carefully matched local sample of 787 ETGs ($z \leq 0.05$) from the MaNGA survey. Using the specific stellar angular momentum proxy, $\lambda_R$, we quantify the balance between ordered rotation and random motions. We derive intrinsic $\lambda_R$ values by applying a uniform correction for seeing and point-spread function (PSF) effects to both samples. We find a significant evolutionary trend: the intermediate-redshift ETGs are systematically more rotationally supported than their local counterparts. The median PSF-corrected $\lambda_R$ for the MAGNUS sample is $0.48 \pm 0.05$, substantially higher than the median of $0.34 \pm 0.03$ for the matched MaNGA sample. This corresponds to a positive slope in the $\lambda_R-z$ relation of $\mathrm{d} \lambda_R / \mathrm{d} z = 0.3 \pm 0.04$ for the combined sample. The decline in rotational support is most pronounced for the most massive galaxies ($\log M_{\ast}/M_{\odot} > 11.3$). Our results provide robust evidence that massive ETGs have undergone significant kinematic evolution, losing angular momentum as they evolve towards the present day, consistent with theoretical models where processes such as dry mergers play a crucial role in shaping the dynamical state of galaxies.