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A&A 483, 107-119 (2008)
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20078263
Star formation history of galaxies from z = 0 to z = 0.7
A backward approach to the evolution of star-forming galaxies
V. Buat1, S. Boissier1, D. Burgarella1, T. T. Takeuchi2, E. Le Floc'h3, D. Marcillac4, J. Huang5, M. Nagashima6, and M. Enoki71 Observatoire Astronomique Marseille Provence, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, BP 8, 13376 Marseille Cedex 12, France
e-mail: veronique.buat@oamp.fr
2 Institute for Advanced Research, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan
3 Spitzer fellow, Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
4 Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
5 Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
6 Faculty of Education, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki 852-8521, Japan
7 Faculty of Bussiness Administration, Tokyo Keizai University, 1-7-34, Minami-cho, Kokubunji, Tokyo, 185-8502, Japan
(Received 12 July 2007 / Accepted 1 February 2008)
Abstract
Aims. We investigate whether the mean star formation activity of star-forming galaxies from z=0 to z=0.7 in the GOODS-S field can be reproduced by simple
evolution models of these systems. In this case, such models
might be used as first-order references for studies at higher z
to decipher when and to what extent a secular evolution
is sufficient to explain the star formation history in galaxies.
Methods. We selected star-forming galaxies at z=0 and at z=0.7 in IR and in
UV to have access to all the recent star formation.
We focused on galaxies with a stellar mass ranging between
1010 and
for which the results are not
biased by the selections. We compared the data to
chemical evolution models developed for spiral galaxies and
originally built to reproduce the main characteristics of the
Milky Way and nearby spirals without fine-tuning them for the present analysis.
Results. We find a shallow decrease in the specific star formation rate
(SSFR) when the stellar mass increases. The evolution of the SSFR characterizing both UV and IR selected galaxies from z=0 to z=0.7 is consistent with the
models built to reproduce the present spiral galaxies. There is no need
to strongly modify of the physical
conditions in galaxies to explain the average evolution of their star formation
from z=0 to z=0.7. We use the models to
predict the evolution of the star formation rate and the metallicity
on a wider range of redshift and we compare these predictions with the results of semi-analytical models.
Key words: galaxies: evolution -- galaxies: stellar content -- infrared: galaxies -- ultraviolet: galaxies
© ESO 2008