The VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey (VIPERS):

A quiescent formation of massive red-sequence galaxies over the past 9 Gyr^⋆,⋆⋆

¹ INAF – Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica (IASF) Milano, via E. Bassini 15, 20133 Milano, Italy
e-mail: afritz@iasf-milano.inaf.it
² Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, LAM (Laboratoire d’Astro-physique de Marseille) UMR 7326, 13388 Marseille, France
³ INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Bologna, via Ranzani 1, 40127 Bologna, Italy
⁴ Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia – Università di Bologna, viale Berti Pichat 6/2, 40127 Bologna, Italy
⁵ Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica, PO Box 23-141, 10617 Taipei, Taiwan
⁶ INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, via Brera 28, 20122 Milano, via E. Bianchi 46, 23807 Merate, Italy
⁷ Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Milano-Bicocca, P.zza della Scienza 3, 20126 Milano, Italy
⁸ INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, 10025 Pino Torinese, Italy
⁹ Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, 65–1238 Mamalahoa Highway, Kamuela HI 96743, USA
¹⁰ Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, CPT (Centre de Physique Théorique) UMR 7332, 13288 Marseille, France
¹¹ Dipartimento di Matematica e Fisica, Università degli Studi Roma Tre, via della Vasca Navale 84, 00146 Roma, Italy
¹² INFN, Sezione di Roma Tre, via della Vasca Navale 84, 00146 Roma, Italy
¹³ INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, via Frascati 33, 00040 Monte Porzio Catone, Italy
¹⁴ Laboratoire Lagrange, UMR7293, Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis, CNRS, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, 06300 Nice, France
¹⁵ INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste, via G. B. Tiepolo 11, 34143 Trieste, Italy
¹⁶ SUPA, Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK
¹⁷ Institute of Physics, Jan Kochanowski University, ul.Swietokrzyska 15, 25-406 Kielce, Poland
¹⁸ Department of Particle and Astrophysical Science, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, 464-8602 Nagoya, Japan
¹⁹ INFN, Sezione di Bologna, viale Berti Pichat 6/2, 40127 Bologna, Italy
²⁰ Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, UMR7095 CNRS, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 98 bis boulevard Arago, 75014 Paris, France
²¹ Astronomical Observatory of the Jagiellonian University, Orla 171, 30-001 Cracow, Poland
²² National Centre for Nuclear Research, ul. Hoza 69, 00-681 Warszawa, Poland
²³ Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, 84571 Garching bei München, Germany
²⁴ Universitätssternwarte München, Ludwig-Maximillians Universität, Scheinerstr. 1, 81679 München, Germany
²⁵ Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, Dennis Sciama Building, University of Portsmouth, Burnaby Road, Portsmouth PO1 3FX, UK
²⁶ INAF – Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica Bologna, via Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy
²⁷ INAF – Istituto di Radioastronomia, via Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy
²⁸ Università degli Studi di Milano, via G. Celoria 16, 20130 Milano, Italy

Received: 26 July 2013
Accepted: 17 January 2014

Abstract

We explore the evolution of the colour–magnitude relation (CMR) and luminosity function (LF) at 0.4 < z < 1.3 from the VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey (VIPERS) using ~45 000 galaxies with precise spectroscopic redshifts down to ${\mathit{i}}_{\mathit{AB}}^{\mathrm{\prime }}\mathit{<}\mathrm{22.5}$ over ~10.32 deg² in two fields. From z = 0.5 to z = 1.3 the LF and CMR are well defined for different galaxy populations and ${\mathit{M}}_{\mathit{B}}^{\mathrm{\ast }}$ evolves by ~1.04(1.09) ± 0.06(0.10) mag for the total (red) galaxy sample. We compare different criteria for selecting early-type galaxies: (1) a fixed cut in rest-frame (U − V) colours, (2) an evolving cut in (U − V) colours, (3) a rest-frame (NUV − r′) − (r′ − K) colour selection, and (4) a spectral-energy-distribution classification. The completeness and contamination varies for the different methods and with redshift, but regardless of the method we measure a consistent evolution of the red-sequence (RS). Between 0.4 < z < 1.3 we find a moderate evolution of the RS intercept of Δ(U − V) = 0.28 ± 0.14 mag, favouring exponentially declining star formation (SF) histories with SF truncation at 1.7 ≤ z ≤ 2.3. Together with the rise in the number density of red galaxies by 0.64 dex since z = 1, this suggests a rapid build-up of massive galaxies (M_⋆ > 10¹¹ M_⊙) and expeditious RS formation over a short period of ~1.5 Gyr starting before z = 1. This is supported by the detection of ongoing SF in early-type galaxies at 0.9 < z < 1.0, in contrast with the quiescent red stellar populations of early-type galaxies at 0.5 < z < 0.6. There is an increase in the observed CMR scatter with redshift, which is two times larger than observed in galaxy clusters and at variance with theoretical model predictions. We discuss possible physical mechanisms that support the observed evolution of the red galaxy population. Our findings point out that massive galaxies have experienced a sharp SF quenching at z ~ 1 with only limited additional merging. In contrast, less-massive galaxies experience a mix of SF truncation and minor mergers which build-up the low- and intermediate-mass end of the CMR.