Investigating the link between inner gravitational potential and star-formation quenching in CALIFA galaxies

¹ Max Planck Institute for Radioastronomy, Auf dem Hügel 69, 53121 Bonn, Germany
e-mail: kalinova@mpifr.de
² Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autonóma de México, A.P. 70-264, 04510 Mexico DF, Mexico
³ Department of Physics 4-181 CCIS, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E1, Canada
⁴ National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Osawa2-21-1, 181-8588 Mitaka-shi, Tokyo, Japan
⁵ SOKENDAI, International Village, Hayama-machi, 240-0193 Miura-gun, Kanagawa-ken, Japan
⁶ Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, CSIC, Apartado de correos 3004, 18080 Granada, Spain
⁷ Sterrenkundig Observatorium, Universiteit Gent, Krijgslaan 281 S9, 9000 Gent, Belgium
⁸ School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, Queens Buildings, The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA, UK
⁹ Department of Space, Earth and Environment, Chalmers University of Technology, 41296 Gothenburg, Sweden

Received: 14 March 2022
Accepted: 7 July 2022

Abstract

It has been suggested that gravitational potential can have a significant role in suppressing star formation in nearby galaxies. To establish observational constraints on this scenario, we investigated the connection between the dynamics – taking the circular velocity curves (CVCs) as a proxy for the inner gravitational potential – and star formation quenching in 215 non-active galaxies across the Hubble sequence from the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) survey. Our results show that galaxies with similar CVCs tend to have a certain star-formation quenching pattern. To explore these findings in more details, we constructed kiloparsec(kpc)-resolved relations of the equivalent width of the Hα (W_Hα) versus the amplitude (V_c) and shape (β = dlnV_c/dlnR) of the circular velocity at given radii. We find that the W_Hα − V_c is a declining relationship, where the retired regions of the galaxies (the ones with W_Hα values of below 3 Å) tend to have higher V_c. Concurrently, W_Hα − β is a bimodal relationship, which is characterised by two peaks: concentration of the star forming regions at a positive β (rising CVC) and a second concentration of the retired regions with a negative β (declining CVC). Our results show that both the amplitude of the CVC – driven by the mass of the galaxies – and its shape – which reflects the internal structure of the galaxies – play an important role in the quenching history of a galaxy.