Starbursts hiding in the main sequence: a pathway toward quenching?

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Hauptverfasser: Renaud, Florent, Kraljic, Katarina, Freundlich, Jonathan, Magnelli, Benjamin, Béthermin, Matthieu, Accard, Cédric, Ismail, Diana, Daddi, Emanuele, Elbaz, David, Ciesla, Laure, Martin, Gareth, Dubois, Yohan, Peirani, Sébastien
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2026
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author Renaud, Florent
Kraljic, Katarina
Freundlich, Jonathan
Magnelli, Benjamin
Béthermin, Matthieu
Accard, Cédric
Ismail, Diana
Daddi, Emanuele
Elbaz, David
Ciesla, Laure
Martin, Gareth
Dubois, Yohan
Peirani, Sébastien
author_facet Renaud, Florent
Kraljic, Katarina
Freundlich, Jonathan
Magnelli, Benjamin
Béthermin, Matthieu
Accard, Cédric
Ismail, Diana
Daddi, Emanuele
Elbaz, David
Ciesla, Laure
Martin, Gareth
Dubois, Yohan
Peirani, Sébastien
contents Star-forming galaxies spend most of their lifetimes on the star-forming main sequence, which establishes a tight empirical and statistical relation between stellar mass and star-formation rate. Occasional episodes of rapid star formation can push them temporarily above this sequence, turning them into starbursts. Yet some galaxies display starburst-like traits -- rapid, dense, and compact star formation -- while still remaining within the scatter of the main sequence. These "starbursts in the main sequence" (SBMSs) reveal the complexity and diversity of star formation modes, making them crucial for understanding how galaxies evolve and transition between different regimes. In this paper, we identify SBMSs in the cosmological simulation NewHorizon and follow their evolution across time to uncover their physical origins and the role of this special regime in shaping galaxy evolution. We explain the existence of SBMSs by a comparatively earlier assembly of their stellar mass, driven in particular by more frequent and repeated mergers as the other galaxies, as well as exceptionally productive starburst events triggered by these interactions. As a result, this regime appears preferentially -- though not exclusively -- in the most massive galaxies. The SBMS behavior is not continuous within individual galaxies but instead arises intermittently as a short-lived (~ 30 Myr) evolutionary mode. Nevertheless, such SBMS episodes exist throughout cosmic time across the galaxy population... [abridged]
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_23445
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Starbursts hiding in the main sequence: a pathway toward quenching?
Renaud, Florent
Kraljic, Katarina
Freundlich, Jonathan
Magnelli, Benjamin
Béthermin, Matthieu
Accard, Cédric
Ismail, Diana
Daddi, Emanuele
Elbaz, David
Ciesla, Laure
Martin, Gareth
Dubois, Yohan
Peirani, Sébastien
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Star-forming galaxies spend most of their lifetimes on the star-forming main sequence, which establishes a tight empirical and statistical relation between stellar mass and star-formation rate. Occasional episodes of rapid star formation can push them temporarily above this sequence, turning them into starbursts. Yet some galaxies display starburst-like traits -- rapid, dense, and compact star formation -- while still remaining within the scatter of the main sequence. These "starbursts in the main sequence" (SBMSs) reveal the complexity and diversity of star formation modes, making them crucial for understanding how galaxies evolve and transition between different regimes. In this paper, we identify SBMSs in the cosmological simulation NewHorizon and follow their evolution across time to uncover their physical origins and the role of this special regime in shaping galaxy evolution. We explain the existence of SBMSs by a comparatively earlier assembly of their stellar mass, driven in particular by more frequent and repeated mergers as the other galaxies, as well as exceptionally productive starburst events triggered by these interactions. As a result, this regime appears preferentially -- though not exclusively -- in the most massive galaxies. The SBMS behavior is not continuous within individual galaxies but instead arises intermittently as a short-lived (~ 30 Myr) evolutionary mode. Nevertheless, such SBMS episodes exist throughout cosmic time across the galaxy population... [abridged]
title Starbursts hiding in the main sequence: a pathway toward quenching?
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.23445