Tracing Radio AGN-Driven Quenching in Post-Starburst Galaxies at Cosmic Noon
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2026
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| author | Patil, Pallavi Rowlands, Kate Alatalo, Katherine Almaini, Omar Wild, Vivienne Maltby, David Ivison, Rob J. Arumugam, Vinod French, K. Decker Heckman, Timothy Lacy, Mark Luo, Yuanze Nyland, Kristina Otter, Justin Atsushi Petric, Andreea Roy, Namrata Skarbinski, Maya |
| author_facet | Patil, Pallavi Rowlands, Kate Alatalo, Katherine Almaini, Omar Wild, Vivienne Maltby, David Ivison, Rob J. Arumugam, Vinod French, K. Decker Heckman, Timothy Lacy, Mark Luo, Yuanze Nyland, Kristina Otter, Justin Atsushi Petric, Andreea Roy, Namrata Skarbinski, Maya |
| contents | We present a radio continuum study of photometrically selected cosmic noon (0.5<z<3) post-starburst galaxies (PSBs) in the UKIDSS Deep Survey (UDS) field to assess if radio-mode Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are linked to the quenching of star formation at cosmic noon. Our cross-matching using the deep Very Large Array (VLA) imaging at 1.4 GHz results in a mean radio detection fraction ($f_{det}$) of only 0.8$\%$ for PSBs above a radio luminosity threshold of $L_{\rm 1.4 GHz} \geq 10^{24}$ W Hz$^{-1}$, increasing to 5$\pm2\%$ for massive PSBs with stellar masses M$_*>10^{11}$M$_\odot$. Massive PSBs have a comparable detection fraction to that of massive quiescent galaxies ($f_{det}=8\pm1\%$), and both classes have lower fractions than that of massive star-forming galaxies ($f_{det}=13\pm1\%$) in the same field. The radio luminosities of detected PSBs, ${\rm L}_{1.4}\sim 10^{22.8}-10^{24.9}$W/Hz, exceed those from star formation by a median factor of 37 indicative of a possible AGN origin. Their compact morphologies ($\lesssim15$ kpc at $z_{med}=1.5$) suggest low-luminosity AGN with less powerful jets. Stacking the undetected PSBs reveals a weak radio detection ($3.9σ$) in the highest mass bin (M$_*>10^{11}$M$_\odot$). In contrast, 1.4 GHz detected quiescent galaxies have radio luminosities reaching radio-loud levels, and a higher prevalence of extended morphologies indicative of large-scale jetted AGN. The AGN contribution is also detected in stacked measurements of quiescent galaxies. Overall, our results support a short radio AGN duty cycle for PSBs, characterized by weak radio jets, suggesting radio-driven maintenance mode feedback may become important at older ages. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_11101 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Tracing Radio AGN-Driven Quenching in Post-Starburst Galaxies at Cosmic Noon Patil, Pallavi Rowlands, Kate Alatalo, Katherine Almaini, Omar Wild, Vivienne Maltby, David Ivison, Rob J. Arumugam, Vinod French, K. Decker Heckman, Timothy Lacy, Mark Luo, Yuanze Nyland, Kristina Otter, Justin Atsushi Petric, Andreea Roy, Namrata Skarbinski, Maya Astrophysics of Galaxies We present a radio continuum study of photometrically selected cosmic noon (0.5<z<3) post-starburst galaxies (PSBs) in the UKIDSS Deep Survey (UDS) field to assess if radio-mode Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are linked to the quenching of star formation at cosmic noon. Our cross-matching using the deep Very Large Array (VLA) imaging at 1.4 GHz results in a mean radio detection fraction ($f_{det}$) of only 0.8$\%$ for PSBs above a radio luminosity threshold of $L_{\rm 1.4 GHz} \geq 10^{24}$ W Hz$^{-1}$, increasing to 5$\pm2\%$ for massive PSBs with stellar masses M$_*>10^{11}$M$_\odot$. Massive PSBs have a comparable detection fraction to that of massive quiescent galaxies ($f_{det}=8\pm1\%$), and both classes have lower fractions than that of massive star-forming galaxies ($f_{det}=13\pm1\%$) in the same field. The radio luminosities of detected PSBs, ${\rm L}_{1.4}\sim 10^{22.8}-10^{24.9}$W/Hz, exceed those from star formation by a median factor of 37 indicative of a possible AGN origin. Their compact morphologies ($\lesssim15$ kpc at $z_{med}=1.5$) suggest low-luminosity AGN with less powerful jets. Stacking the undetected PSBs reveals a weak radio detection ($3.9σ$) in the highest mass bin (M$_*>10^{11}$M$_\odot$). In contrast, 1.4 GHz detected quiescent galaxies have radio luminosities reaching radio-loud levels, and a higher prevalence of extended morphologies indicative of large-scale jetted AGN. The AGN contribution is also detected in stacked measurements of quiescent galaxies. Overall, our results support a short radio AGN duty cycle for PSBs, characterized by weak radio jets, suggesting radio-driven maintenance mode feedback may become important at older ages. |
| title | Tracing Radio AGN-Driven Quenching in Post-Starburst Galaxies at Cosmic Noon |
| topic | Astrophysics of Galaxies |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.11101 |