A SHARP Look at Quenching and Bulge-Disk Growth in Massive Galaxies at Cosmic Noon
Abstract
The physical mechanisms that quench star formation in massive galaxies remain poorly understood. At cosmic noon (1<z<3), when star formation and AGN activity peak, galaxies rapidly evolve from star-forming disks into quiescent, bulge-dominated systems. While quenching correlates with stellar mass and bulge growth, the causal link between bulge assembly, star-formation suppression, and feedback processes remains unclear. Stellar population analysis from spatially resolved spectroscopy of galaxies caught during quenching is crucial to advance on this issue. We show that the SHARP-VESPER Integral-Field Spectrograph (IFS) can efficiently fill this gap by combining ELT-class sensitivity, 31 mas spatial resolution (>3x sharper than JWST) and broad near-IR wavelength coverage with 12-IFU multiplexing. This will enable, for the first time, a simultaneous bulge-disk decomposition of stellar populations and spatially resolved mapping of ionised gas in massive galaxies (log M*/M⊙≥ 11) at 2.2<z<3.5, targeting systems on the main sequence shortly before quenching or already in the green valley. With typical exposure times of 15 hr, we will obtain S/N>15-20 per spectral resolution element, on the inner bulge, and outer disk extracted spectral continuum, and S/N>5 for nebular lines ([OII], Hβ, [OIII], Hα) on sub-kpc scales. These observations will allow us to reconstruct independent bulge and disk star-formation histories, ages, metallicities, and α-enhancements, while mapping spatially resolved star formation, gas kinematics, and feedback-driven outflows. By directly comparing the timing of bulge growth and star-formation suppression across galaxy components, this programme will test whether quenching proceeds inside-out, distinguish fast and slow quenching pathways, and link structural transformation to feedback processes in the most massive galaxies at cosmic noon.
Versions
Related
- The Role of Small-scale Environments in the Quenching of Massive Galaxies at 1 < z < 5
- The Size-Mass Relation and Inside-Out Quenching of Massive Quiescent Galaxies at 2<z<3 with JWST PRIMER and MINERVA
- A Dusty Quenching-candidate AGN host at z=5.7: massive quiescent galaxies may quench already during the dust-obscured phase
- Developing Environments: Formation and Quenching at Cosmic Noon Traced by the Large-scale Distribution of Gas and Galaxies
- Ubiquitous nuclear disks and bars embedded in massive galaxies in the cosmic morning
BibTeX
@misc{mancini2026sharp,
title = {{A SHARP Look at Quenching and Bulge-Disk Growth in Massive Galaxies at Cosmic Noon}},
author = {Chiara Mancini and Adriana Gargiulo and Alvio Renzini and Emanuele Daddi and Stefano Zibetti and Fabio R. Ditrani and Anna R. Gallazzi and Susanna Bisogni and Paolo Franzetti and Giustina Vietri and Louis Gabarra and Fabrizio Gentile and Marcella Longhetti and Marco Scodeggio},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2606.30763},
eprint = {2606.30763},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.30763},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - A SHARP Look at Quenching and Bulge-Disk Growth in Massive Galaxies at Cosmic Noon
AU - Chiara Mancini
AU - Adriana Gargiulo
AU - Alvio Renzini
AU - Emanuele Daddi
AU - Stefano Zibetti
AU - Fabio R. Ditrani
AU - Anna R. Gallazzi
AU - Susanna Bisogni
AU - Paolo Franzetti
AU - Giustina Vietri
AU - Louis Gabarra
AU - Fabrizio Gentile
AU - Marcella Longhetti
AU - Marco Scodeggio
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/04
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2606.30763
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.30763
AB - The physical mechanisms that quench star formation in massive galaxies remain poorly understood. At cosmic noon (1<z<3), when star formation and AGN activity peak, galaxies rapidly evolve from star-forming disks into quiescent, bulge-dominated systems. While quenching correlates with stellar mass and bulge growth, the causal link between bulge assembly, star-formation suppression, and feedback processes remains unclear. Stellar population analysis from spatially resolved spectroscopy of galaxies caught during quenching is crucial to advance on this issue. We show that the SHARP-VESPER Integral-Field Spectrograph (IFS) can efficiently fill this gap by combining ELT-class sensitivity, 31 mas spatial resolution (>3x sharper than JWST) and broad near-IR wavelength coverage with 12-IFU multiplexing. This will enable, for the first time, a simultaneous bulge-disk decomposition of stellar populations and spatially resolved mapping of ionised gas in massive galaxies (log M_*/M_⊙≥ 11) at 2.2<z<3.5, targeting systems on the main sequence shortly before quenching or already in the green valley. With typical exposure times of 15 hr, we will obtain S/N>15-20 per spectral resolution element, on the inner bulge, and outer disk extracted spectral continuum, and S/N>5 for nebular lines ([OII], Hβ, [OIII], Hα) on sub-kpc scales. These observations will allow us to reconstruct independent bulge and disk star-formation histories, ages, metallicities, and α-enhancements, while mapping spatially resolved star formation, gas kinematics, and feedback-driven outflows. By directly comparing the timing of bulge growth and star-formation suppression across galaxy components, this programme will test whether quenching proceeds inside-out, distinguish fast and slow quenching pathways, and link structural transformation to feedback processes in the most massive galaxies at cosmic noon.
ER -