Dust Survival in Lensed Quiescent Galaxies at z>1 Depends on How They Quench
Abstract
The interstellar medium of massive quiescent galaxies holds key clues to how they quench, yet remain poorly understood. Although dust is expected to be depleted rapidly (≲100 Myr) after quenching, some quiescent galaxies host substantial dust reservoirs, raising the question of whether dust survives quenching or is replenished afterward. We present ALMA Band 6 continuum observations (λrest>250μm) of eight strongly-lensed, spectroscopically-selected quiescent galaxies at z∼1-2.5 from the COOL-LAMPS and REQUIEM surveys, plus five archival REQUIEM systems. The sample spans more than two orders of magnitude in dust-to-stellar-mass ratio (fdust<10−5 to >10−3), and two galaxies host extended, resolved dust. Comparing fdust with time since quenching, roughly half the sample, preferentially at higher redshift, is consistent with rapid quenching and harsh dust destruction, while lower-redshift, more slowly quenched systems are consistent with milder destruction, possibly reflecting an evolving dominant quenching mode. The two most dust-rich galaxies exceed even the mildest model destruction tracks, with J1201-3952 retaining the highest fdust ∼1.8 Gyr after quenching. If these systems are truly quiescent, their dust masses approach maximum stellar yields, pointing to ISM grain regrowth and/or TP-AGB dust production. However due to our single-band continuum data, fdust is uncertain (±0.3 dex systematic uncertainty from the unknown dust temperature) and we cannot rule out obscured star formation in these two galaxies. Our results suggest that dust survival depends on how galaxies quench: rapid, harsh quenching efficiently destroys dust, while slower, milder quenching can leave dust reservoirs that persist or are replenished long after star formation ceases.
Related
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BibTeX
@misc{bodansky2026dust,
title = {{Dust Survival in Lensed Quiescent Galaxies at $z>1$ Depends on How They Quench}},
author = {Sarah Bodansky and Katherine E. Whitaker and Gourav Khullar and Michael D. Gladders and Keren Sharon and Viraj Manwadkar and Yunchong Zhang and Jacqueline Antwi-Danso and Dylan Berry and Rachel Bezanson and Håkon Dahle and Carlos Garcia Diaz and Darko Donevski and Alex J. Geiger and Massissilia L. Hamadouche and Joel Leja and Guillaume Mahler and Alexandra Pope and Justin Spilker and Ezra Sukay and Francesco Valentino},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2611.07237},
eprint = {2611.07237},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.07237},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Dust Survival in Lensed Quiescent Galaxies at z>1 Depends on How They Quench
AU - Sarah Bodansky
AU - Katherine E. Whitaker
AU - Gourav Khullar
AU - Michael D. Gladders
AU - Keren Sharon
AU - Viraj Manwadkar
AU - Yunchong Zhang
AU - Jacqueline Antwi-Danso
AU - Dylan Berry
AU - Rachel Bezanson
AU - Håkon Dahle
AU - Carlos Garcia Diaz
AU - Darko Donevski
AU - Alex J. Geiger
AU - Massissilia L. Hamadouche
AU - Joel Leja
AU - Guillaume Mahler
AU - Alexandra Pope
AU - Justin Spilker
AU - Ezra Sukay
AU - Francesco Valentino
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/04
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2611.07237
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.07237
AB - The interstellar medium of massive quiescent galaxies holds key clues to how they quench, yet remain poorly understood. Although dust is expected to be depleted rapidly (≲100 Myr) after quenching, some quiescent galaxies host substantial dust reservoirs, raising the question of whether dust survives quenching or is replenished afterward. We present ALMA Band 6 continuum observations (λ_rest>250μm) of eight strongly-lensed, spectroscopically-selected quiescent galaxies at z∼1-2.5 from the COOL-LAMPS and REQUIEM surveys, plus five archival REQUIEM systems. The sample spans more than two orders of magnitude in dust-to-stellar-mass ratio (f_dust<10^−5 to >10^−3), and two galaxies host extended, resolved dust. Comparing f_dust with time since quenching, roughly half the sample, preferentially at higher redshift, is consistent with rapid quenching and harsh dust destruction, while lower-redshift, more slowly quenched systems are consistent with milder destruction, possibly reflecting an evolving dominant quenching mode. The two most dust-rich galaxies exceed even the mildest model destruction tracks, with J1201-3952 retaining the highest f_dust ∼1.8 Gyr after quenching. If these systems are truly quiescent, their dust masses approach maximum stellar yields, pointing to ISM grain regrowth and/or TP-AGB dust production. However due to our single-band continuum data, f_dust is uncertain (±0.3 dex systematic uncertainty from the unknown dust temperature) and we cannot rule out obscured star formation in these two galaxies. Our results suggest that dust survival depends on how galaxies quench: rapid, harsh quenching efficiently destroys dust, while slower, milder quenching can leave dust reservoirs that persist or are replenished long after star formation ceases.
ER -