Probing cold gas and dust in quiescent galaxies across cosmic time

@misc{zanella2026probing,
  title = {{Probing cold gas and dust in quiescent galaxies across cosmic time}},
  author = {Anita Zanella and Sirio Belli and Belen Alcalde Pampliega and Manuel Aravena and George Bendo and Rachel Bezanson and Stefano Carniani and Francoise Combes and Pierre Cox and Anna de Graaff and Daniel Espada and Andreas L. Faisst and K. Decker French and Jonathan Freundlich and Mahmoud Hamed and Zhiyuan Ji and Gareth C. Jones and Vanshika Kansal and Adarsh Kumar and Andrea Lapi and Ivanna Langan and Umberto Maio and Alessia Moretti and Dieu D. Nguyen and Mamta Pandey-Pommier and Gergö Popping and Prachi Prajapati and Guillermo Quintana-Lacaci and Pierluigi Rinaldi and Raghvendra Sahai and Justin Spilker and Sandro Tacchella and Sabine Thater and Francesco Valentino and Livia Vallini and Jacco van Loon and Enrico Veraldi and Christina C. Williams},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.21513},
  eprint = {2610.21513},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.21513},
}

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Probing cold gas and dust in quiescent galaxies across cosmic time
AU  - Anita Zanella
AU  - Sirio Belli
AU  - Belen Alcalde Pampliega
AU  - Manuel Aravena
AU  - George Bendo
AU  - Rachel Bezanson
AU  - Stefano Carniani
AU  - Francoise Combes
AU  - Pierre Cox
AU  - Anna de Graaff
AU  - Daniel Espada
AU  - Andreas L. Faisst
AU  - K. Decker French
AU  - Jonathan Freundlich
AU  - Mahmoud Hamed
AU  - Zhiyuan Ji
AU  - Gareth C. Jones
AU  - Vanshika Kansal
AU  - Adarsh Kumar
AU  - Andrea Lapi
AU  - Ivanna Langan
AU  - Umberto Maio
AU  - Alessia Moretti
AU  - Dieu D. Nguyen
AU  - Mamta Pandey-Pommier
AU  - Gergö Popping
AU  - Prachi Prajapati
AU  - Guillermo Quintana-Lacaci
AU  - Pierluigi Rinaldi
AU  - Raghvendra Sahai
AU  - Justin Spilker
AU  - Sandro Tacchella
AU  - Sabine Thater
AU  - Francesco Valentino
AU  - Livia Vallini
AU  - Jacco van Loon
AU  - Enrico Veraldi
AU  - Christina C. Williams
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/15
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.21513
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.21513
AB  - The discovery of massive quiescent galaxies at high redshift by JWST has revealed that star formation can cease rapidly in the early Universe, yet the physical mechanisms responsible for quenching remain unknown. A key missing element is the systematic measurement in statistically representative quiescent samples of the cold gas and dust content, which are crucial for distinguishing quenching mechanisms and evolutionary pathways. Such observations are currently not feasible because state-of-the-art sub-millimeter facilities (e.g., ALMA) cannot routinely detect the faint molecular gas and dust reservoirs of quiescent galaxies, nor pinpoint outflowing molecular gas. A next-generation facility (ALMA2040) capable of providing transformative access to the cold interstellar medium of quiescent galaxies across redshift is therefore essential. In particular, it will allow the community to probe the molecular gas content of quiescent galaxies at cosmic noon and beyond by targeting the CO, [CI], and [CII] emission lines, as well as unveiling the physical conditions of the cold interstellar medium by constraining the CO spectral line energy distribution. It will also reveal the dust content of the passive population, a crucial ingredient to constrain the different quenching mechanisms. Finally, it will enable probing the molecular gas kinematics and identify molecular outflows driven by supermassive black holes. When combined with the rich legacy of JWST, ELT, and SKAO surveys, ALMA2040 will deliver a comprehensive, multi-phase view of feedback and quenching, allowing us to establish when, how, and why galaxies shut down their star formation across cosmic time.
ER  -