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arXiv · 2601.15274

The baryonic mass-size relation of galaxies. II. Implications for the evolutionary paths between star-forming and passive galaxies

Zichen Hua·Lelli Federico·Enrico Di Teodoro·Stacy McGaugh·James Schombert
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Abstract

The baryonic mass-size relation of galaxies links the total baryonic mass (stars plus gas) to the baryonic half-mass radius. In the first paper of this series, we showed that star-forming galaxies from the SPARC sample follow two distinct relations in the baryonic mass-size plane: one defined by high-surface-density (HSD), star-dominated, Sa-to-Sc galaxies, and one defined by low-surface-density (LSD), gas-dominated, Sd-to-dI galaxies. In this second paper, we study the structural relations between baryonic mass, half-mass radius, and mean surface density to constrain possible morphological transformations between star-forming and passive galaxies. We complemented the SPARC sample with $\sim$1200 passive galaxies that are nearly devoid of gas: ellipticals (Es), lenticulars (S0s), dwarf ellipticals (dEs) or dwarf spheroidals (dSphs), and the so-called `ultra-diffuse galaxies' (UDGs). Our results can be summarised as follows: (1) passive stellar components follow four distinct relations at high statistical significance, namely (i) ellipticals plus bulges, (ii) S0 disks, (iii) non-nucleated dwarfs (dEs, dSphs, UDGs), and (iv) nucleated dEs; (2) star-forming HSD disks (mostly Sa to Sc) overlap with S0 disks within 2$\sigma$ in the baryonic relations and within 1$\sigma$ in the stellar ones, so present-day spirals may simply evolve into lenticulars as they run out of gas; (3) star-forming LSD disks (mostly Sd to dI) are offset from non-nucleated passive dwarfs at more than 3$\sigma$ in the baryonic relations, but the two galaxy populations overlap within 1$\sigma$ in the stellar relations, suggesting that non-nucleated passive dwarfs may form from star-forming dwarfs only after gas removal; (4) UDGs extend the sequence of non-nucleated dEs/dSphs and may originate from the most diffuse star-forming LSD galaxies with no need for a substantial expansion of the stellar component.

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Zichen Hua, Lelli Federico, Enrico Di Teodoro, Stacy McGaugh, James Schombert. 2026-01-21. The baryonic mass-size relation of galaxies. II. Implications for the evolutionary paths between star-forming and passive galaxies. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361%2F202557777

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