arXiv subjects

Dale Kocevski

Publications and source records attributed to Dale Kocevski.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Observational constraints on the merger history of galaxies since $z\approx6$: Probabilistic galaxy pair counts in the CANDELS fields

Galaxy mergers are expected to have a significant role in the mass assembly of galaxies in the early Universe, but there are very few observational constraints on the merger history of galaxies at $z>2$. We present the first study of galaxy major mergers (mass ratios $>$ 1:4) in mass-selected samples out to $z\approx6$. Using all five fields of the HST/CANDELS survey and a probabilistic pair count methodology that incorporates the full photometric redshift posteriors and corrections for stellar mass completeness, we measure galaxy pair-counts for projected separations between 5 and 30 kpc in stellar mass selected samples at $9.7 < \log_{10}(\rm{M}_{*}/\rm{M}_{\odot}) < 10.3$ and $\log_{10}(\rm{M}_{*}/\rm{M}_{\odot}) > 10.3$. We find that the major merger pair fraction rises with redshift to $z\approx6$ proportional to $(1+z)^{m}$, with $m = 0.8\pm0.2$ ($m = 1.8\pm0.2$) for $\log_{10}(\rm{M}_{*} / \rm{M}_{\odot}) > 10.3$ ($9.7 < \log_{10}(\rm{M}_{*}/\rm{M}_{\odot}) < 10.3$). Investigating the pair fraction as a function of mass ratio between 1:20 and 1:1, we find no evidence for a strong evolution in the relative numbers of minor to major mergers out to $z<3$. Using evolving merger timescales we find that the merger rate per galaxy ($\mathcal{R}$) rises rapidly from $0.07\pm 0.01$ Gyr$^{-1}$ at $z < 1$ to $7.6\pm 2.7$ Gyr$^{-1}$ at $z = 6$ for galaxies at $\log_{10}(\rm{M}_{*}/\rm{M}_{\odot}) > 10.3$. The corresponding co-moving major merger rate density remains roughly constant during this time, with rates of $Γ\approx 10^{-4}$ Gyr$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-3}$. Based on the observed merger rates per galaxy, we infer specific mass accretion rates from major mergers that are comparable to the specific star-formation rates for the same mass galaxies at $z>3$ - observational evidence that mergers are as important a mechanism for building up mass at high redshift as in-situ star-formation.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2019

Evolution of the Gas Mass Fraction of Progenitors to Today's Massive Galaxies: ALMA Observations in the CANDELS GOODS-S Field

We present an ALMA survey of dust continuum emission in a sample of 70 galaxies in the redshift range z=2-5 selected from the CANDELS GOODS-S field. Multi-Epoch Abundance Matching (MEAM) is used to define potential progenitors of a z = 0 galaxy of stellar mass 1.5 10^11 M_sun. Gas masses are derived from the 850um luminosity. Ancillary data from the CANDELS GOODS-S survey are used to derive the gas mass fractions. The results at z<=3 are mostly in accord with expectations: The detection rates are 75% for the z=2 redshift bin, 50% for the z=3 bin and 0% for z>=4. The average gas mass fraction for the detected z=2 galaxies is f_gas = 0.55+/-0.12 and f_gas = 0.62+/-0.15 for the z=3 sample. This agrees with expectations for galaxies on the star-forming main sequence, and shows that gas fractions have decreased at a roughly constant rate from z=3 to z=0. Stacked images of the galaxies not detected with ALMA give upper limits to f_gas of <0.08 and <0.15, for the z=2 and z=3 redshift bins. None of our galaxies in the z=4 and z=5 sample are detected and the upper limit from stacked images, corrected for low metallicity, is f_gas<0.66. We do not think that lower gas-phase metallicities can entirely explain the lower dust luminosities. We briefly consider the possibility of accretion of very low-metallicity gas to explain the absence of detectable dust emission in our galaxies at z>4.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2019

Astro2020 Science White Paper: Black Hole Growth in Mergers and Dual AGN

Hierarchical models of galaxy formation predict that galaxy mergers represent a significant transitional stage of rapid supermassive black hole (SMBH) growth. Yet, the connection between the merging process and enhanced active galactic nuclei (AGN) activity as well as the timescale of SMBH mergers remains highly uncertain. The breakthrough in reconciling the importance of galaxy mergers with black hole growth lies in a thoroughly-studied census of dual AGN across cosmic history, which will be enabled by next-generation observational capabilities, theoretical advances, and simulations. This white paper outlines the key questions in galaxy mergers, dual and offset AGN, and proposes multiwavelength solutions using future high-resolution observatories in the X-rays (AXIS, Lynx), near and mid-infrared (30 meter class telescopes, JWST), and submillimeter (ALMA).

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2019

Linking galaxy structural properties and star formation activity to black hole activity with IllustrisTNG

We study the connection between active galactic nuclei (AGN) and their host galaxies through cosmic time in the large-scale cosmological IllustrisTNG simulations. We first compare BH properties, i.e. the hard X-ray BH luminosity function, AGN galaxy occupation fraction, and distribution of Eddington ratios, to available observational constraints. The simulations produce a population of BHs in good agreement with observations, but we note an excess of faint AGN in hard X-ray (L_x ~ 10^{43-44} erg/s), and a lower number of bright AGN (L_x>10^{44} erg/s), a conclusion that varies quantitatively but not qualitatively with BH luminosity estimation method. The lower Eddington ratios of the 10^{9} Msun BHs compared to observations suggest that AGN feedback may be too efficient in this regime. We study galaxy star formation activity and structural properties, and design sample-dependent criteria to identify different galaxy types (star-forming/quiescent, extended/compact) that we apply both to the simulations and observations from the candels fields. We analyze how the simulated and observed galaxies populate the specific star formation rate - stellar mass surface density diagram. A large fraction of the z=0 M_{star}>10^{11} Msun quiescent galaxies first experienced a compaction phase (i.e. reduction of galaxy size) while still forming stars, and then a quenching event. We measure the dependence of AGN fraction on galaxies' locations in this diagram. After correcting the simulations with a redshift and AGN luminosity-dependent model for AGN obscuration, we find good qualitative and quantitative agreement with observations. The AGN fraction is the highest among compact star-forming galaxies (16-20% at z~1.5-2), and the lowest among compact quiescent galaxies (6-10% at z~1.5-2).

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2018

On the Transition of the Galaxy Quenching Mode at 0.5<z<1 in CANDELS

We investigate the galaxy quenching process at intermediate redshift using a sample of $\sim4400$ galaxies with $M_{\ast} > 10^{9}M_{\odot}$ between redshift 0.5 and 1.0 in all five CANDELS fields. We divide this sample, using the integrated specific star formation rate (sSFR), into four sub-groups: star-forming galaxies (SFGs) above and below the ridge of the star-forming main sequence (SFMS), transition galaxies and quiescent galaxies. We study their $UVI$ ($U-V$ versus $V-I$) color gradients to infer their sSFR gradients out to twice effective radii. We show that on average both star-forming and transition galaxies at all masses are not fully quenched at any radii, whereas quiescent galaxies are fully quenched at all radii. We find that at low masses ($M_{\ast} = 10^{9}-10^{10}M_{\odot}$) SFGs both above and below the SFMS ridge generally have flat sSFR profiles, whereas the transition galaxies at the same masses generally have sSFRs that are more suppressed in their outskirts. In contrast, at high masses ($M_{\ast} > 10^{10.5}M_{\odot}$), SFGs above and below the SFMS ridge and transition galaxies generally have varying degrees of more centrally-suppressed sSFRs relative to their outskirts. These findings indicate that at $z\sim~0.5-1.0$ the main galaxy quenching mode depends on its already formed stellar mass, exhibiting a transition from "the outside-in" at $M_{\ast} \leq 10^{10}M_{\odot}$ to "the inside-out" at $M_{\ast} > 10^{10.5}M_{\odot}$. In other words, our findings support that internal processes dominate the quenching of massive galaxies, whereas external processes dominate the quenching of low-mass galaxies.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2018

The Isophotal Structure of Star-forming Galaxies at $0.5< z <1.8$ in CANDELS: Implications for the Evolution of Galaxy Structure

We have measured the radial profiles of isophotal ellipticity ($\varepsilon$) and disky/boxy parameter A$_4$ out to radii of about three times the semi-major axes for $\sim4,600$ star-forming galaxies (SFGs) at intermediate redshifts $0.5 1$. Moreover, the median A$_4$ values at all radii are almost zero. In contrast, the highly-inclined, low-mass LSFGs in the same mass-redshift bins generally have monotonically increasing $\varepsilon$ with radius and are dominated by disky values at intermediate radii. These findings at intermediate redshifts imply that low-mass SSFGs are not disk-like, while low-mass LSFGs appear to harbour disk-like components flattened by significant rotation. At high masses ($M_{\ast} > 10^{10}M_{\odot}$), highly-inclined SSFGs and LSFGs both exhibit a general, distinct trend for both $\varepsilon$ and A$_4$ profiles: increasing values with radius at lower radii, reaching maxima at intermediate radii, and then decreasing values at larger radii. Such a trend is more prevalent for more massive ($M_{\ast} > 10^{10.5}M_{\odot}$) galaxies or those at lower redshifts ($z<1.4$). The distinct trend in $\varepsilon$ and A$_4$ can be simply explained if galaxies possess all three components: central bulges, disks in the intermediate regions, and halo-like stellar components in the outskirts.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

Clumpy Galaxies in CANDELS. II. Physical Properties of UV-bright Clumps at $0.5\leq z<3$

Studying giant star-forming clumps in distant galaxies is important to understand galaxy formation and evolution. At present, however, observers and theorists have not reached a consensus on whether the observed "clumps" in distant galaxies are the same phenomenon that is seen in simulations. In this paper, as a step to establish a benchmark of direct comparisons between observations and theories, we publish a sample of clumps constructed to represent the commonly observed "clumps" in the literature. This sample contains 3193 clumps detected from 1270 galaxies at $0.5 \leq z < 3.0$. The clumps are detected from rest-frame UV images, as described in our previous paper. Their physical properties, e.g., rest-frame color, stellar mass (M*), star formation rate (SFR), age, and dust extinction, are measured by fitting the spectral energy distribution (SED) to synthetic stellar population models. We carefully test the procedures of measuring clump properties, especially the method of subtracting background fluxes from the diffuse component of galaxies. With our fiducial background subtraction, we find a radial clump U-V color variation, where clumps close to galactic centers are redder than those in outskirts. The slope of the color gradient (clump color as a function of their galactocentric distance scaled by the semi-major axis of galaxies) changes with redshift and M* of the host galaxies: at a fixed M*, the slope becomes steeper toward low redshift, and at a fixed redshift, it becomes slightly steeper with M*. Based on our SED-fitting, this observed color gradient can be explained by a combination of a negative age gradient, a negative E(B-V) gradient, and a positive specific star formation rate gradient of the clumps. We also find that the color gradients of clumps are steeper than those of intra-clump regions. [Abridged]

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

Type Ia Supernova Distances at z > 1.5 from the Hubble Space Telescope Multi-Cycle Treasury Programs: The Early Expansion Rate

We present an analysis of 15 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) at redshift z > 1 (9 at 1.5 < z < 2.3) recently discovered in the CANDELS and CLASH Multi-Cycle Treasury programs using WFC3 on the Hubble Space Telescope. We combine these SNe Ia with a new compilation of 1050 SNe Ia, jointly calibrated and corrected for simulated survey biases to produce accurate distance measurements. We present unbiased constraints on the expansion rate at six redshifts in the range 0.07 < z < 1.5 based only on this combined SN Ia sample. The added leverage of our new sample at z > 1.5 leads to a factor of ~3 improvement in the determination of the expansion rate at z = 1.5, reducing its uncertainty to ~20%, a measurement of H(z=1.5)/H0=2.67 (+0.83,-0.52). We then demonstrate that these six measurements alone provide a nearly identical characterization of dark energy as the full SN sample, making them an efficient compression of the SN Ia data. The new sample of SNe Ia at z > 1 usefully distinguishes between alternative cosmological models and unmodeled evolution of the SN Ia distance indicators, placing empirical limits on the latter. Finally, employing a realistic simulation of a potential WFIRST SN survey observing strategy, we forecast optimistic future constraints on the expansion rate from SNe Ia.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2017

The Nature of Massive Transition Galaxies in CANDELS, GAMA, and Cosmological Simulations

We explore observational and theoretical constraints on how galaxies might transition between the "star-forming main sequence" (SFMS) and varying "degrees of quiescence" out to $z=3$. Our analysis is focused on galaxies with stellar mass $M_*>10^{10}M_{\odot}$, and is enabled by GAMA and CANDELS observations, a semi-analytic model (SAM) of galaxy formation, and a cosmological hydrodynamical "zoom in" simulation with momentum-driven AGN feedback. In both the observations and the SAM, transition galaxies tend to have intermediate Sérsic indices, half-light radii, and surface stellar mass densities compared to star-forming and quiescent galaxies out to $z=3$. We place an observational upper limit on the average population transition timescale as a function of redshift, finding that the average high-redshift galaxy is on a "fast track" for quenching whereas the average low-redshift galaxy is on a "slow track" for quenching. We qualitatively identify four physical origin scenarios for transition galaxies in the SAM: oscillations on the SFMS, slow quenching, fast quenching, and rejuvenation. Quenching timescales in both the SAM and the hydrodynamical simulation are not fast enough to reproduce the quiescent population that we observe at $z\sim3$. In the SAM, we do not find a clear-cut morphological dependence of quenching timescales, but we do predict that the mean stellar ages, cold gas fractions, SMBH masses, and halo masses of transition galaxies tend to be intermediate relative to those of star-forming and quiescent galaxies at $z<3$.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

Enhancement of AGN in a protocluster at z=1.6

We investigate the prevalence of AGN in the high-redshift protocluster $\rm{Cl}\,0218.3$-$0510$ at $z=1.62$. Using imaging from the Chandra X-ray Telescope, we find a large overdensity of AGN in the protocluster; a factor of $23\pm9$ times the field density of AGN. Only half of this AGN overdensity is due to the overdensity of massive galaxies in the protocluster (a factor of $11\pm2$), as we find that $17^{+6}_{-5}\%$ of massive galaxies ($M_* > 10^{10}\,\rm{M}_{\odot}$) in the protocluster host an X-ray luminous AGN, compared to $8\pm1\%$ in the field. This corresponds to an enhancement of AGN activity in massive protocluster galaxies by a factor of $2.1\pm0.7$ at $1.6σ$ significance. We also find that the AGN overdensity is centrally concentrated, located within 3 arcmin and most pronounced within 1 arcmin of the centre of the protocluster. Our results confirm that there is a reversal in the local anti-correlation between galaxy density and AGN activity, so there is an enhancement of AGN in high-redshift protoclusters. We compare the properties of AGN in the protocluster to the field and find no significant differences in the distributions of their stellar mass, X-ray luminosity, or hardness ratio. We therefore suggest that triggering mechanisms are similar in both environments, and that the mechanisms simply occur more frequently in denser environments.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

CANDELS Multiwavelength Catalogs: Source Identification and Photometry in the CANDELS Extended Groth Strip

We present a 0.4-8$μ$m multi-wavelength photometric catalog in the Extended Groth Strip (EGS) field. This catalog is built on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) WFC3 and ACS data from the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS), and it incorporates the existing HST data from the All-wavelength Extended Groth strip International Survey (AEGIS) and the 3D-HST program. The catalog is based on detections in the F160W band reaching a depth of F160W=26.62 AB (90% completeness, point-sources). It includes the photometry for 41457 objects over an area of $\approx 206$ arcmin$^2$ in the following bands: HST ACS F606W and F814W; HST WFC3 F125W, F140W and F160W; CFHT/Megacam $u^*$, $g'$, $r'$, $i'$ and $z'$; CFHT/WIRCAM $J$, $H$ and $K_\mathrm{S}$; Mayall/NEWFIRM $J1$, $J2$, $J3$, $H1$, $H2$, $K$; Spitzer IRAC $3.6μ$m, $4.5μ$m, $5.8μ$m and $8.0μ$m. We are also releasing value-added catalogs that provide robust photometric redshifts and stellar mass measurements. The catalogs are publicly available through the CANDELS repository.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

Galaxy Zoo: Quantitative Visual Morphological Classifications for 48,000 galaxies from CANDELS

We present quantified visual morphologies of approximately 48,000 galaxies observed in three Hubble Space Telescope legacy fields by the Cosmic And Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS) and classified by participants in the Galaxy Zoo project. 90% of galaxies have z < 3 and are observed in rest-frame optical wavelengths by CANDELS. Each galaxy received an average of 40 independent classifications, which we combine into detailed morphological information on galaxy features such as clumpiness, bar instabilities, spiral structure, and merger and tidal signatures. We apply a consensus-based classifier weighting method that preserves classifier independence while effectively down-weighting significantly outlying classifications. After analysing the effect of varying image depth on reported classifications, we also provide depth-corrected classifications which both preserve the information in the deepest observations and also enable the use of classifications at comparable depths across the full survey. Comparing the Galaxy Zoo classifications to previous classifications of the same galaxies shows very good agreement; for some applications the high number of independent classifications provided by Galaxy Zoo provides an advantage in selecting galaxies with a particular morphological profile, while in others the combination of Galaxy Zoo with other classifications is a more promising approach than using any one method alone. We combine the Galaxy Zoo classifications of "smooth" galaxies with parametric morphologies to select a sample of featureless disks at 1 < z < 3, which may represent a dynamically warmer progenitor population to the settled disk galaxies seen at later epochs.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

CANDELS Visual Classifications: Scheme, Data Release, and First Results

We have undertaken an ambitious program to visually classify all galaxies in the five CANDELS fields down to H<24.5 involving the dedicated efforts of 65 individual classifiers. Once completed, we expect to have detailed morphological classifications for over 50,000 galaxies up to z<4 over all the fields. Here, we present our detailed visual classification scheme, which was designed to cover a wide range of CANDELS science goals. This scheme includes the basic Hubble sequence types, but also includes a detailed look at mergers and interactions, the clumpiness of galaxies, $k$-corrections, and a variety of other structural properties. In this paper, we focus on the first field to be completed -- GOODS-S. The wide area coverage spanning the full field includes 7634 galaxies that have been classified by at least three different people. In the deep area of the field, 2534 galaxies have been classified by at least five different people at three different depths. With this paper, we release to the public all of the visual classifications in GOODS-S along with the GUI that we developed to classify galaxies. We find that the level of agreement among classifiers is good and depends on both the galaxy magnitude and the galaxy type, with disks showing the highest level of agreement and irregulars the lowest. A comparison of our classifications with the Sersic index and rest-frame colors shows a clear separation between disk and spheroid populations. Finally, we explore morphological k-corrections between the V-band and H-band observations and find that a small fraction (84 galaxies in total) are classified as being very different between these two bands. These galaxies typically have very clumpy and extended morphology or are very faint in the V-band.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

Ultraviolet Luminosity Density of the Universe During the Epoch of Reionization

The spatial fluctuations of the extragalactic background light trace the total emission from all stars and galaxies in the Universe. A multi-wavelength study can be used to measure the integrated emission from first galaxies during reionization when the Universe was about 500 million years old. Here we report arcminute-scale spatial fluctuations in one of the deepest sky surveys with the Hubble Space Telescope in five wavebands between 0.6 and 1.6 $μ$m. We model-fit the angular power spectra of intensity fluctuation measurements to find the ultraviolet luminosity density of galaxies at $z$ > 8 to be $\log ρ_{\rm UV} = 27.4^{+0.2}_{-1.2}$ erg s$^{-1}$ Hz$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-3}$ $(1σ)$. This level of integrated light emission allows for a significant surface density of fainter primeval galaxies that are below the point source detection level in current surveys.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2015

Probing the Dark Flow signal in WMAP 9 yr and PLANCK cosmic microwave background maps

The "dark flow" dipole is a statistically significant dipole found at the position of galaxy clusters in filtered maps of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature anisotropies. The dipole measured in WMAP 3, 5 and 7 yr data releases was 1) mutually consistent, 2) roughly aligned with the all-sky CMB dipole and 3) correlated with clusters' X-ray luminosity. We analyzed WMAP 9 yr and the 1st yr Planck data releases using a catalog of 980 clusters outside the Kp0 mask to test our earlier findings. The dipoles measured on these new data sets are fully compatible with our earlier estimates, being similar in amplitude and direction to our previous results and in disagreement with the results of an earlier study by the Planck Collaboration. Further, in Planck datasets dipoles are found independent of frequency, ruling out the Thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich as the source of the effect. Both, in WMAP and Planck, we find a clear correlation between the dipole measured at the cluster location in filtered maps with the average anisotropy on the original maps, further proving that the dipole is associated with clusters. The dipole signal is dominated by the most massive clusters, with a statistical significance better than 99\%, slightly larger than in WMAP. Since both data sets differ in foreground contributions, instrumental noise and other systematics, the agreement between WMAP and Planck dipoles argues against them being due to systematic effects in either of the experiments.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2015

A Critical Assessment of Stellar Mass Measurement Methods

In this paper we perform a comprehensive study of the main sources of random and systematic errors in stellar mass measurement for galaxies using their Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs). We use mock galaxy catalogs with simulated multi-waveband photometry (from U-band to mid-infrared) and known redshift, stellar mass, age and extinction for individual galaxies. Given different parameters affecting stellar mass measurement (photometric S/N ratios, SED fitting errors, systematic effects, the inherent degeneracies and correlated errors), we formulated different simulated galaxy catalogs to quantify these effects individually. We studied the sensitivity of stellar mass estimates to the codes/methods used, population synthesis models, star formation histories, nebular emission line contributions, photometric uncertainties, extinction and age. For each simulated galaxy, the difference between the input stellar masses and those estimated using different simulation catalogs, $Δ\log(M)$, was calculated and used to identify the most fundamental parameters affecting stellar masses. We measured different components of the error budget, with the results listed as follows: (1). no significant bias was found among different codes/methods, with all having comparable scatter; (2). A source of error is found to be due to photometric uncertainties and low resolution in age and extinction grids; (3). The median of stellar masses among different methods provides a stable measure of the mass associated with any given galaxy; (4). The deviations in stellar mass strongly correlate with those in age, with a weaker correlation with extinction; (5). the scatter in the stellar masses due to free parameters are quantified, with the sensitivity of the stellar mass to both the population synthesis codes and inclusion of nebular emission lines studied.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

Star formation and quenching among the most massive galaxies at z~1.7

We have conducted a detailed object-by-object study of a mass-complete (M*>10^11 M_sun) sample of 56 galaxies at 1.4 < z < 2 in the GOODS-South field, showing that an accurate de-blending in MIPS/24um images is essential to properly assign to each galaxy its own star formation rate (SFR), whereas an automatic procedure often fails. This applies especially to galaxies with SFRs below the Main Sequence (MS) value, which may be in their quenching phase. After that, the sample splits evenly between galaxies forming stars within a factor of 4 of the MS rate (~45%), and sub-MS galaxies with SFRs ~10-1000 times smaller (~55%). We did not find a well defined class of intermediate, transient objects below the MS, suggesting that the conversion of a massive MS galaxy into a quenched remnant may take a relatively short time (<1 Gyr), though a larger sample should be analyzed in the same way to set precise limits on the quenching timescale. X-ray detected AGNs represent a ~30% fraction of the sample, and are found among both star-forming and quenched galaxies. The morphological analysis revealed that ~50% of our massive objects are bulge-dominated, and almost all MS galaxies with a relevant bulge component host an AGN. We also found sub-MS SFRs in many bulge-dominated systems, providing support to the notion that bulge growth, AGN activity and quenching of star formation are closely related to each other.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2014

The interstellar medium and feedback in the progenitors of the compact passive galaxies at z~2

Quenched galaxies at z>2 are nearly all very compact relative to z~0, suggesting a physical connection between high stellar density and efficient, rapid cessation of star-formation. We present restframe UV spectra of Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) at z~3 selected to be candidate progenitors of quenched galaxies at z~2 based on their compact restframe optical sizes and high surface density of star-formation. We compare their UV properties to those of more extended LBGs of similar mass and star formation rate (non-candidates). We find that candidate progenitors have faster ISM gas velocities and higher equivalent widths of interstellar absorption lines, implying larger velocity spread among absorbing clouds. Candidates deviate from the relationship between equivalent widths of Lyman-alpha and interstellar absorption lines in that their Lyman-alpha emission remains strong despite high interstellar absorption, possibly indicating that the neutral HI fraction is patchy such that Lyman-alpha photons can escape. We detect stronger CIV P-Cygni features (emission and absorption) and HeII emission in candidates, indicative of larger populations of metal rich Wolf-Rayet stars compared to non-candidates. The faster bulk motions, broader spread of gas velocity, and Lyman-alpha properties of candidates are consistent with their ISM being subject to more energetic feedback than non-candidates. Together with their larger metallicity (implying more evolved star-formation activity) this leads us to propose, if speculatively, that they are likely to quench sooner than non-candidates, supporting the validity of selection criteria used to identify them as progenitors of z~2 passive galaxies. We propose that massive, compact galaxies undergo more rapid growth of stellar mass content, perhaps because the gas accretion mechanisms are different, and quench sooner than normally-sized LBGs at these early epochs.

astro-ph.GA↗