arXiv subjects

P. Di Matteo

Publications and source records attributed to P. Di Matteo.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Gaia Data Release 2: Mapping the Milky Way disc kinematics

To illustrate the potential of GDR2, we provide a first look at the kinematics of the Milky Way disc, within a radius of several kiloparsecs around the Sun. We benefit for the first time from a sample of 6.4 million F-G-K stars with full 6D phase-space coordinates, precise parallaxes, and precise Galactic cylindrical velocities . From this sample, we extracted a sub-sample of 3.2 million giant stars to map the velocity field of the Galactic disc from $\sim$5~kpc to $\sim$13~kpc from the Galactic centre and up to 2~kpc above and below the plane. We also study the distribution of 0.3 million solar neighbourhood stars ($r < 200$~pc), with median velocity uncertainties of 0.4~km/s, in velocity space and use the full sample to examine how the over-densities evolve in more distant regions. GDR2 allows us to draw 3D maps of the Galactocentric median velocities and velocity dispersions with unprecedented accuracy, precision, and spatial resolution. The maps show the complexity and richness of the velocity field of the galactic disc. We observe streaming motions in all the components of the velocities as well as patterns in the velocity dispersions. For example, we confirm the previously reported negative and positive galactocentric radial velocity gradients in the inner and outer disc, respectively. Here, we see them as part of a non-axisymmetric kinematic oscillation, and we map its azimuthal and vertical behaviour. We also witness a new global arrangement of stars in the velocity plane of the solar neighbourhood and in distant regions in which stars are organised in thin substructures with the shape of circular arches that are oriented approximately along the horizontal direction in the $U-V$ plane. Moreover, in distant regions, we see variations in the velocity substructures more clearly than ever before, in particular, variations in the velocity of the Hercules stream. (abridged)

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arXiv2018

Gaia Data Release 2: Catalogue validation

The second Gaia data release (DR2), contains very precise astrometric and photometric properties for more than one billion sources, astrophysical parameters for dozens of millions, radial velocities for millions, variability information for half a million of stellar sources and orbits for thousands of solar system objects. Before the Catalogue publication, these data have undergone dedicated validation processes. The goal of this paper is to describe the validation results in terms of completeness, accuracy and precision of the various Gaia DR2 data. The validation processes include a systematic analysis of the Catalogue content to detect anomalies, either individual errors or statistical properties, using statistical analysis, and comparisons to external data or to models. Although the astrometric, photometric and spectroscopic data are of unprecedented quality and quantity, it is shown that the data cannot be used without a dedicated attention to the limitations described here, in the Catalogue documentation and in accompanying papers. A particular emphasis is put on the caveats for the statistical use of the data in scientific exploitation.

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arXiv2018

Stellar metallicity variations across spiral arms in disk galaxies with multiple populations

This letter studies the formation of azimuthal metallicity variations in the disks of spiral galaxies in the absence of initial radial metallicity gradients. Using high-resolution $N$-body simulations, we model composite stellar discs, made of kinematically cold and hot stellar populations, and study their response to spiral arm perturbations. We find that, as expected, disk populations with different kinematics respond differently to a spiral perturbation, with the tendency for dynamically cooler populations to show a larger fractional contribution to spiral arms than dynamically hotter populations. By assuming a relation between kinematics and metallicity, namely the hotter the population, the more metal-poor it is, this differential response to the spiral arm perturbations naturally leads to azimuthal variations in the mean metallicity of stars in the simulated disk. Thus, azimuthal variations in the mean metallicity of stars across a spiral galaxy are not necessarily a consequence of the reshaping, by radial migration, of an initial radial metallicity gradient. They indeed arise naturally also in stellar disks which have initially only a negative vertical metallicity gradient.

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arXiv2017

What the Milky Way bulge reveals about the initial metallicity gradients in the disc

We examine the metallicity trends in the Milky Way (MW) bulge - using APOGEE DR13 data - and explore their origin by comparing two N-body models of isolated galaxies which develop a bar and a boxy/peanut (b/p) bulge. Both models have been proposed as scenarios for reconciling a disc origin of the MW bulge with a negative vertical metallicity gradient. The first model is a superposition of co-spatial, i.e. overlapping, disc populations with different scaleheights, kinematics and metallicities. In this model the thick, metal-poor, and centrally concentrated disc populations contribute significantly to the stellar mass budget in the inner galaxy. The second model is a single disc with an initial steep radial metallicity gradient, which is mapped by the bar into the b/p bulge in such a way that the vertical metallicity gradient of the MW bulge is reproduced -- as shown already in previous works in the literature. However, as we show here, the latter model does not reproduce the positive longitudinal metallicity gradient of the inner disc, nor the metal-poor innermost regions of the Bulge seen in the data. On the other hand, the model with co-spatial thin and thick disc populations reproduces all the aforementioned trends. We therefore see that it is possible to reconcile a (primarily) disc origin for the MW bulge with the observed trends in metallicity by mapping the inner thin and thick discs of the MW into a b/p. For this scenario to reproduce the observations, the $α$-enhanced, metal-poor, thick disc populations must have a significant mass contribution in the inner regions -- as has been suggested for the Milky Way.

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arXiv2017

Bar quenching in gas-rich galaxies

Galaxy surveys have suggested that rapid and sustained decrease in the star-formation rate, "quenching", in massive disk galaxies is frequently related to the presence of a bar. Optical and near-IR observations reveal that nearly 60% of disk galaxies in the local universe are barred, thus it is important to understand the relationship between bars and star formation in disk galaxies. Recent observational results imply that the Milky Way quenched about 9-10 Gyr ago, at the transition between the cessation of the growth of the kinematically hot, old, metal-poor thick disk and the kinematically colder, younger, and more metal-rich thin disk. Although perhaps coincidental, the quenching episode could also be related to the formation of the bar. To explore the relation between bar formation and star formation in gas rich galaxies quantitatively, we simulated gas-rich disk isolated galaxies. Our simulations include prescriptions for star formation, stellar feedback, and for regulating the multi-phase interstellar medium. We find that the action of stellar bar efficiently quenches star formation, reducing the star-formation rate by a factor of 10 in less than 1 Gyr. Analytical and self-consistent galaxy simulations with bars suggest that the action of the stellar bar increases the gas random motions within the co-rotation radius of the bar. Indeed, we detect an increase in the gas velocity dispersion up to 20-35 km/s at the end of the bar formation phase. The star-formation efficiency decreases rapidly, and in all of our models, the bar quenches the star formation in the galaxy. The star-formation efficiency is much lower in simulated barred compared to unbarred galaxies and more rapid bar formation implies more rapid quenching.

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arXiv2017

The spatially resolved star formation history of mergers: A comparative study of the LIRGs IC1623, NGC6090, NGC2623, and Mice

This paper presents the spatially resolved star formation history (2D-SFH) of a small sample of four local mergers: the early-stage mergers IC1623, NGC6090, and the Mice, and the more advanced merger NGC2623, by analyzing IFS data from the CALIFA survey and PMAS in LArr mode. Full spectral fitting techniques are applied to the datacubes to obtain the spatially resolved mass growth histories, the time evolution of the star formation rate intensity ($Σ_{SFR}$), and the local specific star formation rate, over three different timescales (30 Myr, 300 Myr, and 1 Gyr). The results are compared with non-interacting Sbc--Sc galaxies, to quantify if there is an enhancement of the star formation and to trace its time scale and spatial extent. Our results for the three LIRGs (IC1623W, NGC6090, and NGC2623) show that a major phase of star formation is occurring in time scales of 10$^{7}$ yr to few 10$^{8}$ yr, with global SFR enhancements of $\sim$2--6 with respect to main-sequence star forming (MSSF) galaxies. In the two early-stage mergers IC1623W and NGC6090, which are between first pericenter passage and coalescence, the most remarkable increase of the SFR with respect to non-interacting spirals occurred in the last 30 Myr, and it is spatially extended, with enhancements of factors 2--7 both in the centres ($r <$ 0.5 half light radius, HLR), and in the disks ($r >$ 1 HLR). In the more advanced merger NGC 2623 an extended phase of star formation occurred on a longer time-scale of $\sim$1 Gyr, with a SFR enhancement of a factor $\sim$2--3 larger than the one in Sbc--Sc MSSF galaxies over the same period, probably relic of the first pericenter passage epoch. A SFR enhancement in the last 30 Myr is also present, but only in NGC2623 centre, by a factor 3. In general, the spatially resolved SFHs of the LIRG-mergers are consistent with the predictions from high spatial resolution simulations.

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arXiv2017

The spatially resolved stellar population and ionized gas properties in the merger LIRG NGC 2623

We report on a detailed study of the stellar populations and ionized gas properties in the merger LIRG NGC 2623, analysing optical Integral Field Spectroscopy from the CALIFA survey and PMAS LArr, multiwavelength HST imaging, and OSIRIS narrow band H$α$ and [NII]$λ$6584 imaging. The spectra were processed with the STARLIGHT full spectral fitting code, and the results compared with those for two early-stage merger LIRGs (IC 1623 W and NGC 6090), together with CALIFA Sbc/Sc galaxies. We find that NGC 2623 went through two periods of increased star formation (SF), a first and widespread episode, traced by intermediate-age stellar populations ISP (140 Myr-1.4 Gyr), and a second one, traced by young stellar populations YSP ($<$140 Myr), which is concentrated in the central regions ($<$1.4 kpc). Our results are in agreement with the epochs of the first peri-center passage ($\sim$200 Myr ago) and coalescence ($<$100 Myr ago) predicted by dynamical models, and with high resolution merger simulations in the literature, consistent with NGC 2623 representing an evolved version of the early-stage mergers. Most ionized gas is concentrated within $<$2.8 kpc, where LINER-like ionization and high velocity dispersion ($\sim$220 km/s) are found, consistent with the previously reported outflow. As revealed by the highest resolution OSIRIS and HST data, a collection of HII regions is also present in the plane of the galaxy, which explains the mixture of ionization mechanisms in this system. It is unlikely that the outflow in NGC 2623 will escape from the galaxy, given the low SFR intensity ($\sim$0.5 M$_{\odot}$yr$^{-1}$kpc$^{-2}$), the fact that the outflow rate is 3 times lower than the current SFR, and the escape velocity in the central areas higher than the outflow velocity.

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arXiv2017

Bars & boxy/peanut bulges in thin & thick discs: I. Morphology and line-of-sight velocities of a fiducial model

We explore trends in the morphology and line-of-sight (los) velocity of stellar populations in the inner regions of disc galaxies, using N-body simulations with both a thin (kinematically cold) and a thick (kinematically hot) disc which form a bar and boxy/peanut (b/p) bulge. The bar in the thin disc component is $\sim$50\% stronger than the thick disc bar and is more elongated, with an axis ratio almost half that of the thick disc bar. The thin disc b/p bulge has a pronounced X-shape, while the thick disc b/p is weaker with a rather boxy shape. This leads to the signature of the b/p bulge in the thick disc to be weaker and further away from the plane than in the thin disc. Regarding the kinematics, we find that the los velocity of thick disc stars in the outer parts of the b/p bulge can be \emph{larger} than that of thin disc stars, by up to 40\% and 20\% for side-on and Milky Way-like orientations of the bar respectively. This is due to the different orbits followed by thin and thick disc stars in the bar-b/p region, which are affected by the fact that: i) thin disc stars are trapped more efficiently in the bar - b/p instability and thus lose more angular momentum than their thick disc counterparts and ii) thick disc stars have large radial excursions and therefore stars from large radii with high angular momenta can be found in the bar region. We also find that the difference between the los velocities of the thin and thick disc in the b/p bulge ($Δv_{los}$) correlates with the initial difference between the radial velocity dispersions of the two discs ($Δσ$) . We therefore conclude that stars in the bar - b/p bulge will have considerably different morphologies and kinematics depending on the kinematic properties of the disc population they originate from.

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arXiv2017

Star formation histories in mergers: The spatially resolved properties of the early-stage merger LIRGs IC 1623 and NGC 6090

The role of major mergers in galaxy evolution is investigated through a detailed characterization of the stellar populations, ionized gas properties, and star formation rates (SFR) in the early-stage merger LIRGs IC 1623 W and NGC 6090, by analysing optical Integral Field Spectroscopy (IFS) and high resolution HST imaging. The spectra were processed with the Starlight full spectral fitting code, and the emission lines measured in the residual spectra. The results are compared with control non-interacting spiral galaxies from the CALIFA survey. Merger-induced star formation is extended and recent, as revealed by the young ages (50-80 Myr) and high contributions to light of young stellar populations (50-90$\%$), in agreement with merger simulations in the literature. These early-stage mergers have positive central gradients of the stellar metallicity, with an average $\sim$0.6 Z$_{\odot}$. Compared to non-interacting spirals, they have lower central nebular metallicity, and flatter profiles, in agreement with the gas inflow scenario. We find that they are dominated by star formation, although shock excitation cannot be discarded in some regions, where high velocity dispersion is found (170-200 km s$^{-1}$). The average SFR in these early-stage mergers ($\sim$23-32 M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$) is enhanced with respect to main-sequence Sbc galaxies by factors of 6-9, slightly above the predictions from classical merger simulations, but still possible in about 15$\%$ of major galaxy mergers, where U/LIRGs belong.

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arXiv2016

On the kinematic detection of accreted streams in the Gaia era: a cautionary tale

The $Λ$CDM cosmological scenario predicts that our Galaxy should contain hundreds of stellar streams at the solar vicinity, fossil relics of the merging history of the Milky Way and more generally of the hierarchical growth of galaxies. Because of the mixing time scales in the inner Galaxy, it has been claimed that these streams should be difficult to detect in configuration space but can still be identifiable in kinematic-related spaces like the energy/angular momenta spaces, E-Lz and Lperp-Lz, or spaces of orbital/velocity parameters. By means of high-resolution, dissipationless N-body simulations, containing between 25$\times10^6$ and 35$\times10^6$ particles, we model the accretion of a series of up to four 1:10 mass ratio satellites then up to eight 1:100 satellites and we search systematically for the signature of these accretions in these spaces. In all spaces considered (1) each satellite gives origin to several independent overdensities; (2) overdensities of multiple satellites overlap; (3) satellites of different masses can produce similar substructures; (4) the overlap between the in-situ and the accreted population is considerable everywhere; (5) in-situ stars also form substructures in response to the satellite(s) accretion. These points are valid even if the search is restricted to kinematically-selected halo stars only. As we are now entering the 'Gaia era', our results warn that an extreme caution must be employed before interpreting overdensities in any of those spaces as evidence of relics of accreted satellites. Reconstructing the accretion history of our Galaxy will require a substantial amount of accurate spectroscopic data, that, complemented by the kinematic information, will possibly allow us to (chemically) identify accreted streams and measure their orbital properties. (abridged)

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arXiv2016

High-redshift major mergers weakly enhance star formation

Galaxy mergers are believed to trigger strong starbursts. This is well assessed by observations in the local Universe. However the efficiency of this mechanism has poorly been tested so far for high redshift, actively star forming, galaxies. We present a suite of pc-resolution hydrodynamical numerical simulations to compare the star formation process along a merging sequence of high and low z galaxies, by varying the gas mass fraction between the two models. We show that, for the same orbit, high-redshift gas-rich mergers are less efficient than low-redshift ones at producing starbursts: the star formation rate excess induced by the merger and its duration are both around 10 times lower than in the low gas fraction case. The mechanisms that account for the star formation triggering at low redshift - the increased compressive turbulence, gas fragmentation, and central gas inflows - are only mildly, if not at all, enhanced for high gas fraction galaxy encounters. Furthermore, we show that the strong stellar feedback from the initially high star formation rate in high redshift galaxies does not prevent an increase of the star formation during the merger. Our results are consistent with the observed increase of the number of major mergers with increasing redshift being faster than the respective increase in the number of starburst galaxies.

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arXiv2016

Hiding its age: the case for a younger bulge

The determination of the age of the bulge has led to two contradictory results. On the one side, the color-magnitude diagrams in different bulge fields seem to indicate a uniformly old ($>$10 Gyr) population. On the other side, individual ages derived from dwarfs observed through microlensing events seem to indicate a large spread, from $\sim$ 2 to $\sim$ 13 Gyr. Because the bulge is now recognised as being mainly a boxy peanut-shaped bar, it is suggested that disk stars are one of its main constituents, and therefore also stars with ages significantly younger than 10 Gyr. Other arguments as well point to the fact that the bulge cannot be exclusively old, and in particular cannot be a burst population, as it is usually expected if the bulge was the fossil remnant of a merger phase in the early Galaxy. In the present study, we show that given the range of metallicities observed in the bulge, a uniformly old population would be reflected into a significant spread in color at the turn-off which is not observed. Inversely, we demonstrate that the correlation between age and metallicity expected to hold for the inner disk would conspire to form a color-magnitude diagram with a remarkably small spread in color, thus mimicking the color-magnitude diagram of a uniformly old population. If stars younger than 10 Gyr are part of the bulge, as must be the case if the bulge has been mainly formed through dynamical instabilities in the disk, then a very small spread at the turn-off is expected, as seen in the observations.

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arXiv2016

When the Milky Way turned off the lights: APOGEE provides evidence of star formation quenching in our Galaxy

Quenching, the cessation of star formation, is one of the most significant events in the life cycle of galaxies. We show here the first evidence that the Milky Way experienced a generalised quenching of its star formation at the end of its thick disk formation $\sim$9 Gyr ago. Elemental abundances of stars studied as part of the APOGEE survey reveal indeed that in less than $\sim$2 Gyr the star formation rate in our Galaxy dropped by an order-of-magnitude. Because of the tight correlation between age and alpha abundance, this event reflects in the dearth of stars along the inner disk sequence in the [Fe/H]-[$α$/Fe] plane. Before this phase, which lasted about 1.5 Gyr, the Milky Way was actively forming stars. Afterwards, the star formation resumed at a much lower level to form the thin disk. These events are very well matched by the latest observation of MW-type progenitors at high redshifts. In late type galaxies, quenching is believed to be related to a long and secular exhaustion of gas. In our Galaxy, it occurred on a much shorter time scale, while the chemical continuity before and after the quenching indicates that it was not due to the exhaustion of the gas. While quenching is generally associated with spheroids, our results show that it also occurs in galaxies like the Milky Way, possibly when they are undergoing a morphological transition from thick to thin disks. Given the demographics of late type galaxies in the local universe, in which classical bulges are rare, we suggest further that this may hold true generally in galaxies with mass lower than or approximately $M^*$, where quenching could be directly a consequence of thick disk formation. We emphasize that the quenching phase in the Milky Way could be contemporaneous with, and related to, the formation of the bar. We sketch a scenario on how a strong bar may inhibit star formation.

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arXiv2016

The disc origin of the Milky Way bulge

The Galactic bulge, that is the prominent out-of-plane over-density present in the inner few kiloparsecs of the Galaxy, is a complex structure, as the morphology, kinematics, chemistry and ages of its stars indicate. To understand the nature of its main components -- those at [Fe/H] >~ -1 dex -- it is necessary to make an inventory of the stellar populations of the Galactic disc(s), and of their borders : the chemistry of the disc at the solar vicinity, well known from detailed studies of stars over many years, is not representative of the whole disc. This finding, together with the recent revisions of the mass and sizes of the thin and thick discs, constitutes a major step in understanding the bulge complexity. N-body models of a boxy/peanut-shaped bulge formed from a thin disc through the intermediary of a bar have been successful in interpreting a number of global properties of the Galactic bulge, but they fail in reproducing the detailed chemo-kinematic relations satisfied by its components and their morphology. It is only by adding the thick disc to the picture that we can understand the nature of the Galactic bulge.

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arXiv2016

A new look at the kinematics of the bulge from an N-body model

(Abridged) By using an N-body simulation of a bulge that was formed via a bar instability mechanism, we analyse the imprints of the initial (i.e. before bar formation) location of stars on the bulge kinematics, in particular on the heliocentric radial velocity distribution of bulge stars. Four different latitudes were considered: $b=-4^\circ$, $-6^\circ$, $-8^\circ$, and $-10^\circ$, along the bulge minor axis as well as outside it, at $l=\pm5^\circ$ and $l=\pm10^\circ$. The bulge X-shaped structure comprises stars that formed in the disk at different locations. Stars formed in the outer disk, beyond the end of the bar, which are part of the boxy peanut-bulge structure may show peaks in the velocity distributions at positive and negative heliocentric radial velocities with high absolute values that can be larger than 100 $\rm km$ $\rm s^{-1}$, depending on the observed direction. In some cases the structure of the velocity field is more complex and several peaks are observed. Stars formed in the inner disk, the most numerous, contribute predominantly to the X-shaped structure and present different kinematic characteristics. Our results may enable us to interpret the cold high-velocity peak observed in the APOGEE commissioning data, as well as the excess of high-velocity stars in the near and far arms of the X-shaped structure at $l$=$0^\circ$ and $b$=$-6^\circ$. When compared with real data, the kinematic picture becomes more complex due to the possible presence in the observed samples of classical bulge and/or thick disk stars. Overall, our results point to the existence of complex patterns and structures in the bulge velocity fields, which are generated by the bar. This suggests that caution should be used when interpreting the bulge kinematics: the presence of substructures, peaks and clumps in the velocity fields is not necessarily a sign of past accretion events.

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arXiv2015

Quantifying stellar radial migration in an N-body simulation: blurring, churning, and the outer regions of galaxy discs

Radial stellar migration in galactic discs has received much attention in studies of galactic dynamics and chemical evolution, but remains a dynamical phenomenon that needs to be fully quantified. In this work, using a Tree-SPH simulation of an Sb-type disc galaxy, we quantify the effects of blurring (epicyclic excursions) and churning (change of guiding radius). We quantify migration (either blurring or churning) both in terms of flux (the number of migrators passing at a given radius), and by estimating the population of migrators at a given radius at the end of the simulation compared to non-migrators, but also by giving the distance over which the migration is effective at all radii. We confirm that the corotation of the bar is the main source of migrators by churning in a bar-dominated galaxy, its intensity being directly linked to the episode of a strong bar, in the first 1-3 Gyr of the simulation. We show that within the outer Lindblad resonance (OLR), migration is strongly dominated by churning, while blurring gains progressively more importance towards the outer disc and at later times. Most importantly, we show that the OLR limits the exchange of angular momentum, separating the disc in two distinct parts with minimal or null exchange, except in the transition zone, which is delimited by the position of the OLR at the epoch of the formation of the bar, and at the final epoch. We discuss the consequences of these findings for our understanding of the structure of the Milky Way disc. Because the Sun is situated slightly outside the OLR, we suggest that the solar vicinity may have experienced very limited churning from the inner disc.

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arXiv2015

Clues to the formation of the Milky Way's thick disk

We analyse the chemical properties of a set of solar vicinity stars, and show that the small dispersion in abundances of α-elements at all ages provides evidence that the SFH has been uniform throughout the thick disk. In the context of long time scale infall models, we suggest that this result points either to a limited dependence of the gas accretion on the Galactic radius in the inner disk (R<10 kpc), or to a decoupling of the accretion history and star formation history due to other processes governing the ISM in the early disk, suggesting that infall cannot be a determining parameter of the chemical evolution at these epochs. We argue however that these results and other recent observational constraints -- namely the lack of radial metallicity gradient and the non-evolving scale length of the thick disk -- are better explained if the early disk is viewed as a pre-assembled gaseous system, with most of the gas settled before significant star formation took place -- formally the equivalent of a closed-box model. In any case, these results point to a weak, or non-existent inside-out formation history in the thick disk, or in the first 3-5 Gyr of the formation of the Galaxy. We argue however that the growing importance of an external disk whose chemical properties are distinct from those of the inner disk would give the impression of an inside-out growth process when seen through snapshots at different epochs. However, the progressive, continuous process usually invoked may not have actually existed in the Milky Way.

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arXiv2015

On the cosmic evolution of the specific star formation rate

The apparent correlation between the specific star formation rate (sSFR) and total stellar mass (M_star) of galaxies is a fundamental relationship indicating how they formed their stellar populations. To attempt to understand this relation, we hypothesize that the relation and its evolution is regulated by the increase in the stellar and gas mass surface density in galaxies with redshift, which is itself governed by the angular momentum of the accreted gas, the amount of available gas, and by self-regulation of star formation. With our model, we can reproduce the specific SFR-M_star relations at z~1-2 by assuming gas fractions and gas mass surface densities similar to those observed for z=1-2 galaxies. We further argue that it is the increasing angular momentum with cosmic time that causes a decrease in the surface density of accreted gas. The gas mass surface densities in galaxies are controlled by the centrifugal support (i.e., angular momentum), and the sSFR is predicted to increase as, sSFR(z)=(1+z)^3/t_H0, as observed (where t_H0 is the Hubble time and no free parameters are necessary). At z>~2, we argue that star formation is self-regulated by high pressures generated by the intense star formation itself. The star formation intensity must be high enough to either balance the hydrostatic pressure (a rather extreme assumption) or to generate high turbulent pressure in the molecular medium which maintains galaxies near the line of instability (i.e. Toomre Q~1). The most important factor is the increase in stellar and gas mass surface density with redshift, which allows distant galaxies to maintain high levels of sSFR. Without a strong feedback from massive stars, such galaxies would likely reach very high sSFR levels, have high star formation efficiencies, and because strong feedback drives outflows, ultimately have an excess of stellar baryons (abridged).

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