A Different Approach to Galaxy Evolution

Abstract

The consequences are explored of an observationally established relation of the star formation rate (SFR) of star-forming galaxies with their stellar mass (M) and cosmic time (t), such that SFR is proportional to M x t^{-2.5}. It is shown, that small systematic differences in SFR dramatically amplify in the course of time: galaxies with above average SFR run into quasi-exponential mass and SFR growth, while galaxies with below average SFR avoid such exponential growth and evolve with moderate mass increase. It is argued that galaxies following the first path would enormously overgrow if keeping to form stars all the way to the present, hence should quench star formation and turn passive. By the same token, those instead avoiding the quasi-exponential growth may keep to form stars up to the present. Thus, it is conjectured that this divergent behaviour can help understanding the origin of the dichotomy between passive, spheroidal galaxies, and star-forming, disk galaxies.