The Bursty Star Formation Histories of Low-mass Galaxies at $0.4<z<1$ Revealed by Star Formation Rates Measured from H$beta$ and FUV


Abstract in English

We investigate the burstiness of star formation histories (SFHs) of galaxies at $0.4<z<1$ by using the ratio of star formation rates (SFRs) measured from H$beta$ and FUV (1500 AA) (H$beta$--to--FUV ratio). Our sample contains 164 galaxies down to stellar mass (M*) of $10^{8.5} M_odot$ in the CANDELS GOODS-N region, where Team Keck Redshift Survey DEIMOS spectroscopy and HST/WFC3 F275W images from CANDELS and Hubble Deep UV Legacy Survey are available. When the {it ratio} of H$beta$- and FUV-derived SFRs is measured, dust extinction correction is negligible (except for very dusty galaxies) with the Calzetti attenuation curve. The H$beta$--to--FUV ratio of our sample increases with M* and SFR. The median ratio is $sim$0.7 at M*$sim10^{8.5} M_odot$ (or SFR$sim 0.5 M_odot/yr$) and increases to $sim$1 at M*$sim10^{10} M_odot$ (or SFR $sim 10 M_odot/yr$). At M*$<10^{9.5} M_odot$, our median H$beta$--to--FUV ratio is lower than that of local galaxies at the same M*, implying a redshift evolution. Bursty SFH on a timescale of a few tens of megayears on galactic scales provides a plausible explanation of our results, and the importance of the burstiness increases as M* decreases. Due to sample selection effects, our H$beta$--to--FUV ratio may be an upper limit of the true value of a complete sample, which strengthens our conclusions. Other models, e.g., non-universal initial mass function or stochastic star formation on star cluster scales, are unable to plausibly explain our results.

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