%0 Generic %1 zwaan2013content %A Zwaan, Martin A. %A Kuntschner, Harald %A Pracy, Michael B. %A Couch, Warrick J. %D 2013 %K cold gas psb %T The cold gas content of post-starburst galaxies %U http://arxiv.org/abs/1303.4307 %X Post-starburst galaxies, or E+A galaxies, are characterized by optical spectra showing strong Balmer absorption lines, indicating a young stellar population, and little or no emission lines, implying no active star formation. These galaxies are interpreted as a transitional population between star-forming, disk-dominated galaxies and spheroidal quiescent, non-star forming galaxies. Here, we present single dish HI 21-cm emission line measurements of a sample of eleven of these galaxies at redshifts z<0.05. We detect H I emission in six of the E+A galaxies. In combination with earlier studies, the total number of E+A galaxies with measured cold gas components is now eleven. Roughly half of the E+As studied so far have detectable HI. The gas fractions of these galaxies, measured with respect to their stellar mass, are between 1 and 10 percent and are at the high end of the gas fractions measured in gas-bearing early type galaxies and typically lower than seen in late-type galaxies with comparable stellar masses. This finding is consistent with the idea that E+As are currently evolving from the blue cloud to the red sequence. However, the question of why the star formation has ceased in these galaxies while a significant gas reservoir is still present can only be answered by higher spatial resolution observations of the cold gas.

@misc{zwaan2013content, abstract = {Post-starburst galaxies, or E+A galaxies, are characterized by optical spectra showing strong Balmer absorption lines, indicating a young stellar population, and little or no emission lines, implying no active star formation. These galaxies are interpreted as a transitional population between star-forming, disk-dominated galaxies and spheroidal quiescent, non-star forming galaxies. Here, we present single dish HI 21-cm emission line measurements of a sample of eleven of these galaxies at redshifts z<0.05. We detect H I emission in six of the E+A galaxies. In combination with earlier studies, the total number of E+A galaxies with measured cold gas components is now eleven. Roughly half of the E+As studied so far have detectable HI. The gas fractions of these galaxies, measured with respect to their stellar mass, are between 1 and 10 percent and are at the high end of the gas fractions measured in gas-bearing early type galaxies and typically lower than seen in late-type galaxies with comparable stellar masses. This finding is consistent with the idea that E+As are currently evolving from the blue cloud to the red sequence. However, the question of why the star formation has ceased in these galaxies while a significant gas reservoir is still present can only be answered by higher spatial resolution observations of the cold gas.}, added-at = {2013-03-19T04:07:43.000+0100}, author = {Zwaan, Martin A. and Kuntschner, Harald and Pracy, Michael B. and Couch, Warrick J.}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/235a50a627e8ad085e56a961bcd4f76c7/miki}, description = {[1303.4307] The cold gas content of post-starburst galaxies}, interhash = {8b57e2229a3ead2c72c23fba5fd0facb}, intrahash = {35a50a627e8ad085e56a961bcd4f76c7}, keywords = {cold gas psb}, note = {cite arxiv:1303.4307Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 8 pages, 4 figures}, timestamp = {2013-03-19T04:07:43.000+0100}, title = {The cold gas content of post-starburst galaxies}, url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/1303.4307}, year = 2013 }