In spatially resolved galaxy observations, star formation rate radial profiles are found to correlate with total specific star formation rates. A central depletion in star formation is thought to correlate with the globally depressed star formation rates of, for example, galaxies within the Green Valley. We present, for the first time, radial specific star formation rate profiles for a statistical sample of simulated galaxies from the Illustris and EAGLE large cosmological simulations. For galaxies on the star-forming sequence, simulated specific star formation rate profiles are in reasonable agreement with observations. However, both galaxy samples show centrally concentrated star formation for galaxies in the Green Valley at all galaxy stellar masses, suggesting that quenching occurs from the outside-in, in strong conflict with observations of inside-out quenching. This difference between simulations and observations may be due to resolution issues and/or possible failures in the star formation and feedback implementation in current large-scale cosmological simulations. We conclude that the distribution of star formation within galaxies is a strong additional constraint for simulations and models, in particular related to the quenching of star formation.

We present the KODIAQ-Z survey aimed to characterize the cool, photoionized gas at 2.2 ≲ z ≲ 3.6 in 202 H i-selected absorbers with 14.6 ≤ log N H I < 20 that probe the interface between galaxies and the intergalactic medium (IGM). We find that gas with 14.6 ≤ log N H I < 20 at 2.2 ≲ z ≲ 3.6 can be metal-rich (−1.6 ≲ [X/H] ≲ − 0.2) as seen in damped Lyα absorbers (DLAs); it can also be very metal-poor ([X/H] < − 2.4) or even pristine ([X/H] < − 3.8), which is not observed in DLAs but is common in the IGM. For 16 < log N H I < 20 absorbers, the frequency of pristine absorbers is about 1%–10%, while for 14.6 ≤ log N H I ≤ 16 absorbers it is 10%–20%, similar to the diffuse IGM. Supersolar gas is extremely rare (<1%) at these redshifts. The factor of several thousand spread from the lowest to highest metallicities and large metallicity variations (a factor of a few to >100) between absorbers separated by less than Δv < 500 km s−1 imply that the metals are poorly mixed in 14.6 ≤ log N H I < 20 gas. We show that these photoionized absorbers contribute to about 14% of the cosmic baryons and 45% of the cosmic metals at 2.2 ≲ z ≲ 3.6. We find that the mean metallicity increases with N H i , consistent with what is found in z < 1 gas. The metallicity of gas in this column density regime has increased by a factor ∼8 from 2.2 ≲ z ≲ 3.6 to z < 1, but the contribution of the 14.6 ≤ log N H I < 19 absorbers to the total metal budget of the universe at z < 1 is a quarter of that at 2.2 ≲ z ≲ 3.6. We show that FOGGIE cosmological zoom-in simulations have a similar evolution of [X/H] with N H i , which is not observed in lower-resolution simulations. In these simulations, very metal-poor absorbers with [X/H] < − 2.4 at z ∼ 2–3 are tracers of inflows, while higher-metallicity absorbers are a mixture of inflows and outflows.

The observed breakBRD (“break bulges in red disks”) galaxies are a nearby sample of face-on disk galaxies with particularly centrally concentrated star formation: they have red disks but recent star formation in their centers as measured by the D n 4000 spectral index. In this paper, we search for breakBRD analogs in the IllustrisTNG simulation and describe their history and future. We find that a small fraction (∼4% at z = 0; ∼1% at z = 0.5) of galaxies fulfill the breakBRD criteria, in agreement with observations. In comparison with the mass-weighted parent IllustrisTNG sample, these galaxies tend to consist of a higher fraction of satellite and splashback galaxies. However, the central, non-splashback breakBRD galaxies show similar environments, black hole masses, and merger rates, indicating that there is not a single formation trigger for inner star formation and outer quenching. We determine that breakBRD analog galaxies as a whole are in the process of quenching. The breakBRD state, with its highly centrally concentrated star formation, is uncommon in the history of either currently quiescent or star-forming galaxies; however, approximately 10% of 1010 < M */M ⊙ < 1011 quiescent galaxies at z = 0 have experienced SFR concentrations comparable to those of the breakBRDs in their past. Additionally, the breakBRD state is short lived, lasting a few hundred Myr up to ∼2 Gyr. The observed breakBRD galaxies may therefore be a unique sample of outside-in quenching galaxies.

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