Via numerical experiments, we show that the ∼10%–20% passive fraction seen at z ≳ 3 is consistent with galaxy star formation histories being maximally correlated stochastic processes. If so, this fraction should reflect a time-independent baseline that holds at any epoch or mass regime where mean star formation rates are rising. Data at and z ≲ 0.5 bear this out, as should future James Webb Space Telescope observations.

中文翻译：

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至少六分之一的星系总是死亡

通过数值实验，我们表明在z  ≳ 3 处看到的~10%–20% 被动分数与星系恒星形成历史是最大相关的随机过程一致。如果是这样，这个分数应该反映一个与时间无关的基线，该基线在平均恒星形成率上升的任何时代或质量状态下都成立。和z ≲ 0.5处的数据 证明了这一点，未来的詹姆斯韦伯太空望远镜观测也应如此。