The Main Sequence at z similar to 1.3 Contains a Sizable Fraction of Galaxies with Compact Star Formation Sizes: A New Population of Early Post-starbursts?

Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) measurements for 93 Herschel-selected galaxies at 1.1 ≤ z ≤ 1.7 in COSMOS reveal a sizable (>29%) population with compact star formation (SF) sizes, lying on average >×3.6 below the optical stellar mass (M sstarf)–size relation of disks. This sample widely spans the star-forming main sequence (MS), having 10⁸ ≤ M _* ≤ 10^11.5 M ⊙ and 20 ≤ star formation rate (SFR) ≤ 680 M ⊙ yr⁻¹. The 32 size measurements and 61 upper limits are measured on ALMA images that combine observations of CO(5–4), CO(4–3), CO(2–1), and λ obs ~ 1.1–1.3 mm continuum, all tracing the star-forming molecular gas. These compact galaxies have instead normally extended K band sizes, suggesting strong specific SFR gradients. Compact galaxies comprise the 50 ± 18% of MS galaxies at M _* > 10¹¹ M ⊙. This is not expected in standard bimodal scenarios, where MS galaxies are mostly steadily growing extended disks. We suggest that compact MS objects are early post-starburst galaxies in which the merger-driven boost of SF has subsided. They retain their compact SF size until either further gas accretion restores premerger galaxy-wide SF, or until becoming quenched. The fraction of merger-affected SF inside the MS seems thus larger than anticipated and might reach ~50% at the highest M _*. The presence of large galaxies above the MS demonstrates an overall poor correlation between galaxy SF size and specific SFR.