2023MNRAS.525.2765D

We present the first statistical study of spatially integrated non-Gaussian stellar kinematics spanning 7 Gyr in cosmic time. We use deep, rest-frame optical spectroscopy of massive galaxies (stellar mass $M_\star \gt 10^{10.5} \, \mathrm{M_\odot }$) at redshifts z = 0.05, 0.3, and 0.8 from the SAMI, MAGPI, and LEGA-C surveys, to measure the excess kurtosis h₄ of the stellar velocity distribution, the latter parametrized as a Gauss-Hermite series. We find that at all redshifts where we have large enough samples, h₄ anticorrelates with the ratio between rotation and dispersion, highlighting the physical connection between these two kinematic observables. In addition, and independently from the anticorrelation with rotation-to-dispersion ratio, we also find a correlation between h₄ and M_⋆, potentially connected to the assembly history of galaxies. In contrast, after controlling for mass, we find no evidence of independent correlation between h₄ and aperture velocity dispersion or galaxy size. These results hold for both star-forming and quiescent galaxies. For quiescent galaxies, h₄ also correlates with projected shape, even after controlling for the rotation-to-dispersion ratio. At any given redshift, star-forming galaxies have lower h₄ compared to quiescent galaxies, highlighting the link between kinematic structure and star-forming activity.