PHYSICAL PROPERTIES, STAR FORMATION, AND ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS ACTIVITY IN BALMER BREAK GALAXIES AT 0 < z < 1

We present a spectroscopic study with the derivation of the physical properties of 37 Balmer break galaxies, which have the necessary lines to locate them in star-forming-active galactic nuclei (AGNs) diagnostic diagrams. We investigate the connection between star formation and AGN activity via optical, mass-excitation (MEx), and MIR diagnostic diagrams. Through optical diagrams, 31 (84%) star-forming galaxies, two (5%) composite galaxies, and three (8%) AGNs were classified, whereas from the MEx diagram only one galaxy was classified as AGN. Of these, three AGN candidates were not classified as AGN in the optical diagrams, suggesting they are dusty/obscured AGNs, or that nuclear star formation has diluted their contributions. These results are consistent with previous ones showing that, at a given mass, high-redshift galaxies have on average larger SFR and SSFR values than low-redshift galaxies. Finally, bluer galaxies have larger SSFR values than redder galaxies and for a given color the SSFR is larger for higher redshift galaxies.