Comparing Star Formation Histories and Evolutionary Pathways of Post-starburst and E+A Galaxies in TNG50 and SDSS-IV MaNGA

E+A galaxies represent a class of recently quenched objects, with spectra that show evidence of a previous substantial starburst and strong Balmer absorption lines indicative of A-type stellar populations. Using an SDSS-IV MaNGA–selected sample of E+A galaxies, we identify a matching sample in the TNG50 simulation to study their evolutionary histories. Additionally, we identify a sample of generic post-starburst (PSB) galaxies based on their star formation histories (SFHs) from the MaNGA Pipe3D value-added catalog. We find that PSB-like SFHs make up a similar fraction of galaxies in TNG50 (0.9% compared to MaNGA’s ∼1%). Matching galaxies based solely on their stellar masses and metallicities in TNG50 does not result in a sample with PSB-like histories. We analyzed the chemical enrichment histories of our selected simulated galaxy samples and found that both PSB and E+A galaxies exhibit a distinct episode of rapid enrichment when compared to galaxies in TNG50 with a similar stellar mass range. These galaxies are typically metal-poor before undergoing an extended ∼2 Gyr starburst, during which a phase of rapid chemical enrichment occurs over the first ∼300 Myr. The final systems are generally more metal-rich than the average galaxy in TNG50, while the MaNGA data do not show this trend. This suggests that PSB galaxies undergo unique evolutionary processes as they transition from starburst activity to quiescence. Further studies are needed to determine whether these galaxies originate from truly metal-poor progenitors and to better understand their subsequent evolution.