From the VIMOS VLT DEEP Survey (VVDS) we select a sample of 16 galaxies with
spectra which identify them as having recently undergone a strong starburst and
subsequent fast quenching of star formation. These post-starburst galaxies lie
in the redshift range 0.510^9.75Msun. They have a number
density of 1x10^-4 per Mpc^3, almost two orders of magnitude sparser than the
full galaxy population with the same mass limit. We compare with simulations to
show that the galaxies are consistent with being the descendants of gas rich
major mergers. Starburst mass fractions must be larger than ~5-10% and decay
times shorter than ~10^8 years for post-starburst spectral signatures to be
observed in the simulations. We find that the presence of black hole feedback
does not greatly affect the evolution of the simulated merger remnants through
the post-starburst phase. The multiwavelength spectral energy distributions of
the post-starburst galaxies show that 5/16 have completely ceased the formation
of new stars. These 5 galaxies correspond to a mass flux entering the
red-sequence of rhodot(A->Q, PSB) = 0.0038Msun/Mpc^3/yr, assuming the defining
spectroscopic features are detectable for 0.35Gyr. If the galaxies subsequently
remain on the red sequence, this accounts for 38(+4/-11)% of the growth rate of
the red sequence. Finally, we compare our high redshift results with a sample
of galaxies with 0.05<z<0.1 observed in the SDSS and UKIDSS surveys. We find a
very strong redshift evolution: the mass density of strong post-starburst
galaxies is 230 times lower at z~0.07 than at z~0.7.Comment: 18 pages, 12 figures, to match version accepted to MNRAS. Minor
reordering of text in places and Sec 2.2 on SPH simulation comparisons
expande