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Register a new userThe Effects of Environment on the Evolution of the Galaxy Stellar Mass Function
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Casey Papovich
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We study the effects of galaxy environment on the evolution of the stellar-mass function (SMF) over 0.2 < z < 2.0 using the FourStar Galaxy Evolution (ZFOURGE) survey and NEWFIRM Medium-Band Survey (NMBS) down to the stellar-mass completeness limit, log M / Msun > 9.0 (9.5) at z = 1.0 (2.0). We compare the SMFs for quiescent and star-forming galaxies in the highest and lowest environments using a density estimator based on the distance to the galaxies third-nearest neighbors. For star-forming galaxies, at all redshifts there are only minor differences with environment in the shape of the SMF. For quiescent galaxies, the SMF in the lowest densities shows no evolution with redshift, other than an overall increase in number density (phi*) with time. This suggests that the stellar-mass dependence of quenching in relatively isolated galaxies is both universal and does not evolve strongly. While at z >~ 1.5 the SMF of quiescent galaxies is indistinguishable in the highest and lowest densities, at lower redshifts it shows a rapidly increasing number density of lower-mass galaxies, log M / Msun ~= 9-10. We argue this evolution can account for all the redshift evolution in the shape of the total quiescent-galaxy SMF. This evolution in the quiescent-galaxy SMF at higher redshift (z > 1) requires an environmental-quenching efficiency that decreases with decreasing stellar mass at 0.5 < z < 1.5 or it would overproduce the number of lower-mass quiescent galaxies in denser environments. This requires a dominant environment process such as starvation combined with rapid gas depletion and ejection at z > 0.5 - 1.0 for galaxies in our mass range. The efficiency of this process decreases with redshift allowing other processes (such as galaxy interactions and ram-pressure stripping) to become more important at later times, z < 0.5.
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We investigate the impact of local environment on the galaxy stellar mass function (SMF) spanning a wide range of galaxy densities from the field up to dense cores of massive galaxy clusters. Data are drawn from a sample of eight fields from the Observations of Redshift Evolution in Large-Scale Environments (ORELSE) survey. Deep photometry allow us to select mass-complete samples of galaxies down to 10^9 Msol. Taking advantage of >4000 secure spectroscopic redshifts from ORELSE and precise photometric redshifts, we construct 3-dimensional density maps between 0.55<z<1.3 using a Voronoi tessellation approach. We find that the shape of the SMF depends strongly on local environment exhibited by a smooth, continual increase in the relative numbers of high- to low-mass galaxies towards denser environments. A straightforward implication is that local environment proportionally increases the efficiency of (a) destroying lower-mass galaxies and/or (b) growth of higher-mass galaxies. We also find a presence of this environmental dependence in the SMFs of star-forming and quiescent galaxies, although not quite as strongly for the quiescent subsample. To characterize the connection between the SMF of field galaxies and that of denser environments we devise a simple semi-empirical model. The model begins with a sample of ~10^6 galaxies at z_start=5 with stellar masses distributed according to the field. Simulated galaxies then evolve down to z_final=0.8 following empirical prescriptions for star-formation, quenching, and galaxy-galaxy merging. We run the simulation multiple times, testing a variety of scenarios with differing overall amounts of merging. Our model suggests that a large number of mergers are required to reproduce the SMF in dense environments. Additionally, a large majority of these mergers would have to occur in intermediate density environments (e.g. galaxy groups).
In this paper we investigate whether the stellar initial mass function of early-type galaxies depends on their host environment. To this purpose, we have selected a sample of early-type galaxies from the SPIDER catalogue, characterized their environment through the group catalogue of Wang et al. and used their optical SDSS spectra to constrain the IMF slope, through the analysis of IMF-sensitive spectral indices. To reach a high enough signal-to-noise ratio, we have stacked spectra in velocity dispersion ($sigma_0$) bins, on top of separating the sample by galaxy hierarchy and host halo mass, as proxies for galaxy environment. In order to constrain the IMF, we have compared observed line strengths to predictions of MIUSCAT/EMILES synthetic stellar population models, with varying age, metallicity, and bimodal (low-mass tapered) IMF slope ($rm Gamma_b$). Consistent with previous studies, we find that $rm Gamma_b$ increases with $sigma_0$, becoming bottom-heavy (i.e. an excess of low-mass stars with respect to the Milky-Way-like IMF) at high $sigma_0$. We find that this result is robust against the set of isochrones used in the stellar population models, as well as the way the effect of elemental abundance ratios is taken into account. We thus conclude that it is possible to use currently state-of-the-art stellar population models and intermediate resolution spectra to consistently probe IMF variations. For the first time, we show that there is no dependence of $Gamma_b$ on environment or galaxy hierarchy, as measured within the $3$ SDSS fibre, thus leaving the IMF as an intrinsic galaxy property, possibly set already at high redshift.
At a fixed halo mass, galaxy clusters with higher magnitude gaps have larger brightest central galaxy (BCG) stellar masses. Recent studies have shown that by including the magnitude gap ($rm m_{gap}$) as a latent parameter in the stellar mass - halo mass (SMHM) relation, we can make more precise measurements on the amplitude, slope, and intrinsic scatter. Using galaxy clusters from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we measure the SMHM-$rm m_{gap}$ relation and its evolution out to $z=0.3$. Using a fixed comoving aperture of 100kpc to define the central galaxys stellar mass, we report statistically significant negative evolution in the slope of the SMHM relation to $z = 0.3$ ($> 3.5sigma$). The steepening of the slope over the last 3.5 Gyrs can be explained by late-time merger activity at the cores of galaxy clusters. We also find that the inferred slope depends on the aperture used to define the radial extent of the central galaxy. At small radii (20kpc), the slope of the SMHM relation is shallow, indicating that the core of the central galaxy is less related to the growth of the underlying host halo. By including all of the central galaxys light within 100kpc, the slope reaches an asymptote at a value consistent with recent high resolution hydrodynamical cosmology simulations.
We present the analysis of the galaxy stellar mass function in different environments at intermediate redshift (0.3<z<0.8) for two mass-limited galaxy samples. We use the IMACS Cluster Building Survey (ICBS), at masses M_ast >10^(10.5) M_sun, to study cluster, group, and field galaxies at z=0.3-0.45, and the ESO Distant Cluster Survey (EDisCS), at masses M_ast > 10^(10.2) M_sun, to investigate cluster and group galaxies at z=0.4-0.8. Therefore, in our analysis we include galaxies that are slightly less massive than the Milky Way. Having excluded the brightest cluster galaxies, we show thatthe shape of the mass distribution does not seem to depend on global environment. Our two main results are: (1) Galaxies in the virialized regions of clusters, in groups, and in the field follow a similar mass distribution. (2) Comparing both ICBS and EDisCS mass functions to mass functions in the local Universe, we find evolution from z~0.4-0.6 to z~0.07. The population of low-mass galaxies has proportionally grown with time with respect to that of massive galaxies. This evolution is independent of environment -- the same for clusters and the field. Furthermore, considering only clusters, we find that no differences can be detected neither within the virialized regions, nor when we compare galaxies within and outside the virial radius. Subdividing galaxies in terms of color, in clusters, groups, and field red and blue galaxies are regulated by different mass functions, but comparing separately the blue and red mass functions in different environments, no differences are detected in their shape.
We present a comparison of the observed evolving galaxy stellar mass functions with the predictions of eight semi-analytic models and one halo occupation distribution model. While most models are able to fit the data at low redshift, some of them struggle to simultaneously fit observations at high redshift. We separate the galaxies into passive and star-forming classes and find that several of the models produce too many low-mass star-forming galaxies at high redshift compared to observations, in some cases by nearly a factor of 10 in the redshift range $2.5 < z < 3.0$. We also find important differences in the implied mass of the dark matter haloes the galaxies inhabit, by comparing with halo masses inferred from observations. Galaxies at high redshift in the models are in lower mass haloes than suggested by observations, and the star formation efficiency in low-mass haloes is higher than observed. We conclude that many of the models require a physical prescription that acts to dissociate the growth of low-mass galaxies from the growth of their dark matter haloes at high redshift.
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