On the (Lack of) Evolution of the Stellar Mass Function of Massive Galaxies from z = 1.5 to 0.4
| Autor: | Robin Ciardullo, Isak Wold, Casey Papovich, Caryl Gronwall, Sydney Sherman, Steven L. Finkelstein, Matthew L. Stevans, Lalitwadee Kawinwanichakij, Shardha Jogee, Jonathan Florez |
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| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
Physics
education.field_of_study Number density 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences Stellar population Stellar mass Star formation Population FOS: Physical sciences Astronomy and Astrophysics Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics Function (mathematics) Astrophysics Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies 01 natural sciences Galaxy Space and Planetary Science Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) 0103 physical sciences Astrophysics::Solar and Stellar Astrophysics education 010303 astronomy & astrophysics Stellar evolution Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics 0105 earth and related environmental sciences |
| Zdroj: | The Astrophysical Journal. 892:7 |
| ISSN: | 1538-4357 |
| Popis: | We study the evolution in the number density of the highest mass galaxies over $0.410.3$ using a forward-modeling method that fully accounts for statistical and systematic uncertainties on stellar mass. From $z$=0.4 to 1.5 the massive end of the SMF shows minimal evolution in its shape: the characteristic mass ($M^\ast$) evolves by less than 0.1 dex ($\pm$0.05 dex); the number density of galaxies with $\log (M_\ast/M_\odot) >11$ stays roughly constant at $\log (n/\mathrm{Mpc}^{-3})$ $\simeq$ $-$3.4 ($\pm$0.05), then declines to $\log (n/\mathrm{Mpc}^{-3})$=$-$3.7 ($\pm$0.05) at $z$=1.5. We discuss the uncertainties in the SMF, which are dominated by assumptions in the star formation history and details of stellar population synthesis models for stellar mass estimations. For quiescent galaxies, the data are consistent with no (or slight) evolution ($\lesssim0.1$ dex) in the characteristic mass nor number density from $z\sim 1.5$ to the present. This implies that any mass growth (presumably through "dry" mergers) of the quiescent massive galaxy population must balance the rate of mass losses from late-stage stellar evolution and the formation of quenching galaxies from the star-forming population. We provide a limit on this mass growth from $z=1.0$ to 0.4 of $\Delta M_\ast/M_\ast\leq$ 45% (i.e., $\simeq0.16$ dex) for quiescent galaxies more massive than $10^{11}$ $M_\odot$. Comment: 39 pages, 23 figure, accepted for publication in ApJ |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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