We investigate the effect of dry merging on the color-magnitude relation (CMR) of galaxies and find that the amount of merging predicted by a hierarchical model results in a red sequence that compares well with the observed low-redshift relation. A sample of 29,000 early-type galaxies selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 6 shows that the bright end of the CMR has a shallower slope and smaller scatter than the faint end. This magnitude dependence is predicted by a simple toy model in which gas-rich mergers move galaxies onto a "creation red sequence" (CRS) by quenching their star formation, and subsequent mergers between red, gas-poor galaxies (so-called "dry" mergers) move galaxies along the relation. We use galaxy merger trees from a semianalytic model of galaxy formation to test the amplitude of this effect and find a change in slope at the bright end that brackets the observations, using gas fraction thresholds of 10-30% to separate wet and dry mergers. A more realistic model that includes scatter in the CRS shows that dry merging decreases the scatter at the bright end. Contrary to previous claims, the small scatter in the observed CMR thus cannot be used to constrain the amount of dry merging.
Evolution along the sequence of S0 Hubble types induced by dry minor mergers. II - Bulge-disk coupling in the photometric relations through merger-induced internal secular evolution
We perform dry merger simulations to investigate the role of dry mergers in the size growth of early-type galaxies in high density environments. We replace the virialized dark matter haloes obtained by a large cosmological $N$-body simulation with $N$-body galaxy models consisting of two components, a stellar bulge and a dark matter halo, which have higher mass resolution than the cosmological simulation. We then re-simulate nine cluster forming regions, whose masses range from 1e+14 Msun to 5e+14 Msun. Masses and sizes of stellar bulges are also assumed to satisfy the stellar mass--size relat…
The stellar initial mass function (IMF) of early-type galaxies is the combination of the IMF of the stellar population formed in-situ and that of accreted stellar populations. Using as an observable the effective IMF $α_{IMF}$, defined as the ratio between the true stellar mass of a galaxy and the stellar mass inferred assuming a Salpeter IMF, we present a theoretical model for its evolution as a result of dry mergers. We use a simple dry merger evolution model, based on cosmological $N$-body simulations, together with empirically motivated prescriptions for the IMF to make predictions for how…
A close-pair analysis of damp mergers at intermediate redshifts
我们研究了加拿大-法国-夏威夷望远镜遗产巡天中发现的约2800个0.1<z<1.2的候选密偶星系的运动学。这些系统的光谱是使用6.5米麦哲伦和5米海尔望远镜上的光谱仪获得的。这些数据使我们能够限制在中等红移的干合并率,并测试“热晕”模型淬火的恒星形成。使用Leauthaud等人(2011)发表的动力学质量和恒星质量之间的相关性估计的维里半径,我们发现大约1/5的候选对可能共享一个共同的暗物质晕(我们的密切物理关联度量)。使用Chou et al.(2011)中介绍的静止帧颜色分类方法将这些对分为红-红、蓝-红和蓝-蓝系统。在我们的样本中被归类为红色的星系有非常低的恒星形成率,但它们不需要完全静止,因此我们称它们为“潮湿”系统,而不是“干燥”系统。在校正已知的选择效应后,蓝-蓝对的比例显著大于红-红和蓝-红对的比例。在我们的样本中几乎完全没有红-红对,这表明在z~0.5时湿合并是罕见的。我们的数据支持短合并时间尺度(<0.5 Gyr)的模型,其中恒星形成在合并的早期阶段增强,但在后期阶段淬灭。热晕模型可以解释这种行为,但只有当维里冲击加热气体是低效的,直到主要的合并几乎完成。
Building the red sequence through gas-rich major mergers
了解红色序列是如何构建的细节是星系演化中的一个关键问题。富气合并与干合并、大合并与小合并或星系合并与气体吸积的相对作用是什么?在Wild et al. 2009中,我们将流体动力学模拟与观测结果进行了比较,以显示富含气体的主要合并如何导致具有强烈的星暴后光谱特征的星系,这是一个很容易在真实宇宙中使用光谱识别的星系群。使用光谱从VVDS深调查z~0.7,和主成分分析技术,以提供足够高的SNR的指标,我们发现,40%的红序列的质量流量可以通过一个强大的后星爆阶段,从而通过丰富的气体主要合并。下一代星系红移巡天提供的更深层次的样本将使我们能够观察到导致恒星形成停止和红色序列形成的主要物理过程。
The bright end of the colour-magnitude relation of cluster galaxies
利用星系形成的半解析模型研究了团星系红序的发展。结果表明,在早型星系中,模拟的RS的总趋势与观测的关系之间有很好的一致性。然而,最明亮的星系($M_V \lesssim -20$)偏离了观测数据的线性拟合,显示出几乎恒定的颜色。我们分析了不同过程(即,静止恒星形成、盘不稳定性和合并),发现自$z\approx 2$以来,亮端的演化主要由次要和主要干合并驱动。由于最明亮的星系年龄分布很窄($1.0\times 10^{10}$ yr $<t<1.2\times 10^{10}$ yr),它们的金属丰度是影响它们颜色的主要因素。由于星系内恒星形成和合并卫星吸积所提供的恒星和金属质量的竞争,亮端的Galerkin达到金属丰度的上限。大质量星系(M_ \star \gtrsim 10^{10} M_{\odot} $) contribute with stellar components of high metallicity, but this fraction of stellar mass is negligible. Mergers contribute with a larger fraction of stellar mass ($ \approx 10-20 $ per cent), but the metallicity of the accreted satellites…
The role of galaxy mergers in fueling active galactic nuclei (AGN) is still debated, owing partly to selection effects inherent to studies of the merger/AGN connection. In particular, luminous AGN are often heavily obscured in late-stage mergers. Mid-infrared (IR) color selection of dust-enshrouded AGN with, e.g., the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) has uncovered large new populations of obscured AGN. However, this method is sensitive mainly to AGN that dominate emission from the host. To understand how these selection biases affect mid-IR studies of the merger/AGN connection, we si…
Constraining the star formation and the assembly histories of normal and compact early-type galaxies at 1<z<2
[摘要]我们提出了一项基于62个早型星系(ETG)样本的研究,其样本为0.9<z_spec<2,旨在限制它们过去的恒星形成和质量组装历史。该样品是由正常的ETG的有效半径相当于当地的平均半径和紧凑的ETG的有效半径从2到6倍小。我们没有发现证据的ETG的紧凑性依赖于他们的恒星质量。我们发现正常ETG的恒星质量形成于z_form<3,而致密ETG的恒星含量形成于2<z_form <10 with a large fraction of them characterized by z_form>5。在z_form>5时形成的早期恒星聚集在致密且质量更大(M_*>10^11 M_sun)的ETG中,而在z_form<3时形成的晚期恒星或在随后的恒星形成阶段形成的恒星聚集在致密和正常ETG中。因此,恒星星族越老,宿主星系的质量就越大,但反之则不然。这表明形成时代可能在大规模ETG的形成中发挥作用,而不是质量本身。正常<z>~1.5 ETG可能是高z致密球体通过随后的干合并扩大的后代的一般方案是不兼容的,目前的模型预测的干合并的数量比所需的数量级低两个数量级。此外,我们没有发现证据支持依赖于它们的组装红移星系的紧凑性。最后,我们提出了一个简单的基于耗散富气合并的ETG恒星质量的形成和组装方案,该方案可以定性地解释在~1.5观测到的正常ETG和致密ETG的共存<z…
Mergers and the spin of the dark matter halo are factors traditionally believed to determine the morphology of galaxies within a $Λ$CDM cosmology. We study this hypothesis by considering approximately 18,000 central galaxies at $z=0$ with stellar masses $M_{\ast} = 10^{9}-10^{12} \, {\rm M}_{\odot}$ selected from the Illustris cosmological hydrodynamic simulation. The fraction of accreted stars -- which measures the importance of massive, recent and dry mergers -- increases steeply with galaxy stellar mass, from less than 5 per cent in dwarfs to 80 per cent in the most massive objects, and the…
We use the Zurich ENvironmental Study (ZENS) database to investigate the environmental dependence of the merger fraction $Γ$ and merging galaxy properties in a sample of ~1300 group galaxies with $M>10^{9.2}M_\odot$ and 0.05<z<0.0585. In all galaxy mass bins investigated in our study, we find that $Γ$ decreases by a factor of ~2-3 in groups with halo masses $M_{HALO}>10^{13.5} M_\odot$ relative to less massive systems, indicating a suppression of merger activity in large potential wells. In the fiducial case of relaxed groups only, we measure a variation $ΔΓ/Δ\log (M_{HALO}) \sim - 0.07$ dex$^…
We present a pilot study on the origin and assembly history of the ICL for four galaxy clusters at 0.44<z<0.57 observed with the Hubble Space Telescope from the Cluster Lensing and Supernova Survey with Hubble (CLASH) sample. Using this sample of clusters we set an empirical limit on the amount of scatter in ICL surface brightness profiles of such clusters at z=0.5 and constrain the progenitor population and formation mechanism of the ICL by measuring the ICL surface brightness profile, the ICL color and color gradient, and the total ICL luminosity within 10<r<110 kpc. The observed scatter is …
Gravitational waves (GWs) in the nano-hertz band are great tools for understanding the cosmological evolution of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in galactic nuclei. We consider SMBH binaries in high-$z$ ultra-luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) as sources of a stochastic GW background (GWB). ULIRGs are likely associated with gas-rich galaxy mergers containing SMBHs that possibly occur at most once in the life of galaxies, unlike multiple dry mergers at low redshift. Adopting a well-established sample of ULIRGs, we study the properties of the GWB due to coalescing binary SMBHs in these galaxie…
Dual AGN are important for understanding galaxy-merger-triggered fueling of black holes and hierarchical growth of structures. The least explored type of dual AGN are those associated with mergers of two dwarf galaxies. According to observations and cosmological simulations, dwarf galaxies are the most abundant type of galaxies in the early Universe and the galaxy merger rate is dominated by dwarfs. However, these mergers are generally too distant to be directly observed, and low-redshift dwarf-dwarf merger-related dual AGN are notoriously hard to find. In this paper, we present the first resu…