Early-type galaxy density profiles from IllustrisTNG – II. Evolutionary trend of the total density profile
© 2019 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society We study the evolutionary trend of the total density profile of early-type galaxies (ETGs) in IllustrisTNG. To this end, we trace ETGs from z = 0 to 4 and measure the power-law slope γ ' of the...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Oxford University Press (OUP)
2021
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/132584 |
| _version_ | 1811071362194735104 |
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| author | Wang, Yunchong Vogelsberger, Mark Xu, Dandan Shen, Xuejian Mao, Shude Barnes, David Li, Hui Marinacci, Federico Torrey, Paul Springel, Volker Hernquist, Lars |
| author_facet | Wang, Yunchong Vogelsberger, Mark Xu, Dandan Shen, Xuejian Mao, Shude Barnes, David Li, Hui Marinacci, Federico Torrey, Paul Springel, Volker Hernquist, Lars |
| author_sort | Wang, Yunchong |
| collection | MIT |
| description | © 2019 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society We study the evolutionary trend of the total density profile of early-type galaxies (ETGs) in IllustrisTNG. To this end, we trace ETGs from z = 0 to 4 and measure the power-law slope γ ' of the total density profile for their main progenitors. We find that their slopes γ ' steepen on average during z ∼ 4-2, then becoming shallower until z = 1, after which they remain almost constant, aside from a residual trend of becoming shallower towards z = 0. We also compare to a statistical sample of ETGs at different redshifts, selected based on their luminosity profiles and stellar masses. Due to different selection effects, the average slopes of the statistical samples follow a modified evolutionary trend. They monotonically decrease since z = 3, and after z ≈ 1, they remain nearly invariant with a mild increase towards z = 0. These evolutionary trends are mass dependent for both samples, with low-mass galaxies having in general steeper slopes than their more massive counterparts. Galaxies that transitioned to ETGs more recently have steeper mean slopes as they tend to be smaller and more compact at any given redshift. By analysing the impact of mergers and AGN feedback on the progenitors' evolution, we conjecture a multiphase path leading to isothermality in ETGs: dissipation associated with rapid wet mergers tends to steepen γ ' from z = 4 to 2, whereas subsequent AGN feedback (especially in the kinetic mode) makes γ ' shallower again from z = 2 to 1. Afterwards, passive evolution from z = 1 to 0, mainly through gas-poor mergers, mildly decreases γ ' and maintains the overall mass distribution close to isothermal. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:50:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/132584 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:50:01Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1325842021-09-21T04:02:35Z Early-type galaxy density profiles from IllustrisTNG – II. Evolutionary trend of the total density profile Wang, Yunchong Vogelsberger, Mark Xu, Dandan Shen, Xuejian Mao, Shude Barnes, David Li, Hui Marinacci, Federico Torrey, Paul Springel, Volker Hernquist, Lars © 2019 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society We study the evolutionary trend of the total density profile of early-type galaxies (ETGs) in IllustrisTNG. To this end, we trace ETGs from z = 0 to 4 and measure the power-law slope γ ' of the total density profile for their main progenitors. We find that their slopes γ ' steepen on average during z ∼ 4-2, then becoming shallower until z = 1, after which they remain almost constant, aside from a residual trend of becoming shallower towards z = 0. We also compare to a statistical sample of ETGs at different redshifts, selected based on their luminosity profiles and stellar masses. Due to different selection effects, the average slopes of the statistical samples follow a modified evolutionary trend. They monotonically decrease since z = 3, and after z ≈ 1, they remain nearly invariant with a mild increase towards z = 0. These evolutionary trends are mass dependent for both samples, with low-mass galaxies having in general steeper slopes than their more massive counterparts. Galaxies that transitioned to ETGs more recently have steeper mean slopes as they tend to be smaller and more compact at any given redshift. By analysing the impact of mergers and AGN feedback on the progenitors' evolution, we conjecture a multiphase path leading to isothermality in ETGs: dissipation associated with rapid wet mergers tends to steepen γ ' from z = 4 to 2, whereas subsequent AGN feedback (especially in the kinetic mode) makes γ ' shallower again from z = 2 to 1. Afterwards, passive evolution from z = 1 to 0, mainly through gas-poor mergers, mildly decreases γ ' and maintains the overall mass distribution close to isothermal. 2021-09-20T18:23:11Z 2021-09-20T18:23:11Z 2020-11-12T18:31:43Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/132584 en 10.1093/MNRAS/STZ2907 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ application/pdf Oxford University Press (OUP) arXiv |
| spellingShingle | Wang, Yunchong Vogelsberger, Mark Xu, Dandan Shen, Xuejian Mao, Shude Barnes, David Li, Hui Marinacci, Federico Torrey, Paul Springel, Volker Hernquist, Lars Early-type galaxy density profiles from IllustrisTNG – II. Evolutionary trend of the total density profile |
| title | Early-type galaxy density profiles from IllustrisTNG – II. Evolutionary trend of the total density profile |
| title_full | Early-type galaxy density profiles from IllustrisTNG – II. Evolutionary trend of the total density profile |
| title_fullStr | Early-type galaxy density profiles from IllustrisTNG – II. Evolutionary trend of the total density profile |
| title_full_unstemmed | Early-type galaxy density profiles from IllustrisTNG – II. Evolutionary trend of the total density profile |
| title_short | Early-type galaxy density profiles from IllustrisTNG – II. Evolutionary trend of the total density profile |
| title_sort | early type galaxy density profiles from illustristng ii evolutionary trend of the total density profile |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/132584 |
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