Evolution of the galaxy stellar mass function: evidence for an increasing M* from z = 2 to the present day
Utilizing optical and near-infrared broad-band photometry covering >5 deg2 in two of the most well-studied extragalactic legacy fields (COSMOS and XMM-LSS), we measure the galaxy stellar mass function (GSMF) between 0.1 < z < 2.0. We explore in detail the effect of two source extraction met...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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Oxford University Press
2021
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| _version_ | 1797085846432645120 |
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| author | Adams, NJ Bowler, RAA Jarvis, MJ Häußler, B Lagos, CDP |
| author_facet | Adams, NJ Bowler, RAA Jarvis, MJ Häußler, B Lagos, CDP |
| author_sort | Adams, NJ |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Utilizing optical and near-infrared broad-band photometry covering >5 deg2 in two of the most well-studied extragalactic legacy fields (COSMOS and XMM-LSS), we measure the galaxy stellar mass function (GSMF) between 0.1 < z < 2.0. We explore in detail the effect of two source extraction methods (SExtractor and ProFound) in addition to the inclusion/exclusion of Spitzer IRAC 3.6 and 4.5 μm photometry when measuring the GSMF. We find that including IRAC data reduces the number of massive (log10(M/M⊙) > 11.25) galaxies found due to improved photometric redshift accuracy, but has little effect on the more numerous lower-mass galaxies. We fit the resultant GSMFs with double Schechter functions down to log10(M/M⊙) = 7.75 (9.75) at z = 0.1 (2.0) and find that the choice of source extraction software has no significant effect on the derived best-fitting parameters. However, the choice of methodology used to correct for the Eddington bias has a larger impact on the high-mass end of the GSMF, which can partly explain the spread in derived M* values from previous studies. Using an empirical correction to model the intrinsic GSMF, we find evidence for an evolving characteristic stellar mass with δlog10(M*/M⊙)/δz = −0.16±0.05(−0.11±0.05), when using SExtractor (ProFound). We argue that with widely quenched star formation rates in massive galaxies at low redshift (z < 0.5), additional growth via mergers is required in order to sustain such an evolution to a higher characteristic mass.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T02:13:43Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:a18362d8-bfb6-42f9-ab13-e26fec9f981e |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T02:13:43Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | Oxford University Press |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:a18362d8-bfb6-42f9-ab13-e26fec9f981e2022-03-27T02:13:46ZEvolution of the galaxy stellar mass function: evidence for an increasing M* from z = 2 to the present dayJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:a18362d8-bfb6-42f9-ab13-e26fec9f981eEnglishSymplectic ElementsOxford University Press2021Adams, NJBowler, RAAJarvis, MJHäußler, BLagos, CDPUtilizing optical and near-infrared broad-band photometry covering >5 deg2 in two of the most well-studied extragalactic legacy fields (COSMOS and XMM-LSS), we measure the galaxy stellar mass function (GSMF) between 0.1 < z < 2.0. We explore in detail the effect of two source extraction methods (SExtractor and ProFound) in addition to the inclusion/exclusion of Spitzer IRAC 3.6 and 4.5 μm photometry when measuring the GSMF. We find that including IRAC data reduces the number of massive (log10(M/M⊙) > 11.25) galaxies found due to improved photometric redshift accuracy, but has little effect on the more numerous lower-mass galaxies. We fit the resultant GSMFs with double Schechter functions down to log10(M/M⊙) = 7.75 (9.75) at z = 0.1 (2.0) and find that the choice of source extraction software has no significant effect on the derived best-fitting parameters. However, the choice of methodology used to correct for the Eddington bias has a larger impact on the high-mass end of the GSMF, which can partly explain the spread in derived M* values from previous studies. Using an empirical correction to model the intrinsic GSMF, we find evidence for an evolving characteristic stellar mass with δlog10(M*/M⊙)/δz = −0.16±0.05(−0.11±0.05), when using SExtractor (ProFound). We argue that with widely quenched star formation rates in massive galaxies at low redshift (z < 0.5), additional growth via mergers is required in order to sustain such an evolution to a higher characteristic mass. |
| spellingShingle | Adams, NJ Bowler, RAA Jarvis, MJ Häußler, B Lagos, CDP Evolution of the galaxy stellar mass function: evidence for an increasing M* from z = 2 to the present day |
| title | Evolution of the galaxy stellar mass function: evidence for an increasing M* from z = 2 to the present day |
| title_full | Evolution of the galaxy stellar mass function: evidence for an increasing M* from z = 2 to the present day |
| title_fullStr | Evolution of the galaxy stellar mass function: evidence for an increasing M* from z = 2 to the present day |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evolution of the galaxy stellar mass function: evidence for an increasing M* from z = 2 to the present day |
| title_short | Evolution of the galaxy stellar mass function: evidence for an increasing M* from z = 2 to the present day |
| title_sort | evolution of the galaxy stellar mass function evidence for an increasing m from z 2 to the present day |
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