The stellar-subhalo mass relation of satellite galaxies

We extend the abundance matching technique (AMT) to infer the satellite-subhalo and central-halo mass relations (MRs) of galaxies, as well as the corresponding satellite conditional mass functions (CMFs). We use the observed galaxy stellar mass function (GSMF) decomposed into centrals and satellites and the LCDM halo/subhalo mass functions as inputs. We explore the effects of defining the subhalo mass at the time of accretion (m_acc) vs. at the time of observation (m_obs). We test the standard assumption that centrals and satellites follow the same MRs, showing that this assumption leads to predictions in disagreement with observations, specially for m_obs. Instead, when the satellite-subhalo MRs are constrained following our AMT, they are always different from the central-halo MR: the smaller the stellar mass (Ms), the less massive is the subhalo of satellites as compared to the halo of centrals of the same Ms. On average, for Ms<2x10^11Msol, the dark mass of satellites decreased by 60-65% with respect to their masses at accretion time. The resulting MRs for both definitions of subhalo mass yield satellite CMFs in agreement with observations. Also, when these MRs are used in a HOD model, the predicted correlation functions agree with observations. We show that the use of m_obs leads to less uncertain MRs than m_acc, and discuss implications of the obtained satellite-subhalo MR. For example, we show that the tension between abundance and dynamics of MW satellites in LCDM gives if the slope of the GSMF faint-end slope upturns to -1.6.Comment: 13, pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ. Minor changes to previous versio

Galaxy downsizing evidenced by hybrid evolutionary tracks

An unified picture of stellar and halo mass build-up as a function of mass is presented. Inferred stellar-dark halo mass relations of galaxies, Ms-Mh, out to z=4 together with average LCDM halo mass aggregation histories (MAHs) are used for inferring average Ms growth histories, the Galaxian Hybrid Evolutionary Tracks (GHETs). The more massive the galaxy, the earlier transited in average from an active regime of Ms growth to a passive one: log(Mtran/Msun)=10.30+0.55z ("population downsizing"), where Mtran is the typical transition stellar mass. This result agrees with independent observational determinations based on the evolution of the galaxy stellar mass function decomposition into blue and red galaxies. The specific star formation rate, SSFR, predicted from the derivative of the GHET is consistent with direct measures of the SSFR for galaxies at different z's. The average GHETs of galaxies smaller than Mtran at z=0 (Ms~10^10.3 Msun) did not reach the quiescent regime, and for them, the lower the mass, the faster the later Ms growth rate ("downsizing in SSFR"). The GHETs allow to predict the transition rate in number density of active to passive population; the predicted values agree with direct estimates of growth rate in number density for the (massive) red population up to z~1. We show that LCDM-based models of disk galaxy evolution are able to reproduce the low-mass side of the Ms-Mh relation at z~0, but at higher z's disagree strongly with the GHETs: models do not reproduce the downsizing in SSFR and the high SSFR of low mass galaxies. (Abridged)Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures. To appear in ApJ. References updated/corrected, minor typos correcte

Extremely compact massive galaxies at z~1.4

The optical rest-frame sizes of 10 of the most massive (~5x10^{11}h_{70}^{-2}M_sun) galaxies found in the near-infrared MUNICS survey at 1.2<z<1.7 are analysed. Sizes were estimated both in the J and K' filters. These massive galaxies are at least a factor of 4_{-1.0}^{+1.9} (+-1 sigma) smaller in the rest-frame V-band than local counterparts of the same stellar mass. Consequently, the stellar mass density of these objects is (at least) 60 times larger than massive ellipticals today. Although the stellar populations of these objects are passively fading, their structural properties are rapidly changing since that redshift. This observational fact disagrees with a scenario where the more massive and passive galaxies are fully assembled at z~1.4 (i.e. a monolithic scenario) and points towards a dry merger scenario as the responsible mechanism for the subsequent evolution of these galaxies.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in MNRAS letter

The Molecular Gas Content of z<0.1 Radio Galaxies: Linking the AGN Accretion Mode to Host Galaxy Properties

One of the main achievements in modern cosmology is the so-called `unified model', which successfully describes most classes of active galactic nuclei (AGN) within a single physical scheme. However, there is a particular class of radio-luminous AGN that presently cannot be explained within this framework -- the `low-excitation' radio AGN (LERAGN). Recently, a scenario has been put forward which predicts that LERAGN, and their regular `high-excitation' radio AGN (HERAGN) counterparts represent different (red sequence vs. green valley) phases of galaxy evolution. These different evolutionary states are also expected to be reflected in their host galaxy properties, in particular their cold gas content. To test this, here we present CO(1-0) observations toward a sample of 11 of these systems conducted with CARMA. Combining our observations with literature data, we derive molecular gas masses (or upper limits) for a complete, representative, sample of 21 z<0.1 radio AGN. Our results yield that HERAGN on average have a factor of ~7 higher gas masses than LERAGN. We also infer younger stellar ages, lower stellar, halo, and central supermassive black masses, as well as higher black hole accretion efficiencies in HERAGN relative to LERAGN. These findings support the idea that high- and low-excitation radio AGN form two physically distinct populations of galaxies that reflect different stages of massive galaxy build-up.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, 4 tables; accepted for publication in Ap

Constraints on the relationship between stellar mass and halo mass at low and high redshift

We use a statistical approach to determine the relationship between the stellar masses of galaxies and the masses of the dark matter halos in which they reside. We obtain a parameterized stellar-to-halo mass (SHM) relation by populating halos and subhalos in an N-body simulation with galaxies and requiring that the observed stellar mass function be reproduced. We find good agreement with constraints from galaxy-galaxy lensing and predictions of semi-analytic models. Using this mapping, and the positions of the halos and subhalos obtained from the simulation, we find that our model predictions for the galaxy two-point correlation function (CF) as a function of stellar mass are in excellent agreement with the observed clustering properties in the SDSS at z=0. We show that the clustering data do not provide additional strong constraints on the SHM function and conclude that our model can therefore predict clustering as a function of stellar mass. We compute the conditional mass function, which yields the average number of galaxies with stellar masses in the range [m, m+dm] that reside in a halo of mass M. We study the redshift dependence of the SHM relation and show that, for low mass halos, the SHM ratio is lower at higher redshift. The derived SHM relation is used to predict the stellar mass dependent galaxy CF and bias at high redshift. Our model predicts that not only are massive galaxies more biased than low mass ones at all redshifts, but the bias increases more rapidly with increasing redshift for massive galaxies than for low mass ones. We present convenient fitting functions for the SHM relation as a function of redshift, the conditional mass function, and the bias as a function of stellar mass and redshift.Comment: 21 pages, 17 figures, discussion enlarged, one more figure, updated references, accepted for publication in Ap

HI Rich but Low Star Formation galaxies in MaNGA: Physical Properties and Comparison to Control Samples

Gas rich galaxies are typically star-forming. We make use of HI-MaNGA, a program of HI follow-up for the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey of the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys to construct a sample of unusual neutral hydrogen (HI, 21cm) rich galaxies which have low Star Formation Rates (SFRs); using infra-red color from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) as a proxy for specific SFR. Out of a set of 1575 MaNGA galaxies with HI-MaNGA detections, we find 83 (5%) meet our selection criteria to be HI rich with low SFR. We construct two stellar mass-matched control samples: HI rich galaxies with typical SFR (High SF Control) and HI poor galaxies with low SFR (Low HI Control). We investigate the properties of each of these samples, comparing physical parameters such as ionization state maps, stellar and ionized gas velocity and dispersion, environment measures, metallicity, and morphology to search for the reasons why these unusual HI rich galaxies are not forming stars. We find evidence for recent external accretion of gas in some galaxies (via high counter-rotating fractions), along with some evidence for AGN feedback (from a high cLIER and/or red geyser fraction), and bar quenching (via an enhanced strong bar fraction). Some galaxies in the sample are consistent with simply having their HI in a high angular momentum, large radius, low density disc. We conclude that no single physical process can explain all HI rich, low SFR galaxies.Comment: 15 pages, in press MNRAS. v2 following corrections noticed in proof

The density of very massive evolved galaxies to z~1.7

We spectroscopically identified 7 massive evolved galaxies with magnitudes 17.8<K<18.4 at 1.3<z<1.7 over an area of ~160 arcmin^2 of the MUNICS survey. Their rest-frame K-band absolute magnitudes are -26.8<M$_K<-26.1 (5L*<L_K<10L*) and the resulting stellar masses are in the range 3-6.5x10^{11} M_sun. The analysis we performed unambiguously shows the early-type nature of their spectra. The 7 massive evolved galaxies account for a comoving density of \~5.5(+-2) x 10^{-5} Mpc^{-3} at ~1.5, a factor 1.5 lower than the density (8.4(+-1) x 10^{-5} Mpc^{-3}) of early-types with comparable masses at z=0. The incompleteness (30%) of our spectroscopic observations accounts for this discrepancy. Thus, our data do not support a decrease of the comoving density of early-type galaxies with masses comparable to the most massive ones in the local Universe up to z~1.7. This suggests that massive evolved galaxies do not play an important role in the evolution of the mass density outlined by recent surveys in this redshift range, evolution which instead has to be ascribed to the accretion of the stellar mass in late-type galaxies. Finally, the presence of such massive evolved galaxies at these redshifts suggests that the assembly of massive spheroids has taken place at z>2 supporting a high efficiency in the accretion of the stellar mass in massive halos in the early Universe.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters, 5 pages, 3 figure