The Faber-Jackson relation for early-type galaxies: Dependence on the magnitude range

We take a sample of early-type galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-DR7, $\sim$ 90 000 galaxies) spanning a range of approximately 7 $mag$ in both $g$ and $r$ filters and analyse the behaviour of the Faber-Jackson relation parameters as functions of the magnitude range. We calculate the parameters in two ways: i) We consider the faintest (brightest) galaxies in each sample and we progressively increase the width of the magnitude interval by inclusion of the brighter (fainter) galaxies (increasing-magnitude-intervals), and ii) we consider narrow-magnitude intervals of the same width ($\Delta M = 1.0$ $mag$) over the whole magnitude range available (narrow-magnitude-intervals). Our main results are that: i) in both increasing and narrow-magnitude-intervals the Faber-Jackson relation parameters change systematically, ii) non-parametric tests show that the fluctuations in the values of the slope of the Faber-Jackson relation are not products of chance variations. We conclude that the values of the Faber-Jackson relation parameters depend on the width of the magnitude range and the luminosity of galaxies within the magnitude range. This dependence is caused, to a great extent by the selection effects and because the geometrical shape of the distribution of galaxies on the $M - \log (\sigma_{0})$ plane depends on luminosity. We therefore emphasize that if the luminosity of galaxies or the width of the magnitude range or both are not taken into consideration when comparing the structural relations of galaxy samples for different wavelengths, environments, redshifts and luminosities, any differences found may be misinterpreted.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures. A&A. Accepte

Weak homology of elliptical galaxies

We start by studying a small set of objects characterized by photometric profiles that have been pointed out to deviate significantly from the standard R^{1/4} law. For these objects we confirm that a generic R^{1/n} law, with n a free parameter, can provide superior fits (the best-fit value of n can be lower than 2.5 or higher than 10), better than those that can be obtained by a pure R^{1/4} law, by an R^{1/4}+exponential model, and by other dynamically justified self--consistent models. Therefore, strictly speaking, elliptical galaxies should not be considered homologous dynamical systems. Still, a case for "weak homology", useful for the interpretation of the Fundamental Plane of elliptical galaxies, could be made if the best-fit parameter n, as often reported, correlates with galaxy luminosity L, provided the underlying dynamical structure also follows a systematic trend with luminosity. We demonstrate that this statement may be true even in the presence of significant scatter in the correlation n(L). Preliminary indications provided by a set of "data points" associated with a sample of 14 galaxies suggest that neither the strict homology nor the constant stellar mass--to--light solution are a satisfactory explanation of the observed Fundamental Plane (abridged).Comment: 34 pages, 11 figures, accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysic

On the Nature of Fossil Galaxy Groups: Are they really fossils ?

We use SDSS-DR4 photometric and spectroscopic data out to redshift z~0.1 combined with ROSAT All Sky Survey X-ray data to produce a sample of twenty-five fossil groups (FGs), defined as bound systems dominated by a single, luminous elliptical galaxy with extended X-ray emission. We examine possible biases introduced by varying the parameters used to define the sample and the main pitfalls are discussed. The spatial density of FGs, estimated via the V/V_ MAX} test, is 2.83 x 10^{-6} h_{75}^3 Mpc^{-3} for L_x > 0.89 x 10^42 h_{75}^-2 erg/s consistent with Vikhlinin et al. (1999), who examined an X-ray overluminous elliptical galaxy sample (OLEG). We compare the general properties of FGs identified here with a sample of bright field ellipticals generated from the same dataset. These two samples show no differences in the distribution of neighboring faint galaxy density excess, distance from the red sequence in the color-magnitude diagram, and structural parameters such as a$_{4}$ and internal color gradients. Furthermore, examination of stellar populations shows that our twenty-five FGs have similar ages, metallicities, and $\alpha$-enhancement as the bright field ellipticals, undermining the idea that these systems represent fossils of a physical mechanism that occurred at high redshift. Our study reveals no difference between FGs and field ellipticals, suggesting that FGs might not be a distinct family of true fossils, but rather the final stage of mass assembly in the Universe.Comment: 18 pages, Accepted to A

The Evolution of Field Early-Type Galaxies in the FDF and WHDF

We explore the properties of 24 field early-type galaxies at 0.20<z<0.75 down to M_B<=-19.30 in a sample extracted from the FORS Deep Field and the William Herschel Deep Field. High S/N intermediate-resolution VLT spectroscopy was complemented by deep high-resolution HST/ACS imaging and additional ground-based multi-band photometry. To clarify the low level of star formation (SF) detected in some galaxies, we identify the amount of AGN activity in our sample using archive data of Chandra and XMM-Newton X-ray surveys. The B and K-band Faber-Jackson relations and the Fundamental Plane display a moderate evolution for the field early-type galaxies. Lenticular (S0) galaxies feature on average a stronger luminosity evolution and bluer rest-frame colours which can be explained that they comprise more diverse stellar populations compared to elliptical galaxies. The evolution of the FP can be interpreted as an average change in the dynamical mass-to-light ratio of our galaxies as <\Delta \log{(M/L_B)}/z>=-0.74\pm0.08. The M/L evolution of these field galaxies suggests a continuous mass assembly of field early-type galaxies during the last 5 Gyr, that gets support by recent studies of field galaxies up to z~1. Independent evidence for recent SF activity is provided by spectroscopic (OII em., Hdelta) and photometric (rest-frame colors) diagnostics. Based on the Hdelta absorption feature we detect a weak residual SF for galaxies that accounts for 5%-10% in the total stellar mass of these galaxies. The co-evolution in the luminosity and mass of our galaxies favours a downsizing formation process. We find some evidence that our galaxies experienced a period of SF quenching, possible triggered by AGN activity that is in good agreement with recent results on both observational and theoretical side. (abridged)Comment: 26 pages, 23 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

The evolution of early-type galaxies at z~1 from the K20 survey

We have performed VLT spectroscopy of an almost complete sample of 18 early-type galaxies with 0.88 < z < 1.3 plus two at z=0.67, selected from the K20 survey, and derived the velocity dispersion for 15+2 of them. By combining these data with HST and VLT images, we study the Fundamental Plane (FP), the Faber-Jackson and the Kormendy relations at z~1, and compare them with the local ones. The FP at z~1 keeps a remarkably small scatter, and shows both an offset and a rotation, which we interpret in terms of evolution of the mass-to-light ratio, and possibly of the size. We show evidence that the evolution rate depends on galaxy mass, being faster for less massive galaxies. We discuss the possible factors driving the evolution of spheroids and compare our results with the predictions of the hierachical models of galaxy formation.Comment: 14 pages, 15 figures, accepted by A&

Stellar Populations of Bulges in 14 Cluster Disc Galaxies

‘The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.com.’ Copyright Blackwell Publishing / RAS. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13566.xPeer reviewe

Kinematic and chemical evolution of early-type galaxies

We investigate in detail 13 early-type field galaxies with 0.2<z<0.7 drawn from the FORS Deep Field. Since the majority (9 galaxies) is at z~0.4, we compare the field galaxies to 22 members of three rich clusters with z=0.37 to explore possible variations caused by environmental effects. We exploit VLT/FORS spectra (R~1200) and HST/ACS imaging to determine internal kinematics, structures and stellar population parameters. From the Faber-Jackson and Fundamental Plane scaling relations we deduce a modest luminosity evolution in the B-band of 0.3-0.5mag for both samples. We compare measured Lick absorption line strengths (Hdelta, Hgamma, Hbeta, Mg_b, & Fe5335) with evolutionary stellar population models to derive light-averaged ages, metallicities and the element abundance ratios Mg/Fe. We find that all these three stellar parameters of the distant galaxies obey a scaling with velocity dispersion (mass) which is very well consistent with the one of local nearby galaxies. In particular, the distribution of Mg/Fe ratios of local galaxies is matched by the distant ones, and their derived mean offset in age corresponds to the average lookback time. This indicates that there was little chemical enrichment and no significant star formation within the last ~5Gyr. The calculated luminosity evolution of a simple stellar population model for the derived galaxy ages and lookback times is in most cases very consistent with the mild brightening measured by the scaling relations.Comment: A&A acc., 17p., 7 colour figures, comments/discussion welcome! full resolution version available from http://www.uni-sw.gwdg.de/~bziegler

On the tilt of Fundamental Plane by Clausius' virial maximum theory

The theory of the Clausius' virial maximum to explain the Fundamental Plane (FP) proposed by Secco (2000, 2001,2005) is based on the existence of a maximum in the Clausius' Virial (CV) potential energy of a early type galaxy (ETG) stellar component when it is completely embedded inside a dark matter (DM) halo. At the first order approximation the theory was developed by modeling the two-components with two cored power-law density profiles. An higher level of approximation is now taken into account by developing the same theory when the stellar component is modeled by a King-model with a cut-off. Even if the DM halo density remains a cored power law the inner component is now more realistic for the ETGs. The new formulation allows us to understand more deeply what is the dynamical reason of the FP tilt and in general how the CV theory may really be the engine to produce the FP main features. The degeneracy of FP in respect to the initial density perturbation spectrum may be now full understood in a CDM cosmological scenario. A possible way to compare the FPs predicted by the theory with those obtained by observations is also exemplified.Comment: 35 pages, 8 figure

Data and 2D scaling relations for galaxies in Abell 1689: a hint of size evolution at z~0.2

{abridged} We present imaging and spectroscopy of Abell 1689 (z=0.183) from GEMINI/GMOS-N and HST/ACS. We measure integrated photometry from the GMOS g' and r' images (for 531 galaxies) and surface photometry from the HST F625W image (for 43 galaxies) as well as velocities and velocity dispersions from the GMOS spectra (for 71 galaxies). We construct the Kormendy relation (KR), Faber-Jackson relation (FJR) and colour-magnitude relation (CMR) for early-type galaxies in Abell 1689 using this data and compare them to those of the Coma cluster. We measure the intrinsic scatter of the CMR in Abell 1689 to be 0.054 \pm 0.004 mag which places degenerate constraints on the ratio of the assembly timescale to the time available (beta) and the age of the population. Making the assumption that galaxies in Abell 1689 will evolve into those of Coma over an interval of 2.26 Gyr breaks this degeneracy and limits beta to be > 0.6 and the age of the red sequence to be > 5.5 Gyr (formed at z > 0.55). Without corrections for size evolution but accounting for magnitude cuts and selection effects, the KR & FJR are inconsistent and disagree at the 2 sigma level regarding the amount of luminosity evolution in the last 2.26 Gyr. However, after correcting for size evolution the KR & FJR show similar changes in luminosity (0.22 \pm 0.11 mag) that are consistent with the passive evolution of the stellar populations from a single burst of star formation 10.2 \pm 3.3 Gyr ago (z = 1.8+inf-0.9). Thus the changes in the KR, FJR & CMR of Abell 1689 relative to Coma all agree and suggest old galaxy populations with little or no synchronisation in the star formation histories. Furthermore, the weak evidence for size evolution in the cluster environment in the last 2.26 Gyr places interesting constraints on the possible mechanisms at work, favouring harassment or secular processes over merger scenarios.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA

On Mechanics and Thermodynamics of a stellar galaxy in a two-component virial system and the Fundamental Plane

The paper confirms the existence of a special configuration (among the infinite number of virial states) which a B stellar(Baryonic) component may assume inside a given D dark halo potential well.This satisfies the d'Alembert Principle of virtual works and its typical dimension works as a scale length (tidal radius)induced on the gravitational field of the bright component by the dark one.Its dynamic and thermodynamic properties are here analyzed in connection with the physical reason for the existence of the Fundamental Plane (FP) for ellipticals.The analysis is performed by using 2-component models with two power-law density profiles and two homogeneous cores and compared with some observable scaling relations for pressure supported ellipticals.The virial equilibrium stages of the 2-component system have to occur after a previous violent relaxation phase. If the stellar B component is allowed to cool slowly its virial evolution consists of a sequence of contractions with enough time to rearrange the virial equilibrium after any step. The thermodynamic process during the dynamical evolution is so divided into a sequence of transformations which are irreversible but occur between two quasi-equilibrium stages.The analysis allows the conclusion that the induced scale length is a real confinement for the stellar system. The presence of this specific border on the space of the baryonic luminous component has to be regarded as the physical reason why a stellar galaxy belongs to the FP and why astrophysical objects, with a completely different history and formation, but characterized by a tidal radius (as the globular clusters are) lie on the same FP. An other problem addressed is how this special configuration may be reached and why an elliptical is not completely relaxed in respect to its dark halo.Comment: 42 pages, 7 figures, in press in New Astronomy 200