Clustering properties of galaxies selected in stellar mass: Breaking
down the link between luminous and dark matter in massive galaxies from z=0
to z=2
We present a study on the clustering of a stellar mass selected sample of
18,482 galaxies with stellar masses M*>10^10M(sun) at redshifts 0.4<z<2.0,
taken from the Palomar Observatory Wide-field Infrared Survey. We examine the
clustering properties of these stellar mass selected samples as a function of
redshift and stellar mass, and discuss the implications of measured clustering
strengths in terms of their likely halo masses. We find that galaxies with high
stellar masses have a progressively higher clustering strength, and amplitude,
than galaxies with lower stellar masses. We also find that galaxies within a
fixed stellar mass range have a higher clustering strength at higher redshifts.
We furthermore use our measured clustering strengths, combined with models from
Mo & White (2002), to determine the average total masses of the dark matter
haloes hosting these galaxies. We conclude that for all galaxies in our sample
the stellar-mass-to-total-mass ratio is always lower than the universal
baryonic mass fraction. Using our results, and a compilation from the
literature, we furthermore show that there is a strong correlation between
stellar-mass-to-total-mass ratio and derived halo masses for central galaxies,
such that more massive haloes contain a lower fraction of their mass in the
form of stars over our entire redshift range. For central galaxies in haloes
with masses M(halo)>10^13M(sun) we find that this ratio is <0.02, much lower
than the universal baryonic mass fraction. We show that the remaining baryonic
mass is included partially in stars within satellite galaxies in these haloes,
and as diffuse hot and warm gas. We also find that, at a fixed stellar mass,
the stellar-to-total-mass ratio increases at lower redshifts. This suggests
that galaxies at a fixed stellar mass form later in lower mass dark matter
haloes, and earlier in massive haloes. We interpret this as a "halo downsizing"
effect, however some of this evolution could be attributed to halo assembly
bias.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 19 pages, 8 figures and 3 tables