The Imacs Cluster Building Survey. Iii. The Star Formation Histories of Field Galaxies

Oemler, A.; Dressler, Alan; Gladders, Michael; Fritz, J.; Poggianti, Bianca M.; Vulcani, Benedetta; Abramson, Louis E.

doi:10.1088/0004-637x/770/1/63

Cited by 26 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…Some of these observations were drawn from the IMACS Cluster Building Survey (ICBS, Dressler et al 2013;Oemler et al 2013aOemler et al , 2013b. In a combined fit over the global constraints and the stellar masses and SFRs of each galaxy, they found the best-fit T 0 and τ for the 2094 galaxies (see their Figure 9).…”

Section: The Gladders Et Al Galaxy Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Inspired by the fact that the global SFRD is well fit by a lognormal in time, Gladders et al (2013, hereafter G13) suggested that this form might also describe the SFHs of individual galaxies (G13; Dressler et al 2013Dressler et al , 2017Oemler et al 2013a;Abramson et al 2015Abramson et al , 2016. The log-normal SFR is given by the expression where A, T 0 , and τ are free parameters (throughout the paper, t refers to the time since the big bang, not lookback time).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Log-normal Star Formation Histories in Simulated and Observed Galaxies

Diemer

Sparre

Abramson³

et al. 2017

ApJ

108

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Gladders et al. have recently suggested that the star formation histories (SFHs) of individual galaxies are characterized by a log-normal function in time, implying a slow decline rather than rapid quenching. We test their conjecture on theoretical SFHs from the cosmological simulation Illustris and on observationally inferred SFHs. While the log-normal form necessarily ignores short-lived features such as starbursts, it fits the overall shape of the majority of SFHs very well. In particular, 85% of the cumulative SFHs are fitted to within a maximum error of 5% of the total stellar mass formed, and 99% to within 10%. The log-normal performs systematically better than the commonly used delayed-τ model, and is superseded only by functions with more than three free parameters. Poor fits are mostly found in galaxies that were rapidly quenched after becoming satellites. We explore the log-normal parameter space of normalization, peak time, and full width at half maximum, and find that the simulated and observed samples occupy similar regions, though Illustris predicts wider, later-forming SFHs on average. The ensemble of log-normal fits correctly reproduces complex metrics such as the evolution of Illustris galaxies across the star formation main sequence, but overpredicts their quenching timescales. SFHs in Illustris are a diverse population not determined by any one physical property of galaxies, but follow a tight relation, where µ ( ) width peak time 3 2 . We show that such a relation can be explained qualitatively (though not quantitatively) by a close connection between the growth of dark matter halos and their galaxies.

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Section: The Gladders Et Al Galaxy Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Log-normal Star Formation Histories in Simulated and Observed Galaxies

Diemer

Sparre

Abramson³

et al. 2017

ApJ

108

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“…Using the large sample of spectroscopic redshift of MACS1206 , which is biased against red galaxies, we found that less than 3% of the stellar mass is in bluer galaxies. We estimate galaxy stellar masses from the z band luminosity and V − z color using the relation between M/L and galaxy color derived using the Bruzual & Charlot (2003) stellar population synthesis models (like that of Bell & de Jong 2001; and similarly to Kravtsov et al 2014;Boselli et al 2014;Fritz et al 2014;Budzynski et al 2014;Gladders et al 2013;Oemler et al 2013;, to only mention cluster 2 http://www.naoj.org/Observing/Instruments/SCam/ works that have appeared in the last year). This single-color estimate of stellar mass is found to give values consistent with full-SED fitting up to z ∼ 2 (Koyama et al 2013).…”

Section: Samples and Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Relative distribution of dark matter and stellar mass in three massive galaxy clusters

Andreon

2015

A&A

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This work observationally addresses the relative distribution of total and optically luminous matter in galaxy clusters by computing the radial profile of the stellar-to-total mass ratio. We adopt state-of-the-art accurate lensing masses free from assumptions about the mass radial profile and we use extremely deep multicolor wide-field optical images to distinguish star formation from stellar mass, to properly calculate the mass in galaxies of low mass, those outside the red sequence, and to allow a contribution from galaxies of low mass that is clustercentric dependent. We pay special attention to issues and contributions that are usually underrated, yet are major sources of uncertainty, and we present an approach that allows us to account for all of them. Here we present the results for three very massive clusters at z ∼ 0.45, MACSJ1206.2-0847, MACSJ0329.6-0211, and RXJ1347.5-1145. We find that stellar mass and total matter are closely distributed on scales from about 150 kpc to 2.5 Mpc: the stellar-to-total mass ratio is radially constant. We find that the characteristic mass stays constant across clustercentric radii and clusters, but that the less-massive end of the galaxy mass function is dependent on the environment.

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“…Such issues and the results of our own analyses have led us to an alternative paradigm. Over the course of a number of papers- Dressler et al (2013); Oemler et al (2013); Gladders et al (2013); Abramson et al (2013Abramson et al ( , 2014Abramson et al ( , 2015-we have developed a framework in which galaxy star formation histories [SFHs, records of in situ stellar mass (M * ) production] are not maintained or squelched, but extended or compressed, rising and falling smoothly over time. The cessation of star formation is thus an extension of the slowing of star formation, and so the natural conclusion of the galaxy lifecycle, not the untimely termination of an otherwise healthy existence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

RETURN TO [Log-]NORMALCY: RETHINKING QUENCHING, THE STAR FORMATION MAIN SEQUENCE, AND PERHAPS MUCH MORE

Abramson¹,

Gladders

Dressler

et al. 2016

ApJ

Self Cite

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Knowledge of galaxy evolution rests on cross-sectional observations of different objects at different times. Understanding of galaxy evolution rests on longitudinal interpretations of how these data relate to individual objects moving through time. The connection between the two is often assumed to be clear, but we use a simple "physics-free" model to show that it is not and that exploring its nuances can yield new insights. Comprising nothing more than 2094 loosely constrained lognormal star formation histories (SFHs), the model faithfully reproduces the following data it was not designed to match: stellar mass functions at z ≤ 8; the slope of the star formation rate/stellar mass relation (the SF "Main Sequence") at z ≤ 6; the mean sSFR(≡ SFR/M * ) of low-mass galaxies at z ≤ 7; "fast-" and "slow-track" quenching; downsizing; and a correlation between formation timescale and sSFR(M * ,t) similar to results from simulations that provides a natural connection to bulge growth. We take these findings-which suggest that quenching is the natural downturn of all SFHs affecting galaxies at rates/times correlated with their densities-to mean that: (1) models in which galaxies are diversified on Hubble timescales by something like initial conditions rival the dominant grow-and-quench framework as good descriptions of the data; or (2) absent spatial information, many metrics of galaxy evolution are too undiscriminating-if not inherently misleading-to confirm a unique explanation. We outline future tests of our model but stress that, even if ultimately incorrect, it illustrates how exploring different paradigms can aid learning and, we hope, more detailed modeling efforts. TOWARDS AN EXPLICITLY QUENCHING-FREE WORLDVIEWOf the papers mentioned in Section 1, Oemler et al. (2013, hereafter O13) and G13 are most germane to the present discussion. These works summarize the motivation and construction of the G13 model, respectively. Motivation: A Diversity of Smooth SFHsO13 reached two conclusions based on analyses of specific star formation rate (sSFR ≡ SFR/M * ) distributions at z 1.The first was that canonical SFH parameterizations-τ and delayed-τ models (Tinsley 1972;Gavazzi et al. 2002)-could not explain the global decline in sSFRs observed over the above interval: they cannot generate both the tail of high sSFRs at z = 1 and the low values seen today. This problemcentral to understanding how G13 bypasses explicit quenching (Section 3.2.1, Appendix A)-is not small: ∼ 25% of z ≈ 0 galaxies with M * 4 × 10 10 M ⊙ -a fair fraction of the Universe's stellar mass-cannot have evolved via the above prescriptions (see also Dressler et al. 2016).The second conclusion was that large discontinuities-e.g., starbursts-cannot be invoked to remedy this discrepancy. Such events (briefly) modulate the sSFRs of individual galaxies, but they cannot drive the evolution of that quantity for whole populations over many Gyr (as is necessary): if some objects are in high states, others are in low ones, largely nulling their global effect (O13 Figu...

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The Imacs Cluster Building Survey. Iii. The Star Formation Histories of Field Galaxies

Cited by 26 publications

References 61 publications

Log-normal Star Formation Histories in Simulated and Observed Galaxies

Log-normal Star Formation Histories in Simulated and Observed Galaxies

Relative distribution of dark matter and stellar mass in three massive galaxy clusters

RETURN TO [Log-]NORMALCY: RETHINKING QUENCHING, THE STAR FORMATION MAIN SEQUENCE, AND PERHAPS MUCH MORE

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