Star Formation and Merging in Massive Galaxies at z < 2
Abstract
Observing massive galaxies at various redshifts is one of the most straightforward and direct approaches towards understanding galaxy formation. There is now largely a consensus that the massive galaxy (M_* > 10^11 M_0) population is fully formed by z~1, based on mass and luminosity functions. However, we argue that the latest data can only rule out number and mass density evolution of a factor of > 2-3 at z < 1.5. We furthermore show that the star formation history of M_* > 10^11 M_0 galaxies reveals that 40+/-5% of galaxies with M_* > 10^11 M_0 at z~1 are undergoing star formation that effectively doubles their stellar mass between z = 0.4 - 1.4. These massive galaxies also undergo 0.9^+0.7_-0.5 major mergers during this same time period.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.0806.2405,
title = {Star Formation and Merging in Massive Galaxies at z < 2},
author = {Christopher J. Conselice},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0806.2405},
year = {2008}
}
Comments
Five pages, to appear in "Panoramic Views of Galaxy Formation and Evolution"