Major merging history in CANDELS. I. Evolution of the incidence of massive galaxy–galaxy pairs from z = 3 to z ∼ 0
The rate of major galaxy–galaxy merging is theoretically predicted to steadily increase with redshift during the peak epoch of massive galaxy development (1 ≤ z ≤ 3). We use close-pair statistics to objectively study the incidence of massive galaxies (stellar M1 > 2 × 1010 M⊙) hosting major compa...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
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Oxford University Press
2018
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51768/ |
| _version_ | 1848798570333863936 |
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| author | Mantha, Kameswara Bharadwaj McIntosh, Daniel H. Brennan, Ryan Ferguson, Henry C. Kodra, Dritan Newman, Jeffrey A. Rafelski, Marc Somerville, Rachel S. Conselice, Christopher J. Cook, Joshua S. Hathi, Nimish P. Koo, David C. Lotz, Jennifer M. Simmons, Brooke D. Straughn, Amber N. Snyder, Gregory F. Wuyts, Stijn Bell, Eric F Dekel, Avishai Kartaltepe, Jeyhan Kocevski, Dale D. Koekemoer, Anton M. Lee, Seong-Kook Lucas, Ray A. Pacifici, Camilla Peth, Michael A. Barro, Guillermo Dahlen, Tomas Finkelstein, Steven L. Fontana, Adriano Galametz, Audrey Grogin, Norman A. Guo, Yicheng Mobasher, Bahram Nayyeri, Hooshang Pérez-González, Pablo G. Pforr, Janine Santini, Paola Stefanon, Mauro Wiklind, Tommy |
| author_facet | Mantha, Kameswara Bharadwaj McIntosh, Daniel H. Brennan, Ryan Ferguson, Henry C. Kodra, Dritan Newman, Jeffrey A. Rafelski, Marc Somerville, Rachel S. Conselice, Christopher J. Cook, Joshua S. Hathi, Nimish P. Koo, David C. Lotz, Jennifer M. Simmons, Brooke D. Straughn, Amber N. Snyder, Gregory F. Wuyts, Stijn Bell, Eric F Dekel, Avishai Kartaltepe, Jeyhan Kocevski, Dale D. Koekemoer, Anton M. Lee, Seong-Kook Lucas, Ray A. Pacifici, Camilla Peth, Michael A. Barro, Guillermo Dahlen, Tomas Finkelstein, Steven L. Fontana, Adriano Galametz, Audrey Grogin, Norman A. Guo, Yicheng Mobasher, Bahram Nayyeri, Hooshang Pérez-González, Pablo G. Pforr, Janine Santini, Paola Stefanon, Mauro Wiklind, Tommy |
| author_sort | Mantha, Kameswara Bharadwaj |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The rate of major galaxy–galaxy merging is theoretically predicted to steadily increase with redshift during the peak epoch of massive galaxy development (1 ≤ z ≤ 3). We use close-pair statistics to objectively study the incidence of massive galaxies (stellar M1 > 2 × 1010 M⊙) hosting major companions (1 ≤ M1/M2 ≤ 4; i.e. <4:1) at six epochs spanning 0 < z < 3. We select companions from a nearly complete, mass-limited (≥5 × 109 M⊙) sample of 23 696 galaxies in the five Cosmic Assembly Near-Infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey fields and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Using 5–50 kpc projected separation and close redshift proximity criteria, we find that the major companion fraction fmc(z) based on stellar mass-ratio (MR) selection increases from 6 per cent (z ∼ 0) to 16 per cent (z ∼ 0.8), then turns over at z ∼ 1 and decreases to 7 per cent (z ∼ 3). Instead, if we use a major F160W flux-ratio (FR) selection, we find that fmc(z) increases steadily until z = 3 owing to increasing contamination from minor (MR > 4:1) companions at z > 1. We show that these evolutionary trends are statistically robust to changes in companion proximity. We find disagreements between published results are resolved when selection criteria are closely matched. If we compute merger rates using constant fraction-to-rate conversion factors (Cmerg,pair = 0.6 and Tobs,pair = 0.65 Gyr), we find that MR rates disagree with theoretical predictions at z > 1.5. Instead, if we use an evolving Tobs,pair(z) ∝ (1 + z)−2 from Snyder et al., our MR-based rates agree with theory at 0 < z < 3. Our analysis underscores the need for detailed calibration of Cmerg,pair and Tobs,pair as a function of redshift, mass, and companion selection criteria to better constrain the empirical major merger history. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:21:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-51768 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:21:52Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | Oxford University Press |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-517682024-08-15T15:28:02Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51768/ Major merging history in CANDELS. I. Evolution of the incidence of massive galaxy–galaxy pairs from z = 3 to z ∼ 0 Mantha, Kameswara Bharadwaj McIntosh, Daniel H. Brennan, Ryan Ferguson, Henry C. Kodra, Dritan Newman, Jeffrey A. Rafelski, Marc Somerville, Rachel S. Conselice, Christopher J. Cook, Joshua S. Hathi, Nimish P. Koo, David C. Lotz, Jennifer M. Simmons, Brooke D. Straughn, Amber N. Snyder, Gregory F. Wuyts, Stijn Bell, Eric F Dekel, Avishai Kartaltepe, Jeyhan Kocevski, Dale D. Koekemoer, Anton M. Lee, Seong-Kook Lucas, Ray A. Pacifici, Camilla Peth, Michael A. Barro, Guillermo Dahlen, Tomas Finkelstein, Steven L. Fontana, Adriano Galametz, Audrey Grogin, Norman A. Guo, Yicheng Mobasher, Bahram Nayyeri, Hooshang Pérez-González, Pablo G. Pforr, Janine Santini, Paola Stefanon, Mauro Wiklind, Tommy The rate of major galaxy–galaxy merging is theoretically predicted to steadily increase with redshift during the peak epoch of massive galaxy development (1 ≤ z ≤ 3). We use close-pair statistics to objectively study the incidence of massive galaxies (stellar M1 > 2 × 1010 M⊙) hosting major companions (1 ≤ M1/M2 ≤ 4; i.e. <4:1) at six epochs spanning 0 < z < 3. We select companions from a nearly complete, mass-limited (≥5 × 109 M⊙) sample of 23 696 galaxies in the five Cosmic Assembly Near-Infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey fields and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Using 5–50 kpc projected separation and close redshift proximity criteria, we find that the major companion fraction fmc(z) based on stellar mass-ratio (MR) selection increases from 6 per cent (z ∼ 0) to 16 per cent (z ∼ 0.8), then turns over at z ∼ 1 and decreases to 7 per cent (z ∼ 3). Instead, if we use a major F160W flux-ratio (FR) selection, we find that fmc(z) increases steadily until z = 3 owing to increasing contamination from minor (MR > 4:1) companions at z > 1. We show that these evolutionary trends are statistically robust to changes in companion proximity. We find disagreements between published results are resolved when selection criteria are closely matched. If we compute merger rates using constant fraction-to-rate conversion factors (Cmerg,pair = 0.6 and Tobs,pair = 0.65 Gyr), we find that MR rates disagree with theoretical predictions at z > 1.5. Instead, if we use an evolving Tobs,pair(z) ∝ (1 + z)−2 from Snyder et al., our MR-based rates agree with theory at 0 < z < 3. Our analysis underscores the need for detailed calibration of Cmerg,pair and Tobs,pair as a function of redshift, mass, and companion selection criteria to better constrain the empirical major merger history. Oxford University Press 2018-04-01 Article PeerReviewed Mantha, Kameswara Bharadwaj, McIntosh, Daniel H., Brennan, Ryan, Ferguson, Henry C., Kodra, Dritan, Newman, Jeffrey A., Rafelski, Marc, Somerville, Rachel S., Conselice, Christopher J., Cook, Joshua S., Hathi, Nimish P., Koo, David C., Lotz, Jennifer M., Simmons, Brooke D., Straughn, Amber N., Snyder, Gregory F., Wuyts, Stijn, Bell, Eric F, Dekel, Avishai, Kartaltepe, Jeyhan, Kocevski, Dale D., Koekemoer, Anton M., Lee, Seong-Kook, Lucas, Ray A., Pacifici, Camilla, Peth, Michael A., Barro, Guillermo, Dahlen, Tomas, Finkelstein, Steven L., Fontana, Adriano, Galametz, Audrey, Grogin, Norman A., Guo, Yicheng, Mobasher, Bahram, Nayyeri, Hooshang, Pérez-González, Pablo G., Pforr, Janine, Santini, Paola, Stefanon, Mauro and Wiklind, Tommy (2018) Major merging history in CANDELS. I. Evolution of the incidence of massive galaxy–galaxy pairs from z = 3 to z ∼ 0. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 475 (2). pp. 1549-1573. ISSN 1365-2966 galaxies: evolution galaxies: high-redshift galaxies: interactions galaxies: statistics https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx3260 doi:10.1093/mnras/stx3260 doi:10.1093/mnras/stx3260 |
| spellingShingle | galaxies: evolution galaxies: high-redshift galaxies: interactions galaxies: statistics Mantha, Kameswara Bharadwaj McIntosh, Daniel H. Brennan, Ryan Ferguson, Henry C. Kodra, Dritan Newman, Jeffrey A. Rafelski, Marc Somerville, Rachel S. Conselice, Christopher J. Cook, Joshua S. Hathi, Nimish P. Koo, David C. Lotz, Jennifer M. Simmons, Brooke D. Straughn, Amber N. Snyder, Gregory F. Wuyts, Stijn Bell, Eric F Dekel, Avishai Kartaltepe, Jeyhan Kocevski, Dale D. Koekemoer, Anton M. Lee, Seong-Kook Lucas, Ray A. Pacifici, Camilla Peth, Michael A. Barro, Guillermo Dahlen, Tomas Finkelstein, Steven L. Fontana, Adriano Galametz, Audrey Grogin, Norman A. Guo, Yicheng Mobasher, Bahram Nayyeri, Hooshang Pérez-González, Pablo G. Pforr, Janine Santini, Paola Stefanon, Mauro Wiklind, Tommy Major merging history in CANDELS. I. Evolution of the incidence of massive galaxy–galaxy pairs from z = 3 to z ∼ 0 |
| title | Major merging history in CANDELS. I. Evolution of the incidence of massive galaxy–galaxy pairs from z = 3 to z ∼ 0 |
| title_full | Major merging history in CANDELS. I. Evolution of the incidence of massive galaxy–galaxy pairs from z = 3 to z ∼ 0 |
| title_fullStr | Major merging history in CANDELS. I. Evolution of the incidence of massive galaxy–galaxy pairs from z = 3 to z ∼ 0 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Major merging history in CANDELS. I. Evolution of the incidence of massive galaxy–galaxy pairs from z = 3 to z ∼ 0 |
| title_short | Major merging history in CANDELS. I. Evolution of the incidence of massive galaxy–galaxy pairs from z = 3 to z ∼ 0 |
| title_sort | major merging history in candels. i. evolution of the incidence of massive galaxy–galaxy pairs from z = 3 to z ∼ 0 |
| topic | galaxies: evolution galaxies: high-redshift galaxies: interactions galaxies: statistics |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51768/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51768/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51768/ |