The Cosmological Size and Velocity Dispersion Evolution of Massive Early-type Galaxies
Abstract
We analyze 40 cosmological re-simulations of individual massive galaxies with present-day stellar masses of M * > 6.3 × 1010 M ⊙ in order to investigate the physical origin of the observed strong increase in galaxy sizes and the decrease of the stellar velocity dispersions since redshift z ≈ 2. At present 25 out of 40 galaxies are quiescent with structural parameters (sizes and velocity dispersions) in agreement with local early-type galaxies. At z = 2 all simulated galaxies with M * >~ 1011 M ⊙ (11 out of 40) at z = 2 are compact with projected half-mass radii of ≈0.77 (±0.24) kpc and line-of-sight velocity dispersions within the projected half-mass radius of ≈262 (±28) km s-1 (3 out of 11 are already quiescent). Similar to observed compact early-type galaxies at high redshift, the simulated galaxies are clearly offset from the local mass-size and mass-velocity dispersion relations. Toward redshift zero the sizes increase by a factor of ~5-6, following R 1/2vprop(1 + z)α with α = -1.44 for quiescent galaxies (α = -1.12 for all galaxies). The velocity dispersions drop by about one-third since z ≈ 2, following σ1/2vprop(1 + z)β with β = 0.44 for the quiescent galaxies (β = 0.37 for all galaxies). The simulated size and dispersion evolution is in good agreement with observations and results from the subsequent accretion and merging of stellar systems at z <~ 2, which is a natural consequence of the hierarchical structure formation. A significant number of the simulated massive galaxies (7 out of 40) experience no merger more massive than 1:4 (usually considered as major mergers). On average, the dominant accretion mode is stellar minor mergers with a mass-weighted mass ratio of 1:5. We therefore conclude that the evolution of massive early-type galaxies since z ≈ 2 and their present-day properties are predominantly determined by frequent "minor" mergers of moderate mass ratios and not by major mergers alone.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- January 2012
- DOI:
- 10.1088/0004-637X/744/1/63
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1106.5490
- Bibcode:
- 2012ApJ...744...63O
- Keywords:
-
- galaxies: elliptical and lenticular;
- cD;
- galaxies: evolution;
- galaxies: interactions;
- galaxies: kinematics and dynamics;
- methods: numerical;
- Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics;
- Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies
- E-Print:
- 9 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ