Recent Arrival of Faint Cluster Galaxies on the Red-sequence: Luminosity Functions from 119 square degrees of CFHTLS

Abstract

The global star formation rate has decreased significantly since z ~ 1, for reasons that are not well understood. Red-sequence galaxies, dominating in galaxy clusters, represent the population that have had their star formation shut off, and may therefore be the key to this problem. In this work, we select 127 rich galaxy clusters at 0.17<z<0.36, from 119 square degrees of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey (CFHTLS) optical imaging data, and construct the r'-band red-sequence luminosity functions (LFs). We show that the faint end of the LF is very sensitive to how red-sequence galaxies are selected, and an optimal way to minimise the contamination from the blue cloud is to mirror galaxies on the redder side of the colour-magnitude relation (CMR). The LFs of our sample have a significant inflexion centred at Mr' ~- 18.5, suggesting a mixture of two populations. Combining our survey with low redshift samples constructed from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we show that there is no strong evolution of the faint end of the LF (or the red-sequence dwarf-to-giant ratio) over the redshift range 0.2 < z < 0.4, but from z ~ 0.2 to z ~ 0 the relative number of red-sequence dwarf galaxies has increased by a factor of ~3, implying a significant build-up of the faint end of the cluster red-sequence over the last 2.5 Gyr.

MNRAS submitted, revised after referee's comments, 23 pages, 19 figures

References in corpus (15)

• Galaxy Groups in the SDSS DR4: I. The Catalogue and Basic Properties
• The Galaxy Content of SDSS Clusters and Groups
• The build-up of the colour-magnitude relation in galaxy clusters since z~0.8
• The STAGES view of red spirals and dusty red galaxies: Mass-dependent quenching of star-formation in cluster infall
• Properties of Galaxy Groups in the SDSS: II.- AGN Feedback and Star Formation Truncation
• The redshift evolution of early-type galaxies in COSMOS: Do massive early-type galaxies form by dry mergers?
• A spectroscopic survey of dwarf galaxies in the Coma Cluster: Stellar populations, environment and downsizing
• The history of mass assembly of faint red galaxies in 28 galaxy clusters since z=1.3
• The Red-Sequence Luminosity Function in Galaxy Clusters since z~1
• The Luminosity Function of Low-Redshift Abell Galaxy Clusters
• The Build-up of the Red Sequence in the galaxy cluster MS1054-0321 at z=0.831
• The NOAO Fundamental Plane Survey - III. Variations in the stellar populations of red-sequence galaxies from the cluster core to the virial radius
• Tracking Down a Critical Halo Mass for Killing Galaxies through the Growth of the Red-Sequence
• The Red Sequence Luminosity Function in Massive Intermediate Redshift Galaxy Clusters
• The Star Formation Histories of Red-Sequence Galaxies, Mass-to-Light Ratios and the Fundamental Plane

Cited by in corpus (31)

• The Red-sequence Cluster Survey-2 (RCS-2): survey details and photometric catalog construction
• The quenching and survival of ultra-diffuse galaxies in the Coma cluster
• Direct observational evidence for a large transient galaxy population in groups at 0.85<z<1
• Dwarf galaxy populations in present-day galaxy clusters: I. Abundances and red fractions
• 3D-Matched-Filter Galaxy Cluster Finder I: Selection Functions and CFHTLS Deep Clusters
• The red-sequence of 72 WINGS local galaxy clusters
• Optimal filtering of optical and weak lensing data to search for galaxy clusters: application to the COSMOS field
• The Evolution of Dusty Star formation in Galaxy Clusters to z = 1: Spitzer IR Observations of the First Red-Sequence Cluster Survey
• Group-finding with photometric redshifts: The Photo-z Probability Peaks algorithm
• The Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey (NGVS). XXIV. The Red Sequence to $\sim$10${}^6$ L${}_{\odot }$ and Comparisons with Galaxy Formation Models
• The Faint End of the Cluster Galaxy Luminosity Function at High Redshift
• Close companions to Brightest Cluster Galaxies: Support for minor mergers and downsizing
• CFHT Legacy Ultraviolet Extension (CLUE): Witnessing Galaxy Transformations up to 7 Mpc from Rich Cluster Cores
• Crowded Field Galaxy Photometry: Precision Colors in the CLASH Clusters
• The close pair fraction of BCGs since $z=0.5$: major mergers dominate recent BCG stellar mass growth
• Weak-lensing-inferred scaling relations of galaxy clusters in the RCS2: mass-richness, mass-concentration, mass-bias, and more
• Internal dynamics of Abell 2254: a merging galaxy cluster with a clumpy, diffuse radio emission
• Implications of the remarkable homogeneity of galaxy groups and clusters
• Evolution of the Red Sequence Giant to Dwarf Ratio in Galaxy Clusters out to z ~ 0.5
• Abell 1758N from an optical point of view: new insights on a merging cluster with diffuse radio emission
• Large-scale Structure and Dynamics of the Most X-ray Luminous Galaxy Cluster Known -- RX J1347-1145
• The Dynamical Origin of Early-Type Dwarfs in Galaxy Clusters: A Theoretical Investigation
• The XXL Survey XXVIII. Galaxy luminosity functions of the XXL-N clusters
• Environmental effects on the bright end of the galaxy luminosity function in galaxy clusters
• Galaxy cluster luminosities and colours, and their dependence on cluster mass and merger state
• Photometric studies of Abell 1664: The subtle effect a minor merger has on cluster galaxies
• Galaxy Luminosity Function of Dynamically Young Abell 119 Cluster: Probing the Cluster Assembly
• The faint end of the galaxy luminosity function in Abell 1689: a steep red faint end upturn at $z=0.18$
• Luminosity Functions of XMM-LSS C1 Galaxy Clusters
• Peering Into the Extended X-ray Emission on Megaparsec Scale in 3C 187
• Boosting the evolutionary picture of Cl 0024+17 and MS 0451-03: A case study at intermediate-redshift