Evolution of Group Galaxies from the First Red-Sequence Cluster Survey

Abstract

We study the evolution of the red galaxy fraction (f_red) in 905 galaxy groups with 0.15 < z < 0.52. The galaxy groups are identified by the `probability Friends-of-Friends' algorithm from the first Red-Sequence Cluster Survey (RCS1) photometric-redshift sample. There is a high degree of uniformity in the properties of the red-sequence of the group galaxies, indicating that the luminous red-sequence galaxies in the groups are already in place by z~0.5 and that they have a formation epoch of z>2. In general, groups at lower redshifts exhibit larger f_red than those at higher redshifts, showing a group Butcher-Oemler effect. We investigate the evolution of f_red by examining its dependence on four parameters, which can be classified as one intrinsic and three environmental: galaxy stellar mass (M_*), total group stellar mass(M_{*,grp}, a proxy for group halo mass), normalized group-centric radius (r_grp), and local galaxy density (Sigma_5). We find that M_* is the dominant parameter such that there is a strong correlation between f_red and galaxy stellar mass. Furthermore, the dependence of f_red on the environmental parameters is also a strong function of M_*. Massive galaxies (M_* > 10^11 M_sun) show little dependence of f_red on r_grp, M_{*,grp}, and Sigma_5 over the redshift range. The dependence of f_red on these parameters is primarily seen for galaxies with lower masses, especially for M_* < 10^{10.6} M_{sun}. We observe an apparent `group down-sizing' effect, in that galaxies in lower-mass halos, after controlling for galaxy stellar mass, have lower f_red. We find a dependence of \fred on both \rgrp and \SigmaF after the other parameters are controlled. At a fixed \rgrp, there is a significant dependence of f_red on Sigma_5, while r_grp gradients of f_red are seen for galaxies in similar Sigma_5 regions. This indicates .....

ApJ accepted

References in corpus (30)

• Mass and environment as drivers of galaxy evolution in SDSS and zCOSMOS and the origin of the Schechter function
• The Importance of Satellite Quenching for the Build-Up of the Red Sequence of Present Day Galaxies
• Strangulation in Galaxy Groups
• The DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey: The Role of Galaxy Environment in the Cosmic Star-Formation History
• The DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey: The Relationship Between Galaxy Properties and Environment at z ~ 1
• PHAT: PHoto-z Accuracy Testing
• The DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey: Evolution of the Color-Density Relation at 0.4 < z < 1.35
• The Star Formation History of the Universe as Revealed by Deep Radio Observations
• The Correlation of Star Formation Quenching with Internal Galaxy Properties and Environment
• The dependence of star formation activity on environment and stellar mass at z~1 from the HiZELS H-alpha survey
• The DEEP2 galaxy redshift survey: the evolution of the blue fraction in groups and the field
• The Red-sequence Cluster Survey-2 (RCS-2): survey details and photometric catalog construction
• Downsizing by Shutdown in Red Galaxies
• Cosmological Constraints from the Red-Sequence Cluster Survey
• Direct observational evidence for a large transient galaxy population in groups at 0.85<z<1
• Clustering of K-selected Galaxies at 2<z<3.5: Evidence for a Color-Density Relation
• Groups of galaxies in the SDSS Data Release 5. A group-finder and a catalogue
• Southern GEMS Groups I: Dynamical Properties
• How does galaxy environment matter? The relationship between galaxy environments, colour and stellar mass at 0.4 < z < 1 in the Palomar/DEEP2 survey
• The zCOSMOS 10k-sample: the role of galaxy stellar mass in the colour-density relation up to z=1
• The Luminosity Function of Low-Redshift Abell Galaxy Clusters
• The galaxy populations from the centers to the infall regions in z~0.25 clusters
• Finding Galaxy Groups In Photometric Redshift Space: the Probability Friends-of-Friends (pFoF) Algorithm
• Unveiling the Important Role of Groups in the Evolution of Massive Galaxies: Insights from an Infrared Passive Sequence at Intermediate Redshift
• The stellar mass content of distant galaxy groups
• Groups of galaxies: relationship between environment and galaxy properties
• Semi-empirical analysis of Sloan Digital Sky Survey galaxies: IV. A nature via nurture scenario for galaxy evolution
• Dependence of Star Formation Activity On Stellar Mass and Environment From the Redshift One LDSS-3 Emission Line Survey (ROLES)
• Galaxy Luminosities in 2PIGG groups
• The FSVS Cluster Catalogue: Galaxy Clusters and Groups in the Faint Sky Variability Survey

Cited by in corpus (19)

• The IMACS Cluster Building Survey: II. Spectral Evolution of Galaxies in the Epoch of Cluster Assembly
• The evolution of the quenching of star formation in cluster galaxies since z $\sim$ 1
• Estimating Luminosities and Stellar Masses of Galaxies Photometrically without Determining Redshifts
• Efficient satellite quenching at z~1 from the GEEC2 spectroscopic survey of galaxy groups
• A Kinematic Approach To Assessing Environmental Effects: Star-Forming Galaxies in a z~0.9 SpARCS cluster using Spitzer 24um Observations
• First results on the cluster galaxy population from the Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam survey. I. The role of group or cluster environment in star formation quenching from z = 0.2 to 1.1
• Star Formation and Environmental Quenching of GEEC2 Group Galaxies at z~1
• First results on the cluster galaxy population from the Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam survey. II. Faint end color-magnitude diagrams and radial profiles of red and blue galaxies at $0.1<z<1.1$
• Do group dynamics play a role in the evolution of member galaxies?
• Studying Inter-Cluster Galaxy Filaments Through Stacking GMBCG Galaxy Cluster Pairs
• The Morphological Transformation of Red Sequence Galaxies in Clusters since $z\sim 1$
• Redshift Evolution of Green Valley Galaxies in Different Environments from the Hyper Suprime-Cam Survey
• The Pan-STARRS1 Medium-deep Survey: Star Formation Quenching in Group and Cluster Environments
• Relaxed blue ellipticals: accretion-driven stellar growth is a key evolutionary channel for low mass elliptical galaxies
• Characterizing SL2S galaxy groups using the Einstein radius
• CALSAGOS: Clustering ALgorithmS Applied to Galaxies in Overdense Systems
• Identification of 4876 Bent-Tail Radio Galaxies in the FIRST Survey Using Deep Learning Combined with Visual Inspection
• Structure and large scale environment of galaxy pairs in the S-PLUS DR4
• Initial Investigations of the Outskirts of XLSSC 122