Velocity Dispersion, Size, Sérsic Index and $D_n4000$: The Scaling of Stellar Mass with Dynamical Mass for Quiescent Galaxies

H. Jabran Zahid; Margaret J. Geller

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aa7056

paper

Velocity Dispersion, Size, Sérsic Index and $D_{n} 4000$ : The Scaling of Stellar Mass with Dynamical Mass for Quiescent Galaxies

arXiv:1701.01350 · doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aa7056

Abstract

We examine the relation between stellar mass, velocity dispersion, size, Sérsic index and $D_{n} 4000$ for ~40,000 quiescent galaxies in the SDSS. At a fixed stellar mass, galaxies with higher $D_{n} 4000$ have larger velocity dispersions and smaller sizes. $D_{n} 4000$ is a proxy for stellar population age, thus these trends suggest that older galaxies typically have larger velocity dispersions and smaller sizes. We combine velocity dispersion and size into a dynamical mass estimator, $σ^{2} R$ . At a fixed stellar mass, $σ^{2} R$ depends on $D_{n} 4000$ . The Sérsic index is also correlated with $D_{n} 4000$ . The dependence of $σ^{2} R$ and Sérsic index on $D_{n} 4000$ suggests that quiescent galaxies are not structurally homologous systems. We derive an empirical correction for non-homology which is consistent with the analytical correction derived from the virial theorem. After accounting for non-homologous galactic structure, we measure $M_{*} \propto M_{d}^{0.998 \pm 0.004}$ where $M_{*}$ is the stellar mass and $M_{d}$ is the dynamical mass derived from the velocity dispersion and size; stellar mass is directly proportional to dynamical mass. Quiescent galaxies appear to be in approximate virial equilibrium and deviations of the fundamental plane parameters from the expected virial relation may result from mass-to-light ratio variations, selection effects and the non-homology of quiescent galaxies. We infer the redshift evolution of velocity dispersion and size for galaxies in our sample assuming purely passive evolution. The inferred evolution is inconsistent with direct measurements at higher redshifts. Thus quiescent galaxies do not passively evolve. Quiescent galaxies have properties consistent with standard galaxy formation in $Λ$ CDM. They form at different epochs and evolve modestly increasing their size, velocity dispersion and Sérsic index after they cease star formation.

18 pages, 15 figures. Updated to accepted version

Velocity Dispersion, Size, Sérsic Index and $D_{n} 4000$ : The Scaling of Stellar Mass with Dynamical Mass for Quiescent Galaxies

Abstract

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Velocity Dispersion, Size, Sérsic Index and Dn​4000: The Scaling of Stellar Mass with Dynamical Mass for Quiescent Galaxies

Abstract

References in corpus (29)

Cited by in corpus (41)

Velocity Dispersion, Size, Sérsic Index and $D_{n} 4000$ : The Scaling of Stellar Mass with Dynamical Mass for Quiescent Galaxies