A direct measurement of galaxy major and minor merger rates and stellar mass accretion histories at $z<3$ using galaxy pairs in the REFINE survey

Abstract

We measure the role of major and minor mergers in forming the stellar masses of galaxies over $0<z<3$ using a combination of $\sim 3.25$ deg${}^2$ of the deepest ground based near-infrared imaging taken to date as part of the REFINE survey. We measure the pair fraction and merger fractions for galaxy mergers of different mass ratios, and quantify the merger rate with newly measured time-scales derived from the Illustris simulation as a function of redshift and merger mass ratio. We find that over $0<z<3$ major mergers with mass ratios greater than 1:4 occur $0.85_{-0.20}^{+0.19}$ times on average, while minor mergers down to ratios of 1:10 occur on average $1.43_{-0.3}^{+0.5}$ times per galaxy. We also quantify the role of major and minor mergers in galaxy formation, whereby the increase in mass due to major mergers is $93_{-31}^{+49}$% while minor mergers account for an increase of $29_{-12}^{+17}$%; thus major mergers add more stellar mass to galaxies than minor mergers over this epoch. Overall, mergers will more than double the mass of massive galaxies over this epoch. Finally, we compare our results to simulations, finding that minor mergers are over predicted in Illustris and in semi-analytical models, suggesting a mismatch between observations and theory in this fundamental aspect of galaxy assembly.

arXiv commentAAS Journals submitted, 29 pages

References in corpus (99)

• SciPy 1.0--Fundamental Algorithms for Scientific Computing in Python
• Stellar population synthesis at the resolution of 2003
• Galactic Stellar and Substellar Initial Mass Function
• Planck 2013 results. XVI. Cosmological parameters
• The Dust Content and Opacity of Actively Star-Forming Galaxies
• Simulating the joint evolution of quasars, galaxies and their large-scale distribution
• The Astropy Project: Sustaining and Growing a Community-oriented Open-source Project and the Latest Major Release (v5.0) of the Core Package
• Cosmic Star Formation History
• The many lives of active galactic nuclei: cooling flows, black holes and the luminosities and colours of galaxies
• The UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS)
• The Galaxy Evolution Explorer: A Space Ultraviolet Survey Mission
• Introducing the Illustris Project: Simulating the coevolution of dark and visible matter in the Universe
• The Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) -- Overview
• Evolutionary population synthesis: models, analysis of the ingredients and application to high-z galaxies
• EAZY: A Fast, Public Photometric Redshift Code
• First results from the IllustrisTNG simulations: matter and galaxy clustering
• First results from the IllustrisTNG simulations: the stellar mass content of groups and clusters of galaxies
• The hierarchical formation of the brightest cluster galaxies
• First results from the IllustrisTNG simulations: the galaxy color bimodality
• Physical Models of Galaxy Formation in a Cosmological Framework
• Properties of galaxies reproduced by a hydrodynamic simulation
• First results from the IllustrisTNG simulations: A tale of two elements -- chemical evolution of magnesium and europium
• From dwarf spheroidals to cDs: Simulating the galaxy population in a LCDM cosmology
• Bayesian photometric redshift estimation
• Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA): survey diagnostics and core data release
• First results from the IllustrisTNG simulations: radio haloes and magnetic fields
• Introducing the Illustris Project: the evolution of galaxy populations across cosmic time
• zCOSMOS: A Large VLT/VIMOS redshift survey covering 0 < z < 3 in the COSMOS field
• Minor mergers and the size evolution of elliptical galaxies
• Passively Evolving Early-type Galaxies at 1.4<z<2.5 in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field
• UltraVISTA: a new ultra-deep near-infrared survey in COSMOS
• The First Release COSMOS Optical and Near-IR Data and Catalog
• The merger rate of galaxies in the Illustris Simulation: a comparison with observations and semi-empirical models
• Galaxy formation in the Planck Cosmology - I. Matching the observed evolution of star formation rates, colours and stellar masses
• Galaxy And Mass Assembly: Stellar Mass Estimates
• The Spitzer Legacy Survey of the HST-ACS 2 sq. deg. COSMOS Field: survey strategy and first analysis
• Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): end of survey report and data release 2
• The Relation Between Compact, Quiescent High Redshift Galaxies and Massive Nearby Elliptical Galaxies: Evidence for Hierarchical, Inside-Out Growth
• A Direct Measurement of Major Galaxy Mergers at z < 3
• Strong size evolution of the most massive galaxies since z~2
• The Evolution of Galaxy Structure over Cosmic Time
• The stellar mass assembly of galaxies in the Illustris simulation: growth by mergers and the spatial distribution of accreted stars
• The Evolution of Galaxy Mergers and Morphology at z<1.2 in the Extended Groth Strip
• Size evolution of the most massive galaxies at 1.7<z<3 from GOODS NICMOS survey imaging
• A Public Ks-selected Catalog in the COSMOS/UltraVISTA Field: Photometry, Photometric Redshifts and Stellar Population Parameters
• GAMA: towards a physical understanding of galaxy formation
• A Critical Assessment of Photometric Redshift Methods: A CANDELS Investigation
• The VISTA Deep Extragalactic Observations (VIDEO) Survey
• Red Nuggets at z~1.5: Compact passive galaxies and the formation of the Kormendy Relation
• The Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Survey (SXDS) - II. Optical Imaging and Photometric Catalogs
• The mass evolution of the first galaxies: stellar mass functions and star formation rates at $4<z<7$ in the CANDELS GOODS-South field
• The VIMOS Public Extragalactic Survey (VIPERS): First Data Release of 57 204 spectroscopic measurements
• New Techniques for Relating Dynamically Close Galaxy Pairs to Merger and Accretion Rates : Application to the SSRS2 Redshift Survey
• The dramatic size evolution of elliptical galaxies and the quasar feedback
• History of Galaxy Interactions and their Impact on Star Formation over the Last 7 Gyr from GEMS
• Mergers in Lambda-CDM: Uncertainties in Theoretical Predictions and Interpretations of the Merger Rate
• A calibration of the relation between the abundance of close galaxy pairs and the rate of galaxy mergers
• Early and Rapid Merging as a Formation Mechanism of Massive Galaxies: Empirical Constraints
• The Evolution of Galaxy Number Density at z < 8 and its Implications
• Observational constraints on the merger history of galaxies since $z\approx 6$: Probabilistic galaxy pair counts in the CANDELS fields
• The structures and total (minor + major) merger histories of massive galaxies up to z = 3 in the HST GOODS NICMOS Survey: A possible solution to the size evolution problem
• Deep near-infrared spectroscopy of passively evolving galaxies at z>1.4
• High velocity outflows from young star-forming galaxies in the UKIDSS Ultra-Deep Survey
• The Evolution of the Baryons Associated with Galaxies Averaged over Cosmic Time and Space
• Galaxy Merger Statistics and Inferred Bulge-to-Disk Ratios in Cosmological SPH Simulations
• Close Pairs of Field Galaxies in the CNOC1 Redshift Survey
• SHARDS: an optical spectro-photometric survey of distant galaxies
• A New Census of the 0.2 < z < 3.0 Universe, Part I: The Stellar Mass Function
• Resolving the Discrepancy of Galaxy Merger Fraction Measurements at z ~ 0 - 3
• A remarkably high fraction of strong Ly_alpha emitters amongst luminous redshift 6.0<z<6.5 Lyman break galaxies in the UKIDSS Ultra-Deep Survey
• A consistent measure of the merger histories of massive galaxies using close-pair statistics I: Major mergers at $z<3.5$
• The evolution of the galaxy stellar mass function over the last twelve billion years from a combination of ground-based and HST surveys
• Deconstructing the Galaxy Stellar Mass Function with UKIDSS and CANDELS: the Impact of Colour, Structure and Environment
• The ALHAMBRA Survey: Bayesian Photometric Redshifts with 23 bands for 3 squared degrees
• A Survey of Faint Galaxy Pairs
• Massive Close Pairs Measure Rapid Galaxy Assembly in Mergers at High Redshift
• Galaxy Merger Rates up to z $\sim$ 3 using a Bayesian Deep Learning Model $-$ A Major-Merger classifier using IllustrisTNG Simulation data
• Major Merging History in CANDELS. I. Evolution of the Incidence of Massive Galaxy-Galaxy Pairs from z=3 to z~0
• Convolutional neural network identification of galaxy post-mergers in UNIONS using IllustrisTNG
• An analysis of the evolving comoving number density of galaxies in hydrodynamical simulations
• A Surprisingly High Pair Fraction for Extremely Massive Galaxies at z ~ 3 in the GOODS NICMOS Survey
• Minor vs Major Mergers: The Stellar Mass Growth of Massive Galaxies from z=3 using Number Density Selection Techniques
• A blind test of photometric redshifts on ground-based data
• Major mergers are not significant drivers of star formation or morphological transformation around the epoch of peak cosmic star formation
• Constraints on the merging channel of massive galaxies since z~1
• A Comparison of Galaxy Merger History Observations and Predictions from Semi-Analytic Models
• The role of major mergers in shaping galaxies at 2<z<4 in the VUDS and VVDS surveys
• Investigating the Effect of Galaxy Interactions on AGN Enhancement at $0.5<z<3.0$
• Galaxy Evolution in all Five CANDELS Fields and IllustrisTNG: Morphological, Structural, and the Major Merger Evolution to $z\sim 3$
• The Structures of Distant Galaxies - IV: A New Empirical Measurement of the Time-Scale for Galaxy Mergers - Implications for the Merger History
• The triggering of local AGN and their role in regulating star formation
• Tracing galaxy populations through cosmic time: A critical test of methods for connecting the same galaxies between different redshifts at $z<3$
• Statistics of galaxy mergers: bridging the gap between theory and observation
• The Evolution of Galaxies at Constant Number Density: A Less Biased View of Star Formation, Quenching, and Structural Formation
• DETECTIFz galaxy groups in the REFINE survey -- 1. Group detection and quenched fraction evolution at $z<2.5$
• Galaxy Morphologies Revealed with Subaru HSC and Super-Resolution Techniques I: Major Merger Fractions of L_UV~3-15 L_UV* Dropout Galaxies at z~4-7
• New empirical constraints on the cosmological evolution of gas and stars in galaxies
• The clustering of X-ray AGN at 0.5 < z < 4.5: host galaxies dictate dark matter halo mass
• Spectroscopically Identified Emission Line Galaxy Pairs in the WISP survey

Cited by in corpus (27)

• Euclid. I. Overview of the Euclid mission
• COSMOS2020: The Galaxy Stellar Mass Function: the assembly and star formation cessation of galaxies at $0.2<z\le 7.5$
• IllustrisTNG in the HSC-SSP: image data release and the major role of mini mergers as drivers of asymmetry and star formation
• Galaxy Mergers in the Epoch of Reionization I: A JWST Study of Pair Fractions, Merger Rates, and Stellar Mass Accretion Rates at $z=4.5-11.5$
• Euclid: Early Release Observations -- Deep anatomy of nearby galaxies
• An increase in black hole activity in galaxies with kinematically misaligned gas
• Resequencing the Hubble sequence and the quadratic (black hole mass)-(spheroid stellar mass) relation for elliptical galaxies
• Probing the Merger Rates of Supermassive Black Holes and Galaxies with Gravitational Waves
• Searching for Milky Way twins: Radial abundance distribution as a strict criterion
• Possible origins of anomalous HI gas around MHONGOOSE galaxy, NGC 5068
• Age and metal gradients in massive quiescent galaxies at $0.6\lesssim z\lesssim 1.0$: implications for quenching and assembly histories
• Ages and metallicities of quiescent galaxies: confronting broadband ($UVJ$) colours with stellar absorption lines
• Galactic warps: from cosmic noon to the current epoch
• Galaxy Mergers in the Epoch of Reionization II: Major Merger-Triggered Star Formation and AGN Activities at $z=$ 4.5-8.5
• STRRINGS: STReams in Residual Images of Nearby GalaxieS
• Evolution of massive quiescent galaxies via envelope accretion
• Modeling Tidal Streams and Tidal Tails around Galaxies Using Deep Wendelstein Imaging Data
• The spatially-resolved effect of mergers on the stellar mass assembly of MaNGA galaxies
• The SAMI Survey: Evidence for dynamical coupling of ionised gas and young stellar populations
• Low-redshift analogues of cosmic noon galaxies as laboratories for clumpy star formation
• Euclid preparation: TBD. Cosmic Dawn Survey: evolution of the galaxy stellar mass function across 0.2<z<6.5 measured over 10 square degrees
• Classifying merger stages with adaptive deep learning and cosmological hydrodynamical simulations
• Gravitational Wave Memory Imprints on the CMB from Populations of Massive Black Hole Mergers
• Reconstructing the Assembly of Massive Galaxies. III: Quiescent Galaxies Loose Angular Momentum as They Evolve in a Mass-dependent Fashion
• Recent star formation in 0.5<z<1.5 quiescent galaxies
• AVID: A Near-Major Post-Merger of Late-Type Dwarfs beneath a Regularly Rotating HI Disk (VCC 693)
• The $10\mathrm{kpc}$ collar of early-type galaxies -- probing evolution by focusing on the inner stellar density profile