The Lack of Structural and Dynamical Evolution of Elliptical Galaxies since z ~ 1.5: Clues from Self-Consistent Hydrodynamical Simulations

Abstract

We present results of a study on the evolution of the parameters characterizing the structure and dynamics of the relaxed elliptical-like objects (ELOs) identified at z=0, z=1 and z=1.5 in a set of hydrodynamical, self-consistent simulations operating in the context of a concordance cosmological model. The values of the stellar mass, the stellar half-mass radius and the stellar mean-square velocity have been measured in each ELO and found to populate, at any z, a flattened ellipsoid close to a plane (the dynamical plane, DP). Our simulations indicate that, at the intermediate zs considered, individual ELOs evolve, increasing the values of these parameters as a consequence of on-going mass assembly, but, nevertheless, their DP is roughly preserved within its scatter, in agreement with observations of the Fundamental Plane of ellipticals at different zs. We briefly discuss how this lack of significant dynamical and structural evolution in ELO samples arises, in terms of the two different phases operating in the mass aggregation history of their dark matter halos. According with our simulations, most dissipation involved in ELO formation takes place at the early violent phase, causing the stellar mass, the stellar half-mass radius and the stellar mean-square velocity parameters to settle down to the DP, and, moreover, the transformation of most of the available gas into stars. In the subsequent slow phase, ELO stellar mass growth preferentially occurs through non-dissipative processes, so that the DP is preserved and the ELO star formation rate considerably decreases. These results hint, for the first time, to a possible way of explaining, in the context of cosmological simulations, different apparently paradoxical observational results on ellipticals.

arXiv comment12 pages, 1 figure. Minor changes to match the published version

References in corpus (52)

• First Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Determination of Cosmological Parameters
• The Global Schmidt Law in Star Forming Galaxies
• Simulating the joint evolution of quasars, galaxies and their large-scale distribution
• Cosmological parameters from SDSS and WMAP
• How Do Galaxies Get Their Gas?
• The epochs of early-type galaxy formation as a function of environment
• Nearly 5000 Distant Early-Type Galaxies in COMBO-17: a Red Sequence and its Evolution since z~1
• Concentrations of Dark Halos from their Assembly Histories
• The Relationship Between Stellar Light Distributions of Galaxies and their Formation Histories
• Massive Dark-matter halos and Evolution of Early-type Galaxies to z=1
• Old Galaxies in the Young Universe
• The Growth and Structure of Dark Matter Haloes
• The Mass Assembly Histories of Galaxies of Various Morphologies in the GOODS Fields
• Hubble Space Telescope imaging of the CFRS and LDSS redshift surveys - IV. Influence of mergers in the evolution of faint field galaxies from z~1
• Star Formation from Galaxies to Globules
• The K20 survey. I. Disentangling old and dusty star-forming galaxies in the ERO population
• The Assembly History of Field Spheroidals: Evolution of Mass-to-light Ratios and Signatures of Recent Star Formation
• Galaxy Formation: CDM, Feedback and the Hubble Sequence
• Dynamically Close Galaxy Pairs and Merger Rate Evolution in the CNOC2 Redshift Survey
• The Luminosity, Stellar Mass, and Number Density Evolution of Field Galaxies of Known Morphology from z = 0.5 - 3
• The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey: The amplitudes of fluctuations in the 2dFGRS and the CMB, and implications for galaxy biasing
• The Munich Near--Infrared Cluster Survey (MUNICS) -- VI. The stellar masses of K-band selected field galaxies to z ~ 1.2
• The Assembly of Diversity in the Morphologies and Stellar Populations of High-Redshift Galaxies
• The Tilt of the Fundamental Plane of Elliptical Galaxies: I. Dynamical and Structural Effects
• Star formation histories of early-type galaxies. I: Higher order Balmer lines as age indicators
• Galaxy merging, the Fundamental Plane of elliptical galaxies, and the Mbh-sigma relation
• On the origin of the galaxy luminosity function
• The Luminosity-Size and Mass-Size Relations of Galaxies out to z~3
• Evidence for a Massive Post-Starburst Galaxy at z ~ 6.5
• Near-Infrared Imaging of Early-Type Galaxies IV. The Physical Origins of the Fundamental Plane Scaling Relations
• The Evolution of Early-type Red Galaxies with the GEMS Survey: Luminosity-size and Stellar Mass-size Relations Since z=1
• Dissipationless Mergers of Elliptical Galaxies and the Evolution of the Fundamental Plane
• The evolution of early-type galaxies at z~1 from the K20 survey
• The evolution of the galaxy B-band rest-frame morphology to z~2: new clues from the K20/GOODS sample
• Simulations of Galaxy Formation in a Lambda CDM Universe III: The Dissipative Formation of an Elliptical Galaxy
• Luminosity Evolution of Field Early-Type Galaxies to z=0.55
• The Redshift Distribution of Near-IR Selected Galaxies in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey as a Test of Galaxy Formation Scenarios
• The Fundamental Plane of Field Early Type Galaxies at z=1
• The detailed Fundamental Plane of two high redshift clusters: MS 2053-04 at z=0.58 and MS 1054-03 at z=0.83
• What determines galactic evolution?
• On the Assembly History of Early-Type Galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field North
• The Fundamental Plane and the evolution of the M/L ratio of early-type field galaxies up to z~1
• Internal Color Properties of Resolved Spheroids in the Deep HST/ACS field of UGC 10214
• Mergers between elliptical galaxies and the thickening of the fundamental plane
• The Evolution of Early-type Field Galaxies Selected from a NICMOS Map of the Hubble Deep Field North
• GRAPE-SPH Chemodynamical Simulation of Elliptical Galaxies II: Scaling Relations and the Fundamental Plane
• Simulating galaxy Clusters -II: global star formation histories and galaxy populations
• Conservation Laws in Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics: the DEVA Code
• Scale Radii and Aggregation Histories of Dark Haloes
• Clues on the Physical Origin of the Fundamental Plane from Self-consistent Hydrodynamical Simulations
• Ellipticals at $z=0$ from Self-Consistent Hydrodynamical Simulations: Comparison with SDSS Structural and Kinematical Data
• Ellipticals at z=0 from Self-Consistent Hydrodynamical Simulations: Clues on Age Effects in their Stellar Populations

Cited by in corpus (16)

• Strong size evolution of the most massive galaxies since z~2
• Size evolution of the most massive galaxies at 1.7<z<3 from GOODS NICMOS survey imaging
• GMASS Ultradeep Spectroscopy of Galaxies at 1.4<z<2. II. Superdense passive galaxies: how did they form and evolve ?
• Extremely compact massive galaxies at z~1.4
• Angular Momentum Transfer in Dark Matter Halos: Erasing the Cusp
• Chemical evolution of galaxies. I. A composition-dependent SPH model for chemical evolution and cooling
• A two-phase scenario for bulge assembly in LCDM cosmologies
• Bright and Dark Matter in Elliptical Galaxies: Mass and Velocity Distributions from Self-consistent Hydrodynamical Simulations
• GRASIL-3D: an Implemention of Dust Effects in the SEDs of Simulated Galaxies
• Clues on Regularity in the Structure and Kinematics of Elliptical Galaxies from Self-consistent Hydrodynamical Simulations: the Dynamical Fundamental Plane
• The Effects of Interactions on the Structure and Morphology of Elliptical/Lenticular galaxies in Pairs
• The ALHAMBRA survey: 2-D analysis of the stellar populations in massive early-type galaxies at z < 0.3
• The role of AGN on the structure, kinematics and evolution of ETGs in the Horizon simulations
• Large-Scale Gas Dynamics in the Adhesion Model: Implications for the Two-Phase Massive Galaxy Formation Scenario
• The Radial Distribution of Mono-Metallicity Populations in the Galactic Disk as Evidence for Two-Phase Disk Formation
• Massive Galaxies at High-z: Assembly Patterns, Structure & Dynamics in the Fast Phase of Galaxy Formation