GALAXY STELLAR MASS FUNCTIONS FROM ZFOURGE/CANDELS: AN EXCESS OF LOW-MASS GALAXIES SINCE z=2 AND THE RAPID BUILDUP OF QUIESCENT GALAXIES uri icon

abstract

  • Using observations from the FourStar Galaxy Evolution Survey (ZFOURGE), we obtain the deepest measurements to date of the galaxy stellar mass function (SMF) at 0.2 < z < 3. ZFOURGE provides well-constrained photometric redshifts made possible through deep medium-bandwidth imaging at 1-2 m. We combine this with Hubble Space Telescope imaging from the Cosmic Assembly Near-IR Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey, allowing for the efficient selection of both blue and red galaxies down to stellar masses of 109.5 M at z ; 2.5. The total surveyed area is 316 arcmin2 distributed over three independent fields. We supplement these data with the wider and shallower NEWFIRM Medium-Band Survey to provide stronger constraints at high masses. Several studies at z 1.5 have revealed a steepening of the slope at the low-mass end of the SMF, leading to an upturn at masses <1010 M that is not well described by a standard single-Schechter function. We find evidence that this feature extends to at least z 2 and that it can be found in both the star-forming and quiescent populations individually. The characteristic mass (M*) and slope at the lowest masses () of a double-Schechter function fit to the SMF stay roughly constant at Log(M/M 10.65 and -1.5, respectively. The SMF of star-forming galaxies has evolved primarily in normalization, while the change in shape is relatively minor. Our data allow us, for the first time, to observe a rapid buildup at the low-mass end of the quiescent SMF. Since z = 2.5, the total stellar mass density of quiescent galaxies (down to 109 M has increased by a factor of 12, whereas the mass density of star-forming galaxies only increases by a factor of 2.2. 2014. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

published proceedings

  • ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL

altmetric score

  • 17.58

author list (cited authors)

  • Tomczak, A. R., Quadri, R. F., Tran, K., Labbe, I., Straatman, C., Papovich, C., ... van Dokkum, P.

citation count

  • 380

complete list of authors

  • Tomczak, Adam R||Quadri, Ryan F||Tran, Kim-Vy H||Labbe, Ivo||Straatman, Caroline MS||Papovich, Casey||Glazebrook, Karl||Allen, Rebecca||Brammer, Gabriel B||Kacprzak, Glenn G||Kawinwanichakij, Lalitwadee||Kelson, Daniel D||McCarthy, Patrick J||Mehrtens, Nicola||Monson, Andrew J||Persson, S Eric||Spitler, Lee R||Tilvi, Vithal||van Dokkum, Pieter

publication date

  • March 2014