1. An evolving and mass-dependent σsSFR–M ⋆ relation for galaxies
- Author
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Tom Theuns, Peter Camps, Joop Schaye, Ana Trčka, Guillermo A. Blanc, James W. Trayford, Antonios Katsianis, Valentino Gonzalez, Marko Stalevski, Maarten Baes, Xianzhong Zheng, Luke J. M. Davies, and Claudia del P. Lagos
- Subjects
ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI ,Active galactic nucleus ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Stellar mass ,Star (game theory) ,Astrophysics ,Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics ,01 natural sciences ,STAR-FORMATION-RATE ,surveys ,0103 physical sciences ,010303 astronomy & astrophysics ,Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Physics ,theory [cosmology] ,Star formation ,MAJOR MERGER RATE ,Sigma ,Astronomy and Astrophysics ,M-ASTERISK RELATION ,BLACK-HOLE GROWTH ,Redshift ,Galaxy ,FORMATION RATES ,Physics and Astronomy ,DUST RADIATIVE-TRANSFER ,Space and Planetary Science ,DARK-MATTER HALOES ,High mass ,EAGLE SIMULATIONS ,star formation [galaxies] ,STELLAR MASS - Abstract
The scatter (${\rm\sigma_{\text{sSFR}}}$) of the specific star formation rates (sSFRs) of galaxies is a measure of the diversity in their star formation histories (SFHs) at a given mass. In this paper we employ the EAGLE simulations to study the dependence of the ${\rm \sigma_{\text{sSFR}}}$ of galaxies on stellar mass (${\rm M_{\star}}$) through the ${\rm \sigma_{\text{sSFR}}}$-${\rm M_{\star}}$ relation in $ {\rm z \sim 0-4}$. We find that the relation evolves with time, with the dispersion depending on both stellar mass and redshift. The models point to an evolving U-shape form for the ${\rm \sigma_{\text{sSFR}}}$-${\rm M_{\star}}$ relation with the scatter being minimal at a characteristic mass $M^{\star}$ of ${\rm 10^{9.5}}$ ${\rm M_{\odot}}$ and increasing both at lower and higher masses. This implication is that the diversity of SFHs increases towards both at the low- and high-mass ends. We find that active galactic nuclei feedback is important for increasing the ${\rm \sigma_{\text{sSFR}}}$ for high mass objects. On the other hand, we suggest that SNe feedback increases the ${\rm \sigma_{\text{sSFR}}}$ of galaxies at the low-mass end. We also find that excluding galaxies that have experienced recent mergers does not significantly affect the ${\rm \sigma_{\text{sSFR}}}$-${\rm M_{\star}}$ relation. Furthermore, we employ the combination of the EAGLE simulations with the radiative transfer code SKIRT to evaluate the effect of SFR/stellar mass diagnostics in the ${\rm \sigma_{\text{sSFR}}}$-${\rm M_{\star}}$ relation and find that the ${\rm SFR/M_{\star}}$ methodologies (e.g. SED fitting, UV+IR, UV+IRX-$\beta$) widely used in the literature to obtain intrinsic properties of galaxies have a large effect on the derived shape and normalization of the ${\rm \sigma_{\text{sSFR}}}$-${\rm M_{\star}}$ relation.
- Published
- 2019