The GOGREEN survey: Dependence of galaxy properties on halo mass at z > 1 and implications for environmental quenching

We use photometric redshifts and statistical background subtraction to measure stellar mass functions in galaxy group-mass ($4.5-8\times10^{13}~\mathrm{M}_\odot$) haloes at $1<z<1.5$. Groups are selected from COSMOS and SXDF, based on X-ray imaging and sparse spectroscopy. Stellar mass ($M_{\mathrm{stellar}}$) functions are computed for quiescent and star-forming galaxies separately, based on their rest-frame $UVJ$ colours. From these we compute the quiescent fraction and quiescent fraction excess (QFE) relative to the field as a function of $M_{\mathrm{stellar}}$. QFE increases with $M_{\mathrm{stellar}}$, similar to more massive clusters at $1<z<1.5$. This contrasts with the apparent separability of $M_{\mathrm{stellar}}$ and environmental factors on galaxy quiescent fractions at $z\sim 0$. We then compare our results with higher mass clusters at $1<z<1.5$ and lower redshifts. We find a strong QFE dependence on halo mass at fixed $M_{\mathrm{stellar}}$; well fit by a logarithmic slope of $\mathrm{d}(\mathrm{QFE})/\mathrm{d}\log (M_{\mathrm{halo}}) \sim 0.24 \pm 0.04$ for all $M_{\mathrm{stellar}}$ and redshift bins. This dependence is in remarkably good qualitative agreement with the hydrodynamic simulation BAHAMAS, but contradicts the observed dependence of QFE on $M_{\mathrm{stellar}}$. We interpret the results using two toy models: one where a time delay until rapid (instantaneous) quenching begins upon accretion to the main progenitor ("no pre-processing") and one where it starts upon first becoming a satellite ("pre-processing"). Delay times appear to be halo mass dependent, with a significantly stronger dependence required without pre-processing. We conclude that our results support models in which environmental quenching begins in low-mass ($<10^{14}M_\odot$) haloes at $z>1$.
Comment: Accepted July 6, 2021, MNRAS