Matching the Evolution of the Stellar Mass Function Using Log-Normal Star Formation Histories

Journal
Date Issued
2015
Author(s)
Abramson, Louis E.
•
Gladders, Michael D.
•
Dressler, Alan
•
Oemler, Augustus, Jr.
•
•
DOI
Description
L.E.A. thanks Daniel Kelson for his patience and Doug Watson, Avishai Dekel, Nir Mandelker, and the referee for their thoughtful and helpful responses to our original draft. He also acknowledges generous support from the inaugural James Cronin Fellowship.
Abstract
We show that a model consisting of individual, log-normal star formation histories for a volume-limited sample of z ≈ 0 galaxies reproduces the evolution of the total and quiescent stellar mass functions at z ≲ 2.5 and stellar masses {{M}*}≥slant {{10}10} {{M}☉ }. This model has previously been shown to reproduce the star formation rate/stellar mass relation (SFR-{{M}*}) over the same interval, is fully consistent with the observed evolution of the cosmic SFR density at z≤slant 8, and entails no explicit “quenching” prescription. We interpret these results/features in the context of other models demonstrating a similar ability to reproduce the evolution of (1) the cosmic SFR density, (2) the total/quiescent stellar mass functions, and (3) the SFR-{{M}*} relation, proposing that the key difference between modeling approaches is the extent to which they stress/address diversity in the (star-forming) galaxy population. Finally, we suggest that observations revealing the timescale associated with dispersion in SFR({{M}*}) will help establish which models are the most relevant to galaxy evolution.
Volume
801
Issue
1
Start page
L12
Uri
Issn Identifier
0004-637X
Ads BibCode
2015ApJ...801L..12A
Rights
open.access
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