The role of galaxy merging in the life of massive galaxies

TY - GEN

T1 - The role of galaxy merging in the life of massive galaxies

AU - Man, A.~W.~S.

AU - Zirm, A.

AU - Toft, S.

PY - 2015/8/1

Y1 - 2015/8/1

N2 - The role of galaxy mergers in the evolution of massive galaxies remains debated. While deep near-infrared surveys have enabled several independent merger rate measurements out to z∼3, they are limited to small samples and results are discrepant at z=2-3. In Man et al., we use the UltraVISTA and CANDELS surveys to obtain the largest sample of photometric galaxy pairs at z>1 for measuring the galaxy merger fraction and rate of massive galaxies. We find that the discrepancy of previous studies is due to selection effect. Defining galaxy pairs by stellar mass ratio leads to a flat z-evolution of the merger fraction, while defining by flux ratio leads to an increasing trend. The implications on the evolution of massive galaxies are summarized here.

AB - The role of galaxy mergers in the evolution of massive galaxies remains debated. While deep near-infrared surveys have enabled several independent merger rate measurements out to z∼3, they are limited to small samples and results are discrepant at z=2-3. In Man et al., we use the UltraVISTA and CANDELS surveys to obtain the largest sample of photometric galaxy pairs at z>1 for measuring the galaxy merger fraction and rate of massive galaxies. We find that the discrepancy of previous studies is due to selection effect. Defining galaxy pairs by stellar mass ratio leads to a flat z-evolution of the merger fraction, while defining by flux ratio leads to an increasing trend. The implications on the evolution of massive galaxies are summarized here.

U2 - 10.1017/s1743921316005391

DO - 10.1017/s1743921316005391

M3 - Conference article

VL - 22

SP - 306

EP - 308

JO - IAU General Assembly Meeting 14

JF - IAU General Assembly Meeting 14

ER -