A composite K-band Luminosity Function for Cluster Galaxies

TL;DR

This paper constructs a composite K-band luminosity function for 10 low-redshift galaxy clusters using spectroscopic data, revealing similarities with field galaxies and suggesting environment has limited impact on galaxy mass accumulation.

Contribution

It provides a new composite K-band luminosity function for galaxy clusters based on spectroscopic data, showing consistency with field galaxy populations.

Findings

Luminosity function well fitted by Schechter function

Cluster and field galaxy luminosity functions are similar

Galaxy mass accretion history is environment-independent

Abstract

We present a composite K-band luminosity function for 10 clusters at low redshift, where member galaxies are identified from an existing spectroscopic survey (the 2dF galaxy redshift survey). Our kinematically selected K-band luminosity function is well fitted by a Schechter function with $M^*_K=-24.50 + 5\log h$ and $\alpha=-0.98$ over $-27 < <M_K -5\log h < -22$. This is very similar to the 2dF field value and suggests that the integrated mass accretion history of galaxies does not vary strongly with environment