The Stellar Mass Components of Galaxies: Comparing Semi-Analytical Models with Observation

TL;DR

This study compares semi-analytical galaxy formation models with observations, revealing discrepancies in stellar mass predictions, especially for satellites and low-mass halos, highlighting issues in current models.

Contribution

It provides a detailed comparison between models and observations, identifying specific failures in predicting stellar masses and satellite galaxy counts.

Findings

Models only match central galaxy masses in limited ranges.

All models over-predict satellite galaxy numbers.

Predicted intra-cluster stars are too abundant.

Abstract

We compare the stellar masses of central and satellite galaxies predicted by three independent semianalytical models with observational results obtained from a large galaxy group catalogue constructed from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. In particular, we compare the stellar mass functions of centrals and satellites, the relation between total stellar mass and halo mass, and the conditional stellar mass functions, which specify the average number of galaxies of stellar mass M_* that reside in a halo of mass M_h. The semi-analytical models only predict the correct stellar masses of central galaxies within a limited mass range and all models fail to reproduce the sharp decline of stellar mass with decreasing halo mass observed at the low mass end. In addition, all models over-predict the number of satellite galaxies by roughly a factor of two. The predicted stellar mass in satellite galaxies can be made to match the data by assuming that a significant fraction of satellite galaxies are tidally stripped and disrupted, giving rise to a population of intra-cluster stars in their host halos. However, the amount of intra-cluster stars thus predicted is too large compared to observation. This suggests that current galaxy formation models still have serious problems in modeling star formation in low-mass halos.