Total to central luminosity ratios of quiescent galaxies in MODS as an indicator of size evolution

TL;DR

This study introduces a new method using luminosity ratios of galaxy regions to investigate size evolution of massive quiescent galaxies across redshifts, finding no significant change in these ratios over time.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel approach employing outer to central luminosity ratios as an indicator of galaxy size evolution, applied to deep imaging data across a wide redshift range.

Findings

No significant evolution in median luminosity ratios observed.

Luminosity ratios do not increase with decreasing redshift, suggesting limited size growth.

Method provides a new way to study galaxy size evolution without relying solely on direct size measurements.

Abstract

Using the very deep Subaru images of the GOODS-N region, from the MOIRCS Deep Survey and images from the HST/ACS, we have measured the Luminosity Ratio (LR) of the outer to the central regions of massive (M>10^{10.5}M_{Sun}) galaxies at fixed radii in a single rest-frame for z<3.5 as a new approach to the problem of size evolution. We didn't observe any evolution in the median LR. Had a significant size growth occurred, the outer to central luminosity ratios would have demonstrated a corresponding increase with a decrease in redshift.