On the evolution and environmental dependence of the star formation rate versus stellar mass relation since z~2

TL;DR

This study examines how the relationship between galaxy star formation rates and stellar mass has evolved since z~2, highlighting environmental effects and dust attenuation influences over cosmic time.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of the environmental dependence of the SFR-M* relation since z~2 using H-alpha selected galaxy samples and MIR data.

Findings

SFR is higher in dense environments at z=0.4.

SSFR evolves as (1+z)^3 since z~2.

The SFR-M* relation is largely environment-independent since z~2.

Abstract

This paper discusses the evolution of the correlation between galaxy star formation rates (SFRs) and stellar mass (M*) over the last ~10 Gyrs, particularly focusing on its environmental dependence. We first present the mid-infrared (MIR) properties of the H-alpha-selected galaxies in a rich cluster Cl0939+4713 at z=0.4. With a MIR stacking analysis, we find that the median SFR of H-alpha emitters is higher in higher-density environment at z=0.4. We also find that star-forming galaxies in high-density environment tend to have higher specific SFR (SSFR), although the trend is much less significant compared to that of SFR. This increase of SSFR in high-density environment is not visible when we consider the SFR derived from H-alpha alone, suggesting that the dust attenuation in galaxies depends on environment; galaxies in high-density environment tend to be dustier (by up to ~0.5 mag). We then discuss the environmental dependence of the SFR-M* relation for star-forming galaxies since z~2, by compiling our comparable, narrow-band selected, large H-alpha emitter samples in both distant cluster environments (from MAHALO-Subaru) and field environments (from HiZELS). We find that the SSFR of H-alpha-selected galaxies (at the fixed mass of log(M*/Msun)=10) rapidly evolves as (1+z)^3, but the SFR-M* relation is independent of the environment since z~2, as far as we rely on the H-alpha-based SFRs (with M*-dependent extinction correction). Even if we consider the possible environmental variation in the dust attenuation, we conclude that the difference in the SFR-M* relation between cluster and field star-forming galaxies is always small (~<0.2dex level) at any time in the history of the Universe since z~2. [abridged]