The Stellar Mass - Halo Mass Relation for Low Mass X-ray Groups at 0.5<z<1 in the CDFS with CSI

TL;DR

This study measures the stellar mass content of low mass X-ray groups at 0.5<z<1, establishing the stellar-to-halo mass relation and its evolution, which is crucial for understanding galaxy group growth and evolution.

Contribution

First statistical measurement of stellar mass in low mass X-ray groups at 0.5<z<1, calibrating stellar-to-halo mass scales for large surveys.

Findings

Stars make up ~3-4% of total halo mass in low mass groups.

Stellar-to-halo mass ratio decreases with increasing halo mass.

No significant evolution in the stellar-halo mass relation since z<1.

Abstract

Since z~1, the stellar mass density locked in low mass groups and clusters has grown by a factor of ~8. Here we make the first statistical measurements of the stellar mass content of low mass X-ray groups at 0.5<z<1, enabling the calibration of stellar-to-halo mass scales for wide-field optical and infrared surveys. Groups are selected from combined Chandra and XMM-Newton X-ray observations in the Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS). These ultra-deep observations allow us to identify bona fide low mass groups at high redshift and enable measurements of their total halo masses. We compute aggregate stellar masses for these halos using galaxies from the Carnegie-Spitzer-IMACS (CSI) spectroscopic redshift survey. Stars comprise ~3-4% of the total mass of group halos with masses 10^{12.8}<M200/Msun<10^{13.5} (about the mass of Fornax and 1/50th the mass of Virgo). Complementing our sample with higher mass halos at these redshifts, we find that the stellar-to-halo mass ratio decreases toward higher halo masses, consistent with other work in the local and high redshift universe. The observed scatter about the stellar-halo mass relation is ~0.25 dex, which is relatively small and suggests that total group stellar mass can serve as a rough proxy for halo mass. We find no evidence for any significant evolution in the stellar-halo mass relation since z<1. Quantifying the stellar content in groups since this epoch is critical given that hierarchical assembly leads to such halos growing in number density and hosting increasing shares of quiescent galaxies.