The H$\alpha$ luminosity and stellar mass dependent clustering of star-forming galaxies at $0.7 < z < 1.5$ with 3D-HST

TL;DR

This study investigates how galaxy clustering depends on star formation rate and stellar mass at redshifts 0.7 to 1.5, revealing that higher SFR galaxies reside in more massive haloes, with environment effects influenced by galaxy type.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of the dependence of galaxy clustering on Hα luminosity and stellar mass at intermediate redshifts using 3D-HST data, employing advanced modeling frameworks.

Findings

Clustering amplitude strongly depends on Hα luminosity and SFR.

At fixed stellar mass, the clustering dependence on SFR is minimal.

Higher SFR galaxies tend to inhabit more massive dark matter haloes.

Abstract

We present measurements of the dependence of the clustering amplitude of galaxies on their star formation rate (SFR) and stellar mass ($M_*$) at $0.7 < z < 1.5$ to assess the extent to which environment affects these properties. While these relations are well determined in the local universe, they are much more poorly known at earlier times. For this analysis we make use of the near-IR HST WFC3 grism spectroscopic data in the five CANDELS fields obtained as part of the 3D-HST survey. We make projected 2-point correlation function measurements using $\sim$6,000 galaxies with accurate redshifts, $M_*$ and H$\alpha$ luminosities. We find a strong dependence of clustering amplitude on H$\alpha$ luminosity and thus SFR. However, at fixed $M_*$, the clustering dependence on H$\alpha$ luminosity is largely eliminated. We model the clustering of these galaxies within the Halo Occupation Distribution framework using the conditional luminosity function model and the newly developed conditional stellar mass and H$\alpha$ luminosity distribution model. These show that galaxies with higher SFRs tend to live in higher mass haloes, but this is largely driven by the relationship between SFR and $M_*$. Finally, we show that the small residual correlation between clustering amplitude and H$\alpha$ luminosity at fixed $M_*$ is likely being driven by a broadening of the SFR-$M_*$ relationship for satellite galaxies.