STELLAR MASS VERSUS STELLAR VELOCITY DISPERSION: WHICH IS BETTER FOR LINKING GALAXIES TO THEIR DARK MATTER HALOS?
- Partner Group of the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics at the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory and Key Laboratory for Research in Galaxies and Cosmology of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nandan Road 80, Shanghai 200030 (China)
It was recently suggested that compared to its stellar mass (M{sub *}), the central stellar velocity dispersion ({sigma}{sub *}) of a galaxy might be a better indicator for its host dark matter halo mass. Here we test this hypothesis by estimating the dark matter halo mass for central galaxies in groups as a function of M{sub *} and {sigma}{sub *}. For this we have estimated the redshift-space cross-correlation function (CCF) between the central galaxies at given M{sub *} and {sigma}{sub *} and a reference galaxy sample, from which we determine both the projected CCF, w{sub p} (r{sub p} ), and the velocity dispersion profile. A halo mass is then obtained from the average velocity dispersion within the virial radius. At fixed M{sub *}, we find very weak or no correlation between halo mass and {sigma}{sub *}. In contrast, strong mass dependence is clearly seen even when {sigma}{sub *} is limited to a narrow range. Our results thus firmly demonstrate that the stellar mass of central galaxies is still a good (if not the best) indicator for dark matter halo mass, better than the stellar velocity dispersion. The dependence of galaxy clustering on {sigma}{sub *} at fixed M{sub *}, as recently discovered by Wake et al., may be attributed to satellite galaxies, for which the tidal stripping occurring within halos has stronger effect on stellar mass than on central stellar velocity dispersion.
- OSTI ID:
- 22078361
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 762, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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