The dark side of galaxy stellar populations – I. The stellar-to-halo mass relation and the velocity dispersion–halo mass relation

ABSTRACT The growth and properties of galaxies are thought to be closely connected to the ones of their host dark matter haloes. Despite the importance of this so-called galaxy–halo connection, the potential role of dark matter haloes in regulating observed galaxy properties remains yet to be fully...

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Published inMonthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Vol. 511; no. 4; pp. 4900 - 4920
Main Authors Scholz-Díaz, Laura, Martín-Navarro, Ignacio, Falcón-Barroso, Jesús
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Oxford University Press 02.03.2022
Subjects
Astronomy & Astrophysics
ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
galaxies: abundances
galaxies: evolution
galaxies: formation
galaxies: haloes
galaxies: stellar content
galaxies: formation
galaxies: abundances
galaxies: evolution
galaxies: stellar content
galaxies: haloes
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Summary:ABSTRACT The growth and properties of galaxies are thought to be closely connected to the ones of their host dark matter haloes. Despite the importance of this so-called galaxy–halo connection, the potential role of dark matter haloes in regulating observed galaxy properties remains yet to be fully understood. In this work, we derive the ages, metallicites, and [Mg/Fe] abundances from optical spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey of nearby central galaxies, and study them in terms of their host haloes. We investigate how the scatter in the stellar-to-halo mass relation and the velocity dispersion–halo mass relation correlates with these stellar population parameters. In addition, we also study the differences when distinguishing between different galaxy morphologies and environments. We find that the ages and chemical enrichment of galaxies are not fully determined by their stellar masses or velocity dispersion, but also depend on the mass of the host haloes. Our findings suggest that the velocity dispersion is the best proxy of the stellar population parameters with halo mass playing a secondary yet noticeable role. We interpret that the origin of the correlation between the scatter of these relations and the ages and metallicities might be related to different halo formation times.
Bibliography:USDOE
ISSN:0035-8711
1365-2966
DOI:10.1093/mnras/stac361