GALAXY STELLAR MASS FUNCTIONS FROM ZFOURGE/CANDELS: AN EXCESS OF LOW-MASS GALAXIES SINCE z = 2 AND THE RAPID BUILDUP OF QUIESCENT GALAXIES

• Published in: The Astrophysical journal Vol. 783; no. 2; pp. 1 - 15
• Main Authors: Tomczak, Adam R, Quadri, Ryan F, Tran, Kim-Vy H, Labbe, Ivo, Straatman, Caroline M S, Papovich, Casey, Glazebrook, Karl, Allen, Rebecca, Brammer, Gabriel B, Kacprzak, Glenn G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 10.03.2014
• Subjects: Assembly; ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; Austenitic stainless steels; Construction; DENSITY; GALACTIC EVOLUTION; GALAXIES; Hubble Space Telescope; Legacy; LIMITING VALUES; LUMINOSITY; MASS; NEAR INFRARED RADIATION; RED SHIFT; SPACE; Star formation; STARS; Stellar mass; TELESCOPES
• ISSN: 0004-637X; 1538-4357
• DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/783/2/85

Using observations from the FourStar Galaxy Evolution Survey (ZFOURGE), we obtain the deepest measurements to date of the galaxy stellar mass function (SMF) at 0.2 < z < 3. We combine this with Hubble Space Telescope imaging from the Cosmic Assembly Near-IR Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey, allowing for the efficient selection of both blue and red galaxies down to stellar masses of ~10 super(9.5) M sub([middot in circle]) at z ~ 2.5. The total surveyed area is 316 arcmin super(2) distributed over three independent fields. We supplement these data with the wider and shallower NEWFIRM Medium-Band Survey to provide stronger constraints at high masses. Our data allow us, for the first time, to observe a rapid buildup at the low-mass end of the quiescent SMF. Since z = 2.5, the total stellar mass density of quiescent galaxies (down to 10 super(9) M sub([middot in circle])) has increased by a factor of ~12, whereas the mass density of star-forming galaxies only increases by a factor of ~2.2.