On stellar mass loss from galaxies in groups and clusters

Abstract

We estimate the stellar mass that satellite galaxies lose once they enter groups (and clusters) by identifying groups in a high-resolution cosmological N-body simulation, assigning entry masses to satellite galaxies with halo abundance matching at the entry time, and comparing the predicted conditional stellar mass function of satellite galaxies at $z\simeq0$ with observations. Our results depend on the mass of the stars that form in satellite galaxies after the entry time. A model in which star formation shuts down completely as soon a galaxy enters a group environment is ruled out because it underpredicts the stellar masses of satellite galaxies even in the absence of tidal stripping. The greater is the stellar mass that is allowed to form, the greater the fraction that needs to be tidally stripped. The stellar mass fraction lost by satellite galaxies after entering a group or cluster environment is consistent with any value in the range $0-40\%$. To place stronger constraints, we consider a more refined model of tidal stripping of galaxies on elongated orbits (where stripping occurs at orbit pericentres). Our model predicts less tidal stripping: satellite galaxies lose $\sim 20-25\%$ of their stellar mass since their entry into the group. This finding is consistent with a slow-starvation delayed-quenching picture, in which galaxies that enter a group or cluster environment keep forming stars until at least the first pericentric passage.