Abstract
We investigate the influence of environment on brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) evolution using a sample of 63 clusters at 0.3 ≤ z ≤ 0.9 drawn primarily from the Las Campanas Distant Cluster Survey and follow-up V, I, and K' photometry. The luminosity evolution of the entire BCG sample is not adequately described by a single evolutionary model. Using the integrated light from the cluster detection as a proxy for cluster LX and the suggestion by Burke, Collins, & Mann, we set LX = 2 × 1044 ergs s-1 to be the division between high- and low-luminosity clusters. At high redshift (z > 0.6) BCGs from low-LX clusters are fainter, on average, than those from high-LX clusters and are best modeled as having constant luminosity with redshift. The BCGs from high-LX clusters are best modeled as having a stellar population that formed at large redshift (zform > 5) and is passively evolving. However, for the entire BCG population, the observed V-I and I-K' colors are well described by a single evolutionary model in which the stellar populations have zform > 5 and subsequently passively evolve. We conclude that accretion is proportionally more significant for BCGs in lower mass clusters at these redshifts (a factor of 2-4 increase in mass since z ~ 1 for the low-LX systems; Aragon-Salamanca and coworkers) and that the accreted matter is in the form of systems with evolved stellar populations.
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