Velocity Dispersion Of Galaxies Research Articles

Measuring coherent motions in the universe

We present new measurements of the coherent motion of galaxies based on observations of the large-scale redshift-space distortions seen in the two-dimensional two-point correlation function of Luminous Red Galaxies in Data Release Seven of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We have developed a new methodology for estimating these coherent motions, which is less dependent on the details of galaxy bias and of the cosmological model to explain the late-time acceleration of the expansion of the Universe. We measure a one-dimensional velocity dispersion of galaxies on large-scales of σv = h-1 Mpc and σv = h-1 Mpc at a mean redshift of z = 0.25 and 0.38 respectively. These values are fully consistent with predictions for a WMAP7-normalised ΛCDM Universe and inconsistent at confidence of 3.8σ with a Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati (DGP) model for the Universe. We can convert the units of these σv measurements to km/s and km/s respectively (assuming a ΛCDM universe), which are lower that expected based on recent low redshift (z < 0.2) measurements of the peculiar velocity field (or “bulk flows”). It is difficult to directly compare these measurements as they cover different redshift ranges and different areas of the sky. However, one possible cosmological explanation for this discrepancy is that our Galaxy is located in unusually over, or under, dense region of the Universe.

Bridging the gap between low- and high-mass dwarf galaxies

While the dark matter content within the most massive giant and smallest dwarf galaxies has been probed -- spanning a range of over one million in mass -- an important observational gap remains for galaxies of intermediate mass. This gap covers K band magnitudes of approximately -16 > M_K > -18 (for which dwarf galaxies have B--K ~ 2). On the high mass side of the gap are dwarf elliptical (dE) galaxies, that are dominated by stars in their inner regions. While the low mass side includes dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies that are dark matter-dominated and ultra compact dwarf (UCD) objects that are star-dominated. Evolutionary pathways across the gap have been suggested but remain largely untested because the `gap' galaxies are faint, making dynamical measurements very challenging. With long exposures on the Keck telescope using the ESI instrument we have succeeded in bridging this gap by measuring the dynamical mass for five dwarf galaxies with M_K ~ -17.5 (M_B ~ --15.5). With the exception of our brightest dwarf galaxy, they possess relatively flat velocity dispersion profiles of around 20 km/s. By examining their 2D scaling relations and 3D fundamental manifold, we found that the sizes and velocity dispersions of these gap galaxies reveal continuous trends from dE to dSph galaxies. We conclude that low-luminosity dwarf elliptical galaxies are dominated by stars, not by dark matter, within their half light radii. This finding can be understood if internal feedback processes are operating most efficiently in gap galaxies, gravitationally heating the centrally-located dark matter to larger radii. Whereas external environmental processes, which can strip away stars, have a greater influence on dSph galaxies resulting in their higher dark matter fractions. Abridged.

Dynamics Induced by the Central Supermassive Black Holes in Galaxies

Dynamics Induced by the Central Supermassive Black Holes in Galaxies

The coevolution of the velocity and mass functions of galaxies and dark haloes

We employ a bias-corrected abundance matching technique to investigate the coevolution of the LCDM dark halo mass function (HMF), the observationally derived velocity dispersion and stellar mass functions (VDF, SMF) of galaxies between z=1 and 0. We use for the first time the evolution of the VDF constrained through strong lensing statistics by Chae (2010) for galaxy-halo abundance matching studies. As a local benchmark we use a couple of z ~ 0 VDFs (a Monte-Carlo realised VDF based on SDSS DR5 and a directly measured VDF based on SDSS DR6). We then focus on connecting the VDF evolution to the HMF evolution predicted by N-body simulations and the SMF evolution constrained by galaxy surveys. On the VDF-HMF connection, we find that the local dark halo virial mass-central stellar velocity dispersion (Mvir-sigma) relation is in good agreement with the individual properties of well-studied low-redshift dark haloes, and the VDF evolution closely parallels the HMF evolution meaning little evolution in the Mvir-sigma relation. On the VDF-SMF connection, it is also likely that the stellar mass-stellar velocity dispersion (Mstar-sigma) relation evolves little taking the abundance matching results together with other independent observational results and hydrodynamic simulation results. Our results support the simple picture that as the halo grows hierarchically, the stellar mass and the central stellar velocity dispersion grow in parallel. We discuss possible implications of this parallel coevolution for galaxy formation and evolution under the LCDM paradigm.

Optical and near-infrared velocity dispersions of early-type galaxies★

We have carried out a systematic, homogeneous comparison of optical and near-infrared dispersions. Our magnitude-limited sample of early-type galaxies in the Fornax cluster comprises 11 elliptical and 11 lenticular galaxies more luminous than MB = -17. We were able to determine the central dispersions based on the near-infrared CO absorption band head for 19 of those galaxies. The velocity dispersions range from less than 70 km/s to over 400 km/s. We compare our near-infrared velocity dispersions to the optical dispersions measured by Kuntschner (2000). Contrary to previous studies, we find a one-to-one correspondence with a median fractional difference of 6.4%. We examine the correlation between the relative dust mass and the fractional difference of the velocity dispersions, but find no significant trend. Our results suggest that early-type galaxies are largely optically thin, which is consistent with recent Herschel observations.

Supermassive black holes do not correlate with galaxy disks or pseudobulges

The masses of supermassive black holes are known to correlate with the properties of the bulge components of their host galaxies. In contrast, they seem not to correlate with galaxy disks. Disk-grown 'pseudobulges' are intermediate in properties between bulges and disks; it has been unclear whether they do or do not correlate with black holes in the same way that bulges do. At stake in this issue are conclusions about which parts of galaxies coevolve with black holes, possibly by being regulated by energy feedback from black holes. Here we report pseudobulge classifications for galaxies with dynamically detected black holes and combine them with recent measurements of velocity dispersions in the biggest bulgeless galaxies. These data confirm that black holes do not correlate with disks and show that they correlate little or not at all with pseudobulges. We suggest that there are two different modes of black-hole feeding. Black holes in bulges grow rapidly to high masses when mergers drive gas infall that feeds quasar-like events. In contrast, small black holes in bulgeless galaxies and in galaxies with pseudobulges grow as low-level Seyfert galaxies. Growth of the former is driven by global processes, so the biggest black holes coevolve with bulges, but growth of the latter is driven locally and stochastically, and they do not coevolve with disks and pseudobulges.

How galaxies got their black holes

The massive compact objects in the centres of galaxies developed in at least two ways. One seems to be a natural result of galaxy formation in the Big Bang theory of the expanding Universe — the other is enigmatic. See Letters p.374 & p.377 It is thought that there is a supermassive black hole at the centre of most large galaxies. Two papers in this issue go some way to solving the mystery of what mechanisms are involved in feeding such black holes. The first combines a survey of pseudobulge classifications for a sample of nearby galaxies with recent measurements of velocity dispersions in the biggest bulgeless galaxies to confirm that black holes do not correlate with disks or with pseudobulges. And the second shows that there is almost no correlation between dark matter and parameters that measure black holes unless the galaxy also contains a bulge.

The evolution of the Fundamental Plane of radio galaxies from z∼ 0.5 to the present day

We present deep spectroscopic data for a 24-object subsample of our full 41-object z~0.5 radio galaxy sample in order to investigate the evolution of the Fundamental Plane of radio galaxies. We find that the low-luminosity, FRI-type, radio galaxies in our sample are consistent with the local Fundamental Plane of radio galaxies defined by Bettoni et al. when corrected for simple passive evolution of their stellar populations. However, we find that the higher luminosity, FRII-type radio galaxies are inconsistent with the local Fundamental Plane if only passive evolution is considered, and find evidence for a rotation in the Fundamental Plane at z~0.5 when compared with the local relation. We show that neither passive evolution, nor a mass-dependent evolution in the mass-to-light ratio, nor an evolution in the size of the host galaxies can, by themselves, plausibly explain the observed tilt. However, we suggest that some combination of all three effects, with size evolution as the dominant factor, may be sufficient to explain the difference between the planes. We also find evidence for a correlation between host galaxy velocity dispersion and radio luminosity at the 97% significance level within our sub-sample, although further observations are required in order to determine whether this is different for the FRI and FRII radio sources. Assuming that the M_BH - sigma relation still holds at z~0.5, this implies that radio luminosity scales with black hole mass, in agreement with previous studies.

CORRECTING VELOCITY DISPERSIONS OF DWARF SPHEROIDAL GALAXIES FOR BINARY ORBITAL MOTION

We show that the measured velocity dispersions of dwarf spheroidal galaxies from about 4 to 10 km s−1 are unlikely to be inflated by more than 30% due to the orbital motion of binary stars and demonstrate that the intrinsic velocity dispersions can be determined to within a few percent accuracy using two-epoch observations with 1–2 yr as the optimal time interval. The crucial observable is the threshold fraction—the fraction of stars that show velocity changes larger than a given threshold between measurements. The threshold fraction is tightly correlated with the dispersion introduced by binaries, independent of the underlying binary fraction and distribution of orbital parameters. We outline a simple procedure to correct the velocity dispersion to within a few percent accuracy by using the threshold fraction and provide fitting functions for this method. We also develop a methodology for constraining properties of binary populations from both single- and two-epoch velocity measurements by including the binary velocity distribution in a Bayesian analysis.

Cluster galaxy dynamics and the effects of large-scale environment

We use a high-resolution N-body simulation to study how the influence of large-scale structure in and around clusters causes correlated signals in different physical probes and discuss some implications this has for multi-physics probes of clusters. We pay particular attention to velocity dispersions, matching galaxies to subhalos which are explicitly tracked in the simulation. We find that not only do halos persist as subhalos when they fall into a larger host, groups of subhalos retain their identity for long periods within larger host halos. The highly anisotropic nature of infall into massive clusters, and their triaxiality, translates into an anisotropic velocity ellipsoid: line-of-sight galaxy velocity dispersions for any individual halo show large variance depending on viewing angle. The orientation of the velocity ellipsoid is correlated with the large-scale structure, and thus velocity outliers correlate with outliers caused by projection in other probes. We quantify this orientation uncertainty and give illustrative examples. Such a large variance suggests that velocity dispersion estimators will work better in an ensemble sense than for any individual cluster, which may inform strategies for obtaining redshifts of cluster members. We similarly find that the ability of substructure indicators to find kinematic substructures is highly viewing angle dependent. While groups of subhalos which merge with a larger host halo can retain their identity for many Gyr, they are only sporadically picked up by substructure indicators. (Abridged)

Galaxy luminosities, stellar masses, sizes, velocity dispersions as a function of morphological type

We provide fits to the distribution of galaxy luminosity, size, velocity dispersion and stellar mass as a function of concentration index C_r and morphological type in the SDSS. We also quantify how estimates of the fraction of `early' or `late' type galaxies depend on whether the samples were cut in color, concentration or light profile shape, and compare with similar estimates based on morphology. Our fits show that Es account for about 20% of the r-band luminosity density, rho_Lr, and 25% of the stellar mass density, rho_*; including S0s and Sas increases these numbers to 33% and 40%, and 50% and 60%, respectively. Summed over all galaxy types, we find rho_* ~ 3 * 10^8 M_Sun Mpc^{-3} at z ~ 0. This is in good agreement with expectations based on integrating the star formation history. However, compared to most previous work, we find an excess of objects at large masses, up to a factor of ~ 10 at M_* ~ 5*10^{11} M_Sun. The stellar mass density further increases at large masses if we assume different IMFs for Es and spiral galaxies, as suggested by some recent chemical evolution models, and results in a better agreement with the dynamical mass function. We also show that the trend for ellipticity to decrease with luminosity is primarily because the E/S0 ratio increases at large L. However, the most massive galaxies, M_* > 5 * 10^{11} M_Sun, are less concentrated and not as round as expected if one extrapolates from lower L, and they are not well-fit by pure deVaucouleur laws. This suggests formation histories with recent radial mergers. Finally, we show that the age-size relation is flat for Es of fixed dynamical mass, but, at fixed M_dyn, S0s and Sas with large sizes tend to be younger. Explaining this difference between E and S0 formation is a new challenge for models of early-type galaxy formation.

Evidence for strong dynamical evolution in disc galaxies through the last 11 Gyr. GHASP VIII - a local reference sample of rotating disc galaxies for high-redshift studies

Due to their large distances, high-redshift galaxies are observed at a very low spatial resolution. In order to disentangle the evolution of galaxy kinematics from low-resolution effects, we have used Fabry–Pérot 3D Hα data cubes of 153 nearby isolated galaxies selected from the Gassendi Hα survey of SPirals (GHASP) to simulate data cubes of galaxies at redshift z= 1.7 using a pixel size of 0.125 arcsec and a 0.5 arcsec seeing. We have derived Hα flux, velocity and velocity dispersion maps. From these data, we show that the inner velocity gradient is lowered and is responsible for a peak in the velocity dispersion map. This signature in the velocity dispersion map can be used to make a kinematical classification, but misses 30 per cent of the regular rotating discs in our sample. Toy models of rotating discs have been built to recover the kinematical parameters and the rotation curves from low-resolution data. The poor resolution makes the kinematical inclination uncertain and the position of galaxy centre difficult to recover. The position angle of the major axis is retrieved with an accuracy higher than 5° for 70 per cent of the sample. Toy models also enable us to retrieve statistically the maximum velocity and the mean velocity dispersion of galaxies with a satisfying accuracy. This validates the use of the Tully–Fisher relation for high-redshift galaxies, but the loss of resolution induces a lower slope of the relation despite the beam smearing corrections. We conclude that the main kinematic parameters are better constrained for galaxies with an optical radius at least as large as three times the seeing. The simulated data have been compared to actual high-redshift galaxy data observed with VLT/SINFONI, Keck/OSIRIS and VLT/GIRAFFE in the redshift range 3 > z > 0.4, allowing us to follow galaxy evolution from 11 to 4 Gyr. For rotation-dominated galaxies, we find that the use of the velocity dispersion central peak as a signature of rotating discs may misclassify slow and solid body rotators. This is the case for ∼30 per cent of our sample. We show that the projected local data cannot reproduce the high velocity dispersion observed in high-redshift galaxies except when no beam smearing correction is applied. This unambiguously means that, unlike local evolved galaxies, there exists at high redshift at least a population of disc galaxies for which a large fraction of the dynamical support is due to random motions. We should nevertheless ensure that these features are not due to important selection biases before concluding that the formation of an unstable and transient gaseous disc is a general galaxy formation process.

STAR FORMATION IN PARTIALLY GAS-DEPLETED SPIRAL GALAXIES

Broadband B and R and H-alpha images have been obtained with the 4.1-m SOAR telescope atop Cerro Pachon, Chile for 29 spiral galaxies in the Pegasus I galaxy cluster and for 18 spirals in non-cluster environments. Pegasus I is a spiral-rich cluster with a low density intracluster medium and a low galaxy velocity dispersion. When combined with neutral hydrogen (HI) data obtained with the Arecibo 305-m radiotelescope, acquired by Levy et al. (2007) and by Springob et al. (2005a), we study the star formation rates in disk galaxies as a function of their HI deficiency. To quantify HI deficiency, we use the usual logarithmic deficiency parameter, DEF. The specific star formation rate (SSFR) is quantified by the logarithmic flux ratio of H-alpha flux to R band flux, and thus roughly characterizes the logarithmic SFR per unit stellar mass. We find a clear correlation between the global SFR per unit stellar mass and DEF, such that the SFR is lower in more HI-deficient galaxies. This correlation appears to extend from the most gas-rich to the most gas-poor galaxies. We also find a correlation between the central SFR per unit mass relative to the global values, in the sense that the more HI-deficient galaxies have a higher central SFR per unit mass relative to their global SFR values than do gas-rich galaxies. In fact, approximately half of the HI-depleted galaxies have highly elevated SSFRs in their central regions, indicative of a transient evolutionary state. In addition, we find a correlation between gas-depletion and the size of the H-alpha disk (relative to the R band disk); HI-poor galaxies have truncated disks. Moreover, aside from the elevated central SSFR in many gas-poor spirals, the SSFR is otherwise lower in the H-alpha disks of gas-poor galaxies than in gas-rich spirals.

THE INITIAL MASS FUNCTION OF EARLY-TYPE GALAXIES

We determine an absolute calibration of the initial mass function (IMF) of early-type galaxies, by studying a sample of 56 gravitational lenses identified by the Sloan Lenses ACS Survey. Under the assumption of standard Navarro, Frenk, and White dark matter halos, a combination of lensing, dynamical, and stellar population synthesis models is used to disentangle the stellar and dark matter contribution for each lens. We define an "IMF mismatch" parameter α≡MLD*,Ein/MSPS*,Ein as the ratio of stellar mass inferred by a joint lensing and dynamical model (MLD*,Ein) to the current stellar mass inferred from stellar populations synthesis models (MSPS*,Ein). We find that a Salpeter IMF provides stellar masses in agreement with those inferred by lensing and dynamical models (〈log α〉 = −0.00 ± 0.03 ± 0.02), while a Chabrier IMF underestimates them (〈log α〉 = 0.25 ± 0.03 ± 0.02). A tentative trend is found, in the sense that α appears to increase with galaxy velocity dispersion. Taken at face value, this result would imply a non-universal IMF, perhaps dependent on metallicity, age, or abundance ratios of the stellar populations. Alternatively, the observed trend may imply non-universal dark matter halos with inner density slope increasing with velocity dispersion. While the degeneracy between the two interpretations cannot be broken without additional information, the data imply that massive early-type galaxies cannot have both a universal IMF and universal dark matter halos.

Calculation of velocity dispersion of the nearby galaxies using different stellar template libraries

We present the central velocity dispersion measurements of the nearby galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Using the sample from the paper by Ho et al. 2009, we have selected 23 galaxies for which we calculate the velocity dispersion. We have used the Penalized Pixel-Fitting code (Cappellari and Emsellem2004) to measure the velocity dispersion throughout the four chosen spectral regions: (3800,4568)?A, (4568,5336)?A, (5336,6104) and (6104,6872)?A. In all these regions, we have separately calculated dispersions and corresponding errors. We found that the measured values may vary with the change of spectral region, but, if weighted properly with the measure of the goodness of the fit, the final results will be shifted coloser to those for the best fitting regions. We have also tested how the use of different spectral libraries (Miles, Valdes and Elodie databases) influences measurements and we showed that they do not affect measurements much. However, Elodie stellar library introduces the smallest errors in the velocity dispersion and it is the most stable throughout all four spectral regions. For these reasons it should be used preferentially when dealing with the SDSS spectra. We compare the results with the above mentioned paper and find a reasonable agreement. The agreement with the dispersions available in the HyperLeda database is very poor. The best agreement is obtained with SDSS measurements. We believe that our measurements are useful since SDSS velocity dispersions measurements are not available for many galaxies and the method of calculation of the velocity dispersion outlined in this work enables calculation of velocity dispersion for any galaxy. Of course, spectra with signal-to-noise ratio below 20 should be taken with caution.

EFFECTS OF BARYON DISSIPATION ON THE DARK MATTER VIRIAL SCALING RELATION

We investigate effects of baryon dissipation on the dark matter virial scaling relation between total mass and velocity dispersion and the velocity bias of galaxies in groups and clusters using self-consistent cosmological simulations. We show that the baryon dissipation increases the velocity dispersion of dark matter within the virial radius by 5% - 10%. The effect is mainly driven by the change in density and gravitational potential in inner regions of cluster, and it is larger in lower mass systems where gas cooling and star formation are more efficient. We also show that the galaxy velocity bias depends on how galaxies are selected. Galaxies selected based on their stellar mass exhibit no velocity bias, while galaxies selected based on their total mass show positive bias of ~10%, consistent with previous results based on collisionless dark matter- only simulations. We further find that observational estimates of galaxy velocity dispersion are unbiased with respect to the velocity dispersion of dark matter, provided galaxies are selected using their stellar masses and and their velocity dispersions are computed with more than twenty most massive galaxies. Velocity dispersions estimated with fewer galaxies, on the other hand, can lead to significant underestimate of dynamical masses. Results presented in this paper should be useful in interpretating high-redshift groups and clusters as well as cosmological constraints derived from upcoming optical cluster surveys.

Simulations of momentum feedback by black hole winds

The observed super-massive black hole (SMBH) mass -- galaxy velocity dispersion ($M_{\rm bh} - \sigma$) correlation may be established when winds/outflows from the SMBH drive gas out of the potential wells of classical bulges. Here we present numerical simulations of this process in a static isothermal potential. Simple spherically symmetric models of SMBH feedback at the Eddington luminosity can successfully explain the $M_{\rm bh} - \sigma$ and nuclear cluster mass $M_{\rm NC}-\sigma$ correlations, as well as why larger bulges host SMBHs while smaller ones host nuclear star clusters. However these models do not specify how SMBHs feed on infalling gas whilst simultaneously producing feedback that drives gas out of the galaxy. More complex models with rotation and/or anisotropic feedback allow SMBHs to feed via a disc or regions not exposed to SMBH winds, but in these more realistic cases it is not clear why a robust $M_{\rm bh} - \sigma$ relation should be established. In fact, some of the model predictions contradict observations. For example, an isotropic SMBH wind impacting on a disc (rather than a shell) of aspect ratio $H/R \ll 1$ requires the SMBH mass to be larger by a factor $\sim R/H$, which is opposite to what is observed. We conclude that understanding how a SMBH feeds is as important a piece of the puzzle as understanding how its feedback affects its host galaxy. Finally, we note that in aspherical cases the SMBH outflows induce differential motions in the bulge. This may pump turbulence that is known to hinder star formation in star forming regions. SMBH feedback thus may not only drive gas out of the bulge but also reduce the fraction of gas turned into stars.

The ultraviolet flare at the center of the elliptical galaxy NGC 4278

<i>Context. <i/>A large fraction of otherwise normal galaxies shows a weak nuclear activity. One of the signatures of the low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (LLAGNs) is ultraviolet variability which was serendipitously discovered in the center of some low-ionization nuclear emission-line region (LINER) galaxies.<i>Aims. <i/>There is a pressing need to acquire better statistics about UV flaring and variability in galaxy nuclei, both in terms of the number and monitoring of targets. The Science Data Archive of the Hubble Space Telescope was queried to find all the elliptical galaxies with UV images obtained in different epochs with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) and possibly with nuclear spectra obtained with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) in the region of the H<i>α<i/> emission line. These data were found only for the elliptical radiogalaxy NGC 4278.<i>Methods. <i/>The UV flux of the nuclear source of NGC 4278 was measured by means of aperture photometry on the WFPC2/F218W images obtained between June 1994 and January 1995. The mass of the central supermassive black hole (SBH) was estimated by measuring the broad components of the emission lines observed in the STIS/G750M spectrum and assuming that the gas is uniformly distributed in a sphere.<i>Results. <i/>The nucleus of NGC 4278 hosts a barely resolved but strongly variable UV source. Its UV luminosity increased by a factor of 1.6 in a period of 6 months. The amplitude and scale time of the UV flare in NGC 4278 are remarkably similar to those of the brightest UV nuclear transients which were found earlier in other LLAGNs. The mass of the SBH was found to be in the range between 7 10<sup>7<sup/> and 2 10<sup>9<sup/> . This is in agreement with previous findings based on different assumptions about the gas distribution and with the predictions based on the galaxy velocity dispersion.<i>Conclusions. <i/>All the LINER nuclei with available multi-epoch UV observations and a detected radio core are characterized by a UV variable source. This supports the idea that the UV variability is a relatively common phenomenon in galaxy centers, perhaps providing the missing link between LINERs and true AGN activity.

INTERACTING GALAXIES IN THE A901/902 SUPERCLUSTER WITH STAGES

We present a study of galaxy mergers and the influence of environment in the Abell 901/902 supercluster at z~0.165. We use HST ACS F606W data from the STAGES survey, COMBO-17, Spitzer 24um, and XMM-Newton X-ray data. Our analysis utilizes both a visual classification system, and quantitative CAS parameters to identify systems which show evidence of a recent or ongoing merger of mass ratio >1/10. Our results are: (1) After visual classification and minimizing the contamination from false projection pairs, we find that the merger fraction f_merge is 0.023+/-0.007. The estimated fractions of likely major mergers, likely minor mergers, and ambiguous cases are 0.01+/-0.004, 0.006+/-0.003, and 0.007+/-0.003, respectively. (2) The mergers lie outside the cluster core of radius R < 0.25 Mpc: the lack of mergers in the core is likely due to the large galaxy velocity dispersion in the core. Mergers populate the region (0.25 Mpc < R <= 2 Mpc) between the core and outskirt. In this region, the estimated frequency of mergers is similar to those seen at typical group overdensities. This suggests ongoing growth of the clusters via accretion of group and field galaxies. (3) We compare our observed merger fraction with those reported in other clusters and groups out to z~0.4. Existing data points on the merger fraction for L<= L* galaxies in clusters allow for a range of evolutionary scenarios. (4) The fraction of mergers, which lie on the blue cloud is 80%+/-18% versus 34%+/-7% for non-interacting galaxies, implying that interacting galaxies are preferentially blue. (5) The average SFR, based on UV or UV+IR data, is enhanced by a factor of ~1.5 to 2 in mergers compared to non-interacting galaxies. However, mergers in the clusters contribute only a small fraction (between 10% and 15%) of the total SFR density.(Abridged)

Subaru Weak-Lensing Survey II: Multi-Object Spectroscopy and Cluster Masses

Abstract We present the first results of a multi-object spectroscopic campaign to follow up cluster candidates located via weak lensing. Our main goals are to search for spatial concentrations of galaxies that are plausible optical counterparts of the weak-lensing signals, and to determine the cluster redshifts from those of member galaxies. Around each of 36 targeted cluster candidates, we obtained 15–32 galaxy redshifts. For 28 of these targets, we confirmed a secure cluster identification, with more than five spectroscopic galaxies within a velocity of $\pm$3000 kms$^{-1}$. This includes three cases where two clusters at different redshifts are projected along the same line-of-sight. In 6 of the 8 unconfirmed targets, we found multiple small galaxy concentrations at different redshifts, each containing at least three spectroscopic galaxies. The weak-lensing signal around those systems was thus probably created by the projection of groups or small clusters along the same line-of-sight. In both of the remaining two targets, a single small galaxy concentration was found. In some candidate super-cluster systems, we found additional evidence of filaments connecting the main density peak to an additional nearby structure. For a subsample of our most cleanly measured clusters, we investigated the statistical relation between their weak-lensing mass ($M_{\rm NFW}$, $\sigma_{\rm SIS}$) and the velocity dispersion of their member galaxies ($\sigma_{v}$), comparing our sample with optically and X-ray selected samples from the literature. Our lensing-selected clusters are consistent with $\sigma_v$$=$$\sigma_{\rm SIS}$, with a similar scatter to that of optically and X-ray selected clusters. We also derived an empirical relation between the cluster mass and the galaxy velocity dispersion, $M_{200}E$($z$) $=$ 11.0 $\times$ 10$^{14}$$\times$ ($\sigma_v/$1000 kms$^{-1}$)$^{3.0}h^{-1}M_\odot$, which is in reasonable agreement with predictions of $N$-body simulations in the $\Lambda$CDM cosmology.