2009

The Evolution of Central Group Galaxies in Hydrodynamical Simulations

Feldmann, R., Carollo, C. M., Mayer, L. et al.

Understand

We trace the evolution of central galaxies in three ~10^13 M_sun galaxy groups simulated at high resolution in cosmological hydrodynamical simulations.

  • The evolution in the group potential leads, at z=0, to central galaxies that are massive, gas-poor early-type systems supported by stellar velocity dispersion resembling either elliptical or S0 galaxies.
  • Their z~2-2.5 main progenitors are massive M* ~ 3-10 x 10^10 M_sun, star forming (20-60 M_sun/yr) galaxies which host substantial reservoirs of cold gas (~5 x 10^9 M_sun) in extended gas disks.
  • Our simulations thus show that star forming galaxies observed at z~2 are likely the main progenitors of central galaxies in galaxy groups at z=0.

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