Clustering properties of galaxies selected in stellar mass: breaking down the link between luminous and dark matter in massive galaxies from z= 0 to z= 2

• Published in: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 2010-07, Vol.406 (1), p.147-164
• Main Authors: Foucaud, S., Conselice, C. J., Hartley, W. G., Lane, K. P., Bamford, S. P., Almaini, O., Bundy, K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Astronomy; cosmology: observations; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; galaxies: evolution; galaxies: high-redshift; large-scale structure of Universe; Stars & galaxies
• ISSN: 0035-8711; 1365-2966
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.16682.x

We present a study on the clustering of a stellar mass selected sample of 18 482 galaxies with stellar masses M* > 1010 M⊙ at redshifts 0.4 < z < 2.0, taken from the Palomar Observatory Wide-field Infrared Survey. We examine the clustering properties of these stellar mass selected samples as a function of redshift and stellar mass, and discuss the implications of measured clustering strengths in terms of their likely halo masses. We find that galaxies with high stellar masses have a progressively higher clustering strength, and amplitude, than galaxies with lower stellar masses. We also find that galaxies within a fixed stellar mass range have a higher clustering strength at higher redshifts. We furthermore use our measured clustering strengths, combined with models from Mo & White, to determine the average total masses of the dark matter haloes hosting these galaxies. We conclude that for all galaxies in our sample the stellar-mass-to-total-mass ratio is always lower than the universal baryonic mass fraction. Using our results, and a compilation from the literature, we furthermore show that there is a strong correlation between stellar-mass-to-total-mass ratio and derived halo masses for central galaxies, such that more massive haloes contain a lower fraction of their mass in the form of stars over our entire redshift range. For central galaxies in haloes with masses Mhalo > 1013 h−1 M⊙, we find that this ratio is