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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Masson, Florine, Parker, Laura C.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.13010
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author Masson, Florine
Parker, Laura C.
author_facet Masson, Florine
Parker, Laura C.
contents The time since a galaxy first became a satellite is central to understanding how environment drives galaxy evolution, yet it cannot be measured directly. Using the TNG300 and TNG-Cluster simulations, we track satellites from $z=1$ to $z=0$ and derive a simple, redshift-dependent prescription for ${T}_{\rm{inf}}$ based on position in projected phase space and stellar mass, via symbolic regression. The resulting calibration provides continuous, observation-ready estimates of infall time across projected phase space. In projected phase space, ${T}_{\rm{inf}}$ is often well described by two components, and we provide analytic expressions for the corresponding characteristic timescales. This framework can be applied directly to spectroscopic samples to infer environmental histories in galaxy groups and clusters.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_13010
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Calibrating Galaxy Infall Times in Groups and Clusters with IllustrisTNG Simulations
Masson, Florine
Parker, Laura C.
Astrophysics of Galaxies
The time since a galaxy first became a satellite is central to understanding how environment drives galaxy evolution, yet it cannot be measured directly. Using the TNG300 and TNG-Cluster simulations, we track satellites from $z=1$ to $z=0$ and derive a simple, redshift-dependent prescription for ${T}_{\rm{inf}}$ based on position in projected phase space and stellar mass, via symbolic regression. The resulting calibration provides continuous, observation-ready estimates of infall time across projected phase space. In projected phase space, ${T}_{\rm{inf}}$ is often well described by two components, and we provide analytic expressions for the corresponding characteristic timescales. This framework can be applied directly to spectroscopic samples to infer environmental histories in galaxy groups and clusters.
title Calibrating Galaxy Infall Times in Groups and Clusters with IllustrisTNG Simulations
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.13010