The Role of Cluster Environments in Quiescent Galaxy Stellar Halo Assembly

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Williams, Devin J., Damjanov, Ivana, Sawicki, Marcin, Souchereau, Harrison, Chen, Lingjian, Desprez, Guillaume, George, Angelo, Gwyn, Stephen, Arnouts, Stephane
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2026
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author Williams, Devin J.
Damjanov, Ivana
Sawicki, Marcin
Souchereau, Harrison
Chen, Lingjian
Desprez, Guillaume
George, Angelo
Gwyn, Stephen
Arnouts, Stephane
author_facet Williams, Devin J.
Damjanov, Ivana
Sawicki, Marcin
Souchereau, Harrison
Chen, Lingjian
Desprez, Guillaume
George, Angelo
Gwyn, Stephen
Arnouts, Stephane
contents External interactions drive galaxy stellar mass growth and morphological evolution. As stellar haloes-assembled largely via hierarchical accretion-preserve signatures of these processes, their growth probes how environment regulates galaxy evolution. We investigate how cluster environments influence quiescent galaxy (QG) stellar halo assembly over 0.1 $\leq$ $z$ $\leq$ 1.0 in a sample of 2,168 cluster and 94,479 field QGs of $\log M_{\star} \geq 9.66$. Extended emission is traced via rest-frame $g$-band surface brightness ($μ_g$) profiles extracted from deep HSC-SSP $grizy$ imaging. We study stellar halo assembly trends by linking median $μ_g$ profile evolution to the underlying mass growth in galaxy subpopulations. Over 0.1 $\leq$ $z$ $\leq$ 1.0, cluster QGs build up stellar haloes faster than field QGs, with a $\sim23\%$ and $\sim40\%$ larger increase in integrated stellar halo luminosity ($L_{halo}$) in the low-mass ($9.66 \leq \log M_{\star} < 10.5$) and high-mass ($\log M_{\star} \geq 10.5$) samples, respectively. High-mass cluster QGs host more luminous stellar haloes than the field (mean cluster-to-field $L_{halo}$ ratio of $\sim1.2$), while low-mass cluster QGs host less luminous stellar haloes (mean ratio of $\sim0.87$). Among cluster QGs of $\log M_{\star} \geq 10$, $L_{halo}$ increases with host cluster mass, but decreases for cluster QGs of $\log M_{\star} < 10$. These results suggest higher-mass cluster QGs ($\log M_{\star} \geq 10$) experience enhanced stellar halo growth over 0.1 $\leq$ $z$ $\leq$ 1.0 fueled by increased merger-driven accretion, likely from minor mergers in cluster outskirts or in pre-infall group and filament environments. Lower-mass cluster QGs ($9.66 \leq \log M_{\star} < 10$) instead have suppressed stellar halo growth in clusters and likely lose outer stellar material to environmental stripping or accretion by high-mass galaxies during mergers.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_16792
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The Role of Cluster Environments in Quiescent Galaxy Stellar Halo Assembly
Williams, Devin J.
Damjanov, Ivana
Sawicki, Marcin
Souchereau, Harrison
Chen, Lingjian
Desprez, Guillaume
George, Angelo
Gwyn, Stephen
Arnouts, Stephane
Astrophysics of Galaxies
External interactions drive galaxy stellar mass growth and morphological evolution. As stellar haloes-assembled largely via hierarchical accretion-preserve signatures of these processes, their growth probes how environment regulates galaxy evolution. We investigate how cluster environments influence quiescent galaxy (QG) stellar halo assembly over 0.1 $\leq$ $z$ $\leq$ 1.0 in a sample of 2,168 cluster and 94,479 field QGs of $\log M_{\star} \geq 9.66$. Extended emission is traced via rest-frame $g$-band surface brightness ($μ_g$) profiles extracted from deep HSC-SSP $grizy$ imaging. We study stellar halo assembly trends by linking median $μ_g$ profile evolution to the underlying mass growth in galaxy subpopulations. Over 0.1 $\leq$ $z$ $\leq$ 1.0, cluster QGs build up stellar haloes faster than field QGs, with a $\sim23\%$ and $\sim40\%$ larger increase in integrated stellar halo luminosity ($L_{halo}$) in the low-mass ($9.66 \leq \log M_{\star} < 10.5$) and high-mass ($\log M_{\star} \geq 10.5$) samples, respectively. High-mass cluster QGs host more luminous stellar haloes than the field (mean cluster-to-field $L_{halo}$ ratio of $\sim1.2$), while low-mass cluster QGs host less luminous stellar haloes (mean ratio of $\sim0.87$). Among cluster QGs of $\log M_{\star} \geq 10$, $L_{halo}$ increases with host cluster mass, but decreases for cluster QGs of $\log M_{\star} < 10$. These results suggest higher-mass cluster QGs ($\log M_{\star} \geq 10$) experience enhanced stellar halo growth over 0.1 $\leq$ $z$ $\leq$ 1.0 fueled by increased merger-driven accretion, likely from minor mergers in cluster outskirts or in pre-infall group and filament environments. Lower-mass cluster QGs ($9.66 \leq \log M_{\star} < 10$) instead have suppressed stellar halo growth in clusters and likely lose outer stellar material to environmental stripping or accretion by high-mass galaxies during mergers.
title The Role of Cluster Environments in Quiescent Galaxy Stellar Halo Assembly
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.16792