The Critical Mass in Galaxy Evolution
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| author | Mishra, Preetish K. Park, Changbom Lee, Jaehyun Dubois, Yohan Pichon, Christophe Kim, Juhan Gibson, Brad |
| author_facet | Mishra, Preetish K. Park, Changbom Lee, Jaehyun Dubois, Yohan Pichon, Christophe Kim, Juhan Gibson, Brad |
| contents | We investigate the physical origin of critical mass, a threshold where many galaxy properties and scaling relations undergo fundamental transitions, using the Horizon Run 5 simulation. Focusing on massive ($M_{\rm tot} \geq 10^{12}{\rm M_\odot}$) central galaxies, we examine the mass-dependent turnover of the stellar-to-total mass ratio (STR) and the physical processes driving it. We decompose STR into the stellar-to-baryon mass ratio ($M_*/M_{\rm bar}$) and baryon retention fraction ($M_{\rm bar}/M_{\rm tot}$) to examine galaxies' ability to retain baryons and convert them into stars. We find that STR evolution is dominated by variation in $M_*/M_{\rm bar}$, which changes by over a factor of three, peaking within a narrow range of $M_{\rm tot} \sim 10^{12.4\text{--}12.7}{\rm M_\odot}$ independent of redshift, while $M_{\rm bar}/M_{\rm tot}$ varies by at most 30%. A redshift-independent critical mass at $M_{\rm tot} \sim 10^{12.5}{\rm M_\odot}$ ($M_* \sim 10^{10.7}{\rm M_\odot}$) arises from the changing nature of gas accretion. At this scale, a dynamically stable hot gas halo develops that suppresses cool gas inflow, reducing in-situ star formation efficiency such that $M_{\rm tot}$ growth exceeds in-situ $M_{*}$ growth. Consequently, the hot gas reservoir grows while $M_{*}$ growth slows, producing upturns in $M_{\rm gas}/M_{\rm tot}$ and $M_{\rm bar}/M_{\rm tot}$ and a downturn in $M_{*}/M_{\rm bar}$ that ultimately drives the STR turnover. We also identify a secondary critical mass at $M_{\rm tot} \approx 10^{11}{\rm M_\odot}$ (or $M_{*} \approx 10^{9\text{--}9.5}{\rm M_\odot}$) where gas retention fraction peaks, above which increasing hot gas fraction gradually suppresses in-situ star formation efficiency. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_27477 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | The Critical Mass in Galaxy Evolution Mishra, Preetish K. Park, Changbom Lee, Jaehyun Dubois, Yohan Pichon, Christophe Kim, Juhan Gibson, Brad Astrophysics of Galaxies Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics We investigate the physical origin of critical mass, a threshold where many galaxy properties and scaling relations undergo fundamental transitions, using the Horizon Run 5 simulation. Focusing on massive ($M_{\rm tot} \geq 10^{12}{\rm M_\odot}$) central galaxies, we examine the mass-dependent turnover of the stellar-to-total mass ratio (STR) and the physical processes driving it. We decompose STR into the stellar-to-baryon mass ratio ($M_*/M_{\rm bar}$) and baryon retention fraction ($M_{\rm bar}/M_{\rm tot}$) to examine galaxies' ability to retain baryons and convert them into stars. We find that STR evolution is dominated by variation in $M_*/M_{\rm bar}$, which changes by over a factor of three, peaking within a narrow range of $M_{\rm tot} \sim 10^{12.4\text{--}12.7}{\rm M_\odot}$ independent of redshift, while $M_{\rm bar}/M_{\rm tot}$ varies by at most 30%. A redshift-independent critical mass at $M_{\rm tot} \sim 10^{12.5}{\rm M_\odot}$ ($M_* \sim 10^{10.7}{\rm M_\odot}$) arises from the changing nature of gas accretion. At this scale, a dynamically stable hot gas halo develops that suppresses cool gas inflow, reducing in-situ star formation efficiency such that $M_{\rm tot}$ growth exceeds in-situ $M_{*}$ growth. Consequently, the hot gas reservoir grows while $M_{*}$ growth slows, producing upturns in $M_{\rm gas}/M_{\rm tot}$ and $M_{\rm bar}/M_{\rm tot}$ and a downturn in $M_{*}/M_{\rm bar}$ that ultimately drives the STR turnover. We also identify a secondary critical mass at $M_{\rm tot} \approx 10^{11}{\rm M_\odot}$ (or $M_{*} \approx 10^{9\text{--}9.5}{\rm M_\odot}$) where gas retention fraction peaks, above which increasing hot gas fraction gradually suppresses in-situ star formation efficiency. |
| title | The Critical Mass in Galaxy Evolution |
| topic | Astrophysics of Galaxies Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.27477 |