Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): the galaxy stellar mass function at z < 0.06

Baldry, I.K.; Driver, S.P.; Loveday, J.; Taylor, E.N.; Kelvin, L.S.; Liske, J.; Norberg, P.; Robotham, A.S.G.; Brough, S.; Hopkins, A.M.; Bamford, S.P.; Peacock, J.A.; Bland-Hawthorn, J.; Conselice, C.J.; Croom, S.M.; Jones, D.H.; Parkinson, H.R.; Popescu, C.C.; Prescott, M.; Sharp, R.G.; Tuffs, R.J.

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.20340.x

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): the galaxy stellar mass function at z < 0.06

Baldry, I.K.; Driver, S.P.; Loveday, J.; Taylor, E.N.; Kelvin, L.S.; Liske, J.; Norberg, P.; Robotham, A.S.G.; Brough, S.; Hopkins, A.M.; Bamford, S.P.; Peacock, J.A.; Bland-Hawthorn, J.; Conselice, C.J.; Croom, S.M.; Jones, D.H.; Parkinson, H.R.; Popescu, C.C.; Prescott, M.; Sharp, R.G.; Tuffs, R.J.

Authors

I.K. Baldry

S.P. Driver

J. Loveday

E.N. Taylor

L.S. Kelvin

J. Liske

Professor Peder Norberg peder.norberg@durham.ac.uk
Professor

A.S.G. Robotham

S. Brough

A.M. Hopkins

S.P. Bamford

J.A. Peacock

J. Bland-Hawthorn

C.J. Conselice

S.M. Croom

D.H. Jones

H.R. Parkinson

C.C. Popescu

M. Prescott

R.G. Sharp

R.J. Tuffs

Abstract

We determine the low-redshift field galaxy stellar mass function (GSMF) using an area of 143 deg2 from the first three years of the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey. The magnitude limits of this redshift survey are r < 19.4 mag over two-thirds and 19.8 mag over one-third of the area. The GSMF is determined from a sample of 5210 galaxies using a density-corrected maximum volume method. This efficiently overcomes the issue of fluctuations in the number density versus redshift. With H0= 70 km s−1 Mpc−1, the GSMF is well described between 108 and 1011.5 M⊙ using a double Schechter function with Graphic, Graphic, α1=−0.35, Graphic and α2=−1.47. This result is more robust to uncertainties in the flow-model corrected redshifts than from the shallower Sloan Digital Sky Survey main sample (r < 17.8 mag). The upturn in the GSMF is also seen directly in the i-band and K-band galaxy luminosity functions. Accurately measuring the GSMF below 108 M⊙ is possible within the GAMA survey volume but as expected requires deeper imaging data to address the contribution from low surface-brightness galaxies.

Citation

Baldry, I., Driver, S., Loveday, J., Taylor, E., Kelvin, L., Liske, J., …Tuffs, R. (2012). Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): the galaxy stellar mass function at z < 0.06. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 421(1), 621-634. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.20340.x

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	Mar 21, 2012
Deposit Date	Jun 3, 2014
Publicly Available Date	Aug 22, 2014
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Print ISSN	0035-8711
Electronic ISSN	1365-2966
Publisher	Royal Astronomical Society
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	421
Issue	1
Pages	621-634
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.20340.x
Keywords	Galaxies: distances and redshifts, Galaxies: fundamental parameters, Galaxies: luminosity function, Mass function.

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This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2012 The Authors Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2012 RAS Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.