Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): Deconstructing the galaxy stellar mass function by star formation and environment
Using the equatorial Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) dataset, we investigate how the low-redshift galaxy stellar mass function (GSMF) varies across different galaxy populations and as a function of halo mass. We find that: (i) the GSMF of passive and star-forming galaxies are well described by a double and a single Schechter function, respectively, although the inclusion of a second component for the star-forming population yields a more accurate description. Furthermore, star-forming galaxies dominate the low-mass end of the total GSMF, whereas passive galaxies mainly shape the intermediate-to-high-mass regime; (ii) the GSMF of central galaxies dominates the high-mass end, whereas satellites and ungrouped galaxies shape the intermediate-to-low-mass regime. Additionally, we find a relative increase in the abundance of low-mass galaxies moving from dense group environments to isolated systems; (iii) more massive halos host more massive galaxies, have a higher fraction of passive systems, and show a steeper decline in the number of intermediate-mass galaxies. Finally, our results reveal larger differences between passive and star-forming GSMFs than predicted by a phenomenological quenching model, but generally confirm the environmental quenching trends for central and satellite galaxies reported in other works.
Authors
- A.S.G. Robotham
- L.J.M. Davies
- E.N. Taylor
- S.P. Driver
- J. Liske
- A. Sbaffoni
Institutions
- Universität Hamburg (DE)
- The University of Western Australia (AU)
- Excellence Cluster Universe (DE)
- International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (AU)
- Swinburne University of Technology (AU)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Published
- 2026-01-05
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202557424
- Primary Topic
- Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Science and Technology Facilities Council