S. Phleps

The merger rate of massive galaxies

We calculate the projected two-point correlation function for samples of luminous and massive galaxies in the COMBO-17 photometric redshift survey, focusing particularly on the amplitude of the correlation function at small projected radii and exploring the constraints such measurements can place on the galaxy merger rate. For nearly volume-limited samples with 0.4 2.5 × 1010 M☉ is 5% ± 1%. Incorporating close pair fractions from the literature, the 2dFGRS and the SDSS, we find a fairly rapid evolution of the merger fraction of massive galaxies between z = 0.8 and the present day. Assuming that the major merger timescale is of order the dynamical timescale for close massive galaxy pairs, we tentatively infer that ~50% (70%) of all galaxies with present-day masses M* > 5 × 1010 M☉ (remnants of mergers between galaxies with M* > 2.5 × 1010 M☉) have undergone a major merger since z = 0.8(1): major mergers between massive galaxies are a significant driver of galaxy evolution over the last eight billion years.

The VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey (VIPERS) - Galaxy clustering and redshift-space distortions at z ≃ 0.8 in the first data release

We present in this paper the general real- and redshift-space clustering properties of galaxies as measured in the first data release of the VIPERS survey. VIPERS is a large redshift survey designed to probe the distant Universe and its large-scale structure at 0.5 < z < 1.2. We describe in this analysis the global properties of the sample and discuss the survey completeness and associated corrections. This sample allows us to measure the galaxy clustering with an unprecedented accuracy at these redshifts. From the redshift-space distortions observed in the galaxy clustering pattern we provide a first measurement of the growth rate of structure at z = 0.8: f\sigma_8 = 0.47 +/- 0.08. This is completely consistent with the predictions of standard cosmological models based on Einstein gravity, although this measurement alone does not discriminate between different gravity models.

Galaxy clustering from COMBO-17: the halo occupation distribution at = 0.6

We present measurements of galaxy clustering at redshift

The VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey (VIPERS) - A precise measurement of the galaxy stellar mass function and the abundance of massive galaxies at redshifts 0.5 < z < 1.3

\langle z \rangle=0.6

The VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey (VIPERS) ⋆ Luminosity and stellar mass dependence of galaxy clustering at 0.5< z< 1.1

using

Multi-color classification in the calar alto deep imaging survey

10\,360

The Calar Alto Deep Imaging Survey:

galaxies with photometric redshifts over an area of 0.78 deg 2 from the COMBO-17 survey. To obtain a result that is unaffected by redshift uncertainties, we calculate the projected correlation function

K

w(r_{\rm p})

-band Galaxy number counts

, giving results for red sequence and blue cloud galaxies separately. The correlation function of the red galaxies displays clear deviations from a power law at comoving separations around 1 to

The VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey (VIPERS): - A quiescent formation of massive red-sequence galaxies over the past 9 Gyr

3{\,h^{-1}\,\rm Mpc}