Newcomers and suburbanites can drive the evolution of the size-stellar mass relation of early-type galaxies in galaxy clusters

At fixed stellar mass M-*, the effective radius R-e of massive satellite early-type galaxies (ETGs) in galaxy clusters is, on average, larger at lower redshift. We study theoretically this size evolution using the state-of-the-art cosmological simulation IllustrisTNG100: we sampled 75 simulated satellite ETGs at redshift z = 0 with M-* >= 10(10.4) M-circle dot belonging to the two most massive (approximate to 10(14.6)M(circle dot)) haloes of the simulation. We traced back in time the two clusters' main progenitors and we selected their satellite ETGs at z > 0 with the same criterion adopted at z = 0. The R-e-M-* relation of the simulated cluster satellite ETGs, which is robustly measured out to z = 0.85, evolves similarly to the observed relation over the redshift range 0 less than or similar to z less than or similar to 0.85. In the simulation the main drivers of this evolution are the acquisition of new galaxies ('newcomers') by the clusters and the transformation of member galaxies located at large cluster-centric distance ('suburbanites') at z = 0.85, which end up being massive satellite ETGs at z = 0. Though several physical processes contribute to change the population of satellite ETGs in the considered redshift interval, the shape of the stellar mass function of the simulated cluster ETGs is not significantly different at z = 0.85 and at z = 0, consistent with observations.

Automated summary

Based on cosmological simulations, this research explores the size evolution of massive satellite early-type galaxies (ETGs) in galaxy clusters. It is found that the effective radius of these galaxies tends to be larger at lower redshifts. The simulation reveals that the acquisition of new galaxies and the transformation of existing galaxies contribute to this size evolution. The stellar mass function of these simulated satellite ETGs does not significantly differ between different redshifts.