http://arxiv.org/abs/2005.05344
We study the role of group infall in the assembly and dynamics of galaxy clusters in $\Lambda$CDM. We select $10$ clusters with virial mass $M_{\rm 200} \sim 10^{14} \, M_{\odot}$ from the cosmological hydrodynamical simulation Illustris and follow their galaxies with stellar mass $M_{\star} \geq 1.5 \times 10^8 \, M_{\odot}$. A median of $\sim 38\%$ of surviving galaxies at $z=0$ are accreted as part of groups and did not infall directly from the field, albeit with significant cluster-to-cluster scatter. The evolution of these galaxy associations is quick, with observational signatures of their common origin eroding rapidly in $1$-$3$ Gyr after infall. Substructure plays a dominant role in fostering the conditions for galaxy mergers to happen, even within the cluster environment. Integrated over time, we identify (per cluster) an average of $17 \pm 6$ mergers that occur in infalling galaxy associations, of which $7 \pm 3$ occur well within the virial radius of their cluster hosts. The number of mergers show large dispersion from cluster to cluster, with our most massive system having $42$ mergers above our mass cut-off. These mergers, which are typically gas rich for dwarfs and a combination of gas rich and gas poor for $M_{\star} \sim 10^{11} \, M_{\odot}$, may contribute significantly within $\Lambda$CDM to the formation of specific morphologies, such as lenticulars (S0) and blue compact dwarfs in groups and clusters.
J. Benavides, L. Sales and M. Abadi
Wed, 13 May 20
19/60
Comments: 12 pages, 11 figures. Submitted to MNRAS