The peculiar motions of early-type galaxies in two distant regions – VI. The maximum-likelihood Gaussian algorithm

The EFAR project is designed to measure the properties and peculiar motions of early-type galaxies in two distant regions. Here we describe the maximum-likelihood algorithm we developed to investigate the correlations between the parameters of the EFAR data base. One-, two- and three-dimensional Gaussian models are constructed to determine the mean value and intrinsic spread of the parameters, and the slopes and intrinsic parallel and orthogonal spread of the Mg₂–Mg b ', Mg₂– σ , Mg b '– σ relations, and the Fundamental Plane. In the latter case, the cluster peculiar velocities are also determined. We show that this method is superior to 'canonical' approaches of least-squares type, which give biased slopes and biased peculiar velocities. We test the algorithm with Monte Carlo simulations of mock EFAR catalogues, and derive the systematic and random errors on the estimated parameters. We find that random errors are always dominant. We estimate the influence of systematic errors resulting from the way clusters were selected, and the hard limits and uncertainties in the selection function parameters for the galaxies. We explore the influence of uniform distributions in the Fundamental Plane parameters and the errors. We conclude that the mean peculiar motions of the EFAR clusters can be determined reliably. In particular, the placement of the two EFAR sample regions relative to the Lauer & Postman dipole allows us to constrain strongly the amplitude of the bulk motion in this direction. We justify a posteriori the use of a Gaussian modelling for the galaxy distribution in the Fundamental Plane space, by showing that the mean likelihood of the EFAR sample is obtained in 10 to 30 per cent of our simulations. We derive the analytical solution for the maximum-likelihood Gaussian problem in N dimensions in the presence of small errors.     

Supersonic motions of galaxies in clusters

We study motions of galaxies in galaxy clusters formed in the concordance Λ cold dark matter cosmology. We use high-resolution cosmological simulations that follow the dynamics of dark matter and gas and include various physical processes critical for galaxy formation: gas cooling, heating and star formation. Analysing the motions of galaxies and the properties of intracluster gas in a sample of eight simulated clusters at z = 0, we study the velocity dispersion profiles of the dark matter, gas and galaxies. We measure the mean velocity of galaxy motions and gas sound speed as a function of radius and calculate the average Mach number of galaxy motions. The simulations show that galaxies, on average, move supersonically with the average Mach number of ≈1.4, approximately independent of the cluster-centric radius. The supersonic motions of galaxies may potentially provide an important source of heating for the intracluster gas by driving weak shocks and via dynamical friction, although these heating processes appear to be inefficient in our simulations. We also find that galaxies move slightly faster than the dark matter particles. The magnitude of the velocity bias,   b _v ≈ 1.1  , is, however, smaller than the bias estimated for subhaloes in dissipationless simulations. Interestingly, we find velocity bias in the tangential component of the velocity dispersion, but not in the radial component. Finally, we find significant random bulk motions of gas. The typical gas velocities are of order ≈20–30 per cent of the gas sound speed. These random motions provide about 10 per cent of the total pressure support in our simulated clusters. The non-thermal pressure support, if neglected, will bias measurements of the total mass in the hydrostatic analyses of the X-ray cluster observations.     

A synthesis of data from fundamental plane and surface brightness fluctuation surveys

We perform a series of comparisons between distance-independent photometric and spectroscopic properties used in the surface brightness fluctuation (SBF) and fundamental plane (FP) methods of early-type galaxy distance estimation. The data are taken from two recent surveys: the SBF Survey of Galaxy Distances and the Streaming Motions of Abell Clusters (SMAC) FP survey. We derive a relation between     colour and Mg₂ index using nearly 200 galaxies and discuss implications for Galactic extinction estimates and early-type galaxy stellar populations. We find that the reddenings from Schlegel et al. for galaxies with     appear to be overestimated by     per cent, but we do not find significant evidence for large-scale dipole errors in the extinction map. In comparison with stellar population models having solar elemental abundance ratios, the galaxies in our sample are generally too blue at a given Mg₂; we ascribe this to the well-known enhancement of the α -elements in luminous early-type galaxies. We confirm a tight relation between stellar velocity dispersion σ and the SBF 'fluctuation count' parameter N¯ , which is a luminosity-weighted measure of the total number of stars in a galaxy. The correlation between N¯ and σ is even tighter than that between Mg₂ and σ . Finally, we derive FP photometric parameters for 280 galaxies from the SBF survey data set. Comparisons with external sources allow us to estimate the errors on these parameters and derive the correction necessary to bring them on to the SMAC system. The data are used in a forthcoming paper, which compares the distances derived from the FP and SBF methods.     

Peculiar motions in the region of the Ursa Major supercluster of galaxies

We have investigated the peculiar motions of clusters of galaxies in the Ursa Major (UMa) supercluster and its neighborhood. Based on SDSS (Sloan Digital Sky Survey) data, we have compiled a sample of early-type galaxies and used their fundamental plane to determine the cluster distances and peculiar velocities. The samples of early-type galaxies in the central regions (within R ₂₀₀) of 12 UMa clusters of galaxies, in three main subsystems of the supercluster—the filamentary structures connecting the clusters, and in nine clusters from the nearest UMa neighborhood have similar parameters. The fairly high overdensity (3 by the galaxy number and 15 by the cluster number) suggests that the supercluster as a whole is gravitationally bound, while no significant peculiar motions have been found: the peculiar velocities do not exceed the measurement errors by more than a factor of 1.5–2. The mean random peculiar velocities of clusters and the systematic deviations from the overall Hubble expansion in the supercluster are consistent with theoretical estimates. For the possible approach of the three UMa subsystems to be confirmed, the measurement accuracy must be increased by a factor of 2–3.     

Bulk motions of flat galaxies on 100-Mpc scales from new data

We use a new expanded and partially modified sample of 1501 thin edge-on spiral galaxies from the RFGC catalog to analyze the non-Hubble bulk motions of galaxies on the basis of a generalized multiparameter Tully-Fisher relation. The results obtained have confirmed and refined our previous conclusions (Parnovsky et al. 2001), in particular, the statistical significance of the quadrupole and octupole components of the galaxy bulk velocity field. The quadrupole component, which is probably produced by tidal forces from overdense regions, leads to a difference in the recession velocities of galaxies on scales of 8000–10000 km s^?1 up to 6% of their Hubble velocity. On Local Supercluster scales (3000 km s^?1), its contribution increases to about 20%. Including the octupole components in the model causes the dipole component to decrease to the 1σ level. In contrast, in the dipole model, the galaxy bulk velocity relative to the frame of reference of the cosmic microwave background is 310±75 km s^?1 toward the apex with l=311° and b=12°. We also consider a sample of 1493 galaxies that was drawn using a more stringent galaxy selection criterion. The difference between the results of our data analysis for this sample and for the sample of 1501 galaxies is primarily attributable to a decrease in the dipole velocity component (290±75 km s^?1 toward the apex with l=310° and b=12°) and a decrease in σ by about 2%.     

On the motion of the Local Group and its substructures

We consider the problem of the relative motion both of the substructures of the Local Group of galaxies (revealed via the S-tree method), and of the velocity of the Local Group itself. The existence of statistically significant bulk flow of the Milky Way subsystem is shown via a 3D reconstruction procedure, which uses information on the radial velocities of the galaxies but does not take account of their distances. Once the bulk motion of the substructures is estimated we also consider, in combination with the observed cosmic microwave background (CMB) dipole, the mean velocity of the Local Group itself. Assigning to the Local Group the mean motion of its main substructures, we evaluate its peculiar velocity in Milky Way frame V _LG→MW = (−7 ± 303, −15 ± 155, +177 ± 144) or 178 km s⁻¹ toward galactic coordinates l  = 245 and b  = +85. Combined with the CMB dipole V _MW→CMB, we obtain a Local Group velocity in CMB frame: V _LG→CMB = (−41 ± 303, −497 ± 155, 445 ± 144) or 668 km s⁻¹ towards l  = 265 and b  = 42. This estimation is in good agreement, within the 1 σ level, with the estimation of Yahil et al.     

The pairwise velocity dispersion of galaxies: effects of non-radial motions

I discuss the effect of non-radial motions on the small-scale peculiar pairwise velocity dispersions (PVD) of galaxies in a cold dark matter (CDM) model and calculate the PVD for the SCDM model by means of the refined cosmic virial theorem (CVT), taking account of non-radial motions by means of the Del Popolo & Gambera model. I compare the results of the present model with the data from Davis & Peebles, the IRAS value at 1  h ⁻¹ Mpc of Fisher et al. and Marzke et al. I show that while the SCDM model disagrees with the observed values, as pointed out by several authors, taking account of non-radial motions produces smaller values for the PVD. At r ≤1  h ⁻¹ Mpc the result is in agreement with Bartlett & Blanchard. In the light of this last paper, the result may be also read as a strong dependence of the CVT prediction on the model chosen to describe the mass distribution around galaxies, suggesting that the CVT cannot be taken as a direct evidence for a low-density Universe. Similarly to what is shown by Del Popolo & Gambera and Del Popolo et al., the agreement of our model to the observational data is because of a scale-dependent bias induced by the presence of non-radial motions. As the assumptions on which CVT is based have been questioned by several authors, I also calculated the PVD using the redshift distortion in the redshift-space correlation function, ξ _z( r _p, π), and compared it with the PVD measured from the Las Campanas Redshift Survey by Jing et al. The result confirms that non-radial motions influence the PVD making them agree better with the observed data.     

1–5 μm imaging of 3CRR galaxies: the K–z relation and the geometry of the torus

It has been claimed by Taylor et al. that the low-redshift end of the K – z relation for radio galaxies is too bright by about half a magnitude owing to contributions from the obscured quasar nuclei. Such a result has major implications for the use of the K -band Hubble diagram in understanding the cosmological evolution of radio galaxies. In this paper we present 1–5-μm imaging data of a nearly complete sample of low-redshift radio galaxies; this approach allows us to determine accurately the strengths of any unresolved nuclear components in the galaxies. We detect nuclear sources in five targets, whose broad-band colours are consistent with reddened quasar spectra. In all the five cases the ratio of the inferred intrinsic near-infrared luminosity to the narrow-line luminosity is typical of quasars. We find a correlation between the inferred nuclear extinction and core-to-lobe ratio, which places constraints on the geometry of the torus. We find evidence for a shift of the K – z relation to fainter magnitudes, but by a much smaller amount (∼0.1 mag) than determined by Taylor et al. Under the assumption that the nuclear sources in radio galaxies have the same intrinsic near-infrared spectra as quasars, our multiwavelength images allow us to limit any possible shift to less than 0.3 mag.     

A primordial feature at the scale of superclusters of galaxies

We investigate a spatially flat cold dark matter model (with the matter density parameter     with a primordial feature in the initial power spectrum. We assume that there is a bump in the power spectrum of density fluctuations at wavelengths     , which corresponds to the scale of superclusters of galaxies . There are indications for such a feature in the power spectra derived from redshift surveys and also in the power spectra derived from peculiar velocities of galaxies. We study the mass function of clusters of galaxies, the power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature fluctuations, the rms bulk velocity and the rms peculiar velocity of clusters of galaxies. The baryon density is assumed to be consistent with the big bang nucleosynthesis value. We show that with an appropriately chosen feature in the power spectrum of density fluctuations at the scale of superclusters, the mass function of clusters, the CMB power spectrum, the rms bulk velocity and the rms peculiar velocity of clusters are in good agreement with the observed data.     

The physical parameters of the evolving population of faint galaxies

The excess number of blue galaxies at faint magnitudes is a subject of much controversy. Recent Hubble Space Telescope results have revealed a plethora of galaxies with peculiar morphologies tentatively identified as the evolving population. We report the results of optical spectroscopy and near-infrared photometry of a sample of faint HST galaxies from the Medium Deep Survey to ascertain the physical properties of the faint morphological populations. We find four principal results. First, the population of objects classified as 'peculiar' are intrinsically luminous in the optical ( M _B  ∼ −19). Secondly these systems tend to be strong sources of [O  II ] line luminosity. Thirdly the optical–infrared colours of the faint population (a) confirm the presence of a population of compact   blue galaxies and (b) show the stellar populations of irregular/peculiar galaxies encompass a wide range in age. Finally a surface-brightness comparison with the local galaxy sample of Frei et al. shows that these objects are not of anomalously low surface brightness, rather we find that all morphological classes have evolved to a higher surface brightness at higher redshifts ( z  > 0.3).     

The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey: luminosity dependence of galaxy clustering

We investigate the dependence of the strength of galaxy clustering on intrinsic luminosity using the Anglo-Australian two degree field galaxy redshift survey (2dFGRS). The 2dFGRS is over an order of magnitude larger than previous redshift surveys used to address this issue. We measure the projected two-point correlation function of galaxies in a series of volume-limited samples. The projected correlation function is free from any distortion of the clustering pattern induced by peculiar motions and is well described by a power law in pair separation over the range     . The clustering of     galaxies in real space is well-fitted by a correlation length     and power-law slope     . The clustering amplitude increases slowly with absolute magnitude for galaxies fainter than M *, but rises more strongly at higher luminosities. At low luminosities, our results agree with measurements from the Southern Sky Redshift Survey 2 by Benoist et al. However, we find a weaker dependence of clustering strength on luminosity at the highest luminosities. The correlation function amplitude increases by a factor of 4.0 between     and −22.5, and the most luminous galaxies are 3.0 times more strongly clustered than L * galaxies. The power-law slope of the correlation function shows remarkably little variation for samples spanning a factor of 20 in luminosity. Our measurements are in very good agreement with the predictions of the hierarchical galaxy formation models of Benson et al.     

Lyman-break galaxies: high mass or low?

We reassess the hypothesis that Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) at redshifts   z ∼ 3  mark the centres of the most massive dark matter haloes at that epoch. First we reanalyse the kinematic measurements of Pettini et al. and Erb et al. of the rest-frame optical emission lines of LBGs. We compare the distribution of the ratio of the rotation velocity to the central line width, against the expected distribution for galaxies with random inclination angles, modelled as singular isothermal spheres. The model fits the data well. On this basis we argue that the central line width provides a predictor of the circular velocity at a radius of several kpc. Assembling a larger sample of LBGs with measured line widths, we compare these results against the theoretical ΛCDM rotation curves of Mo, Mao & White, under the hypothesis that LBGs mark the centres of the most massive dark matter haloes. We find that the circular velocities are overpredicted by a substantial factor, which we estimate conservatively as  1.8 ± 0.4  . This indicates that the model is probably incorrect. The model of LBGs as relatively low-mass starburst systems, of Somerville, Primack & Faber, provides a good fit to the data.     

Chemical abundances in a UV-selected sample of galaxies

We discuss the chemical properties of a sample of UV-selected intermediate-redshift  (0≲z≲0.4)  galaxies in the context of their physical nature and star-formation history. This work represents an extension of our previous studies of the rest-frame UV-luminosity function (Treyer et al.) and the star-formation properties of the same sample (Sullivan et al.) . We revisit the optical spectra of these galaxies and perform further emission-line measurements restricting the analysis to those spectra with the full set of emission lines required to derive chemical abundances. Our final sample consists of 68 galaxies with heavy-element abundance ratios and both UV and CCD B -band photometry. Diagnostics based on emission-line ratios show that all but one of the galaxies in our sample are powered by hot, young stars rather than by an AGN. Oxygen-to-hydrogen (O/H) and nitrogen-to-oxygen (N/O) abundance ratios are compared with those of various local and intermediate-redshift samples. Our UV-selected galaxies span a wide range of oxygen abundances, from ∼0.1 to 1 Z_⊙, intermediate between low-mass H  ii galaxies and massive starburst nuclei. For a given oxygen abundance, most have strikingly low N/O values. Moreover, UV-selected and H  ii galaxies systematically deviate from the usual metallicity–luminosity relation in the sense of being more luminous by  2–3 mag  . Adopting the 'delayed-release' chemical evolution model, we propose our UV-selected sources are observed at a special stage in their evolution, following a powerful starburst that enriched their ISM in oxygen and temporarily lowered their mass-to-light ratios. We discuss briefly the implications of our conclusions on the nature of similarly selected high-redshift galaxies.     

Star formation rates and chemical abundances of emission-line galaxies in intermediate-redshift clusters

We examine the evolutionary status of luminous, star-forming galaxies in intermediate-redshift clusters by considering their star formation rates (SFRs) and the chemical and ionization properties of their interstellar emitting gas. Our sample consists of 17 massive, star-forming, mostly disc galaxies with   M_B ≲−20  , in clusters with redshifts in the range  0.31 ≲ z ≲ 0.59  , with a median of  〈 z 〉= 0.42  . We compare these galaxies with the identically selected and analysed intermediate-redshift field sample of Mouhcine et al., and with local galaxies from the Nearby Field Galaxy Survey of Jansen et al.
From our optical spectra, we measure the equivalent widths of  [O  ii ]λ3727, Hβ  and [O  iii ]λ5007 emission lines to determine diagnostic line ratios, oxygen abundances and extinction-corrected SFRs. The star-forming galaxies in intermediate-redshift clusters display emission-line equivalent widths which are, on average, significantly smaller than measured for field galaxies at comparable redshifts. However, a contrasting fraction of our cluster galaxies have equivalent widths similar to the highest observed in the field. This tentatively suggests a bimodality in the SFRs per unit luminosity for galaxies in distant clusters. We find no evidence for further bimodalities, or differences between our cluster and field samples, when examining additional diagnostics and the oxygen abundances of our galaxies. This maybe because no such differences exist, perhaps because the cluster galaxies which still display signs of star formation have recently arrived from the field. In order to examine this topic with more certainty, and to further investigate the way in which any disparity varies as a function of cluster properties, larger spectroscopic samples are needed.     

Spatial clustering of Ultra Steep Spectrum sources and galaxies

We present measurements of the clustering properties of galaxies in the field of redshift range 0.5 ≲ z ≲ 1.5 Ultra Steep Spectrum radio sources selected from the Sydney University Molonglo Sky Survey and the National Radio Astronomy Observatories Very Large Array Sky Survey. Galaxies in these USS fields were identified in deep near-infrared observations, complete down to   K _s= 20  , using the IRIS2 instrument at the Anglo-Australian Telescope. We used the redshift distribution of   K _s < 20  galaxies taken from Cimatti et al. (2002) to constrain the correlation length r ₀. We find a strong correlation signal of galaxies with   K _s < 20  around our USS sample. A comoving correlation length   r ₀= 14.0 ± 2.8  h ⁻¹ Mpc  and γ= 1.98 ± 0.15 are derived in a flat cosmological model universe.
We compare our findings with those obtained in a cosmological N -body simulation populated with galform semi-analytic galaxies. We find that clusters of galaxies with masses in the range   M = 10^13.4–14.2  h ⁻¹ M_⊙  have a cluster–galaxy cross-correlation amplitude comparable to those found between the USS hosts and galaxies. These results suggest that distant radio galaxies are excellent tracers of galaxy overdensities and pinpoint the progenitors of present day rich clusters of galaxies.     

FR II radio galaxies with z < 0.3 — I. Properties of jets, cores and hotspots

In previous papers we have discussed high-resolution observations of a large sample of powerful radio galaxies with z  < 0.3. Jets are detected in up to 80 per cent of the sample, and radio cores in nearly all the objects; in addition, we are able to resolve the hotspots in most sources. In this paper we present measurements of the radio properties of these components.   The prominences of the jets detected do not appear to be a function of radio luminosity, providing the clearest evidence yet that the reported low detection rate of jets in radio galaxies has been an artefact of low-sensitivity observations. We find a positive correlation between the total source length and core prominence in the narrow-line radio galaxies. We have found evidence for a relationship between hotspot size and total source size, but few other significant relationships between hotspot properties and those of the jets or lobes. We compare our measurements with those of Bridle et al., based on observations of a sample of quasars, and argue that the results are consistent with a modification of the unified model in which the broad-line radio galaxies are the low-luminosity counterparts of quasars, although the situation is complicated by contamination with low-excitation radio galaxies which appear to have radio properties different from the high-excitation objects. We discuss the classes of empirical model that can be fitted to the data set.     

A ROSAT study of the cores of clusters of galaxies — I. Cooling flows in an X-ray flux-limited sample

This is the first part of a study of the detailed X-ray properties of the cores of nearby clusters. We have used the flux-limited sample of 55 clusters listed by Edge et al., and archival and proprietary data from the ROSAT observatory. In this paper an X-ray spatial analysis based on the surface-brightness-deprojection technique is applied to the clusters in the sample with the aim of studying their cooling flow properties. We determine the fraction of cooling flows in this sample to be 70–90 per cent, and estimate the contribution of the flow region to the cluster X-ray luminosity. We show that the luminosity within a strong cooling flow can account for up to 70 per cent of a cluster X-ray bolometric luminosity. Our analysis indicates that about 40 per cent of the clusters in the sample have flows depositing more than 100 M⊙ yr⁻¹ throughout the cooling region, and that these possibly have been undisturbed for many Gyr, confirming that cooling flows are the natural state of cluster cores. New cooling flows in the sample are presented, and previously ambiguous ones are clarified. We have constructed a catalogue of some intracluster medium properties for the clusters in this sample. The profiles of the mass deposited from cooling flows are analysed, and evidence is presented for the existence of breaks in some of the profiles. Comparison is made to recent optical and radio data. We cross-correlate our sample with the Green Bank, NVSS and FIRST surveys, and with the volume-limited sample of brightest cluster galaxies presented by Lauer &38; Postman. Although weak trends exist, no strong correlation between optical magnitude or radio power of the brightest cluster galaxy and the strength of the flow is found.     

Clues for the origin of the fundamental metallicity relations – I. The hierarchical building up of the structure

We analyse the evolutionary history of galaxies formed in a hierarchical scenario consistent with the concordance Lambda cold dark matter (ΛCDM) model focusing on the study of the relation between their chemical and dynamical properties. Our simulations consistently describe the formation of the structure and its chemical enrichment within a cosmological context. Our results indicate that the luminosity–metallicity and the stellar mass–metallicity (LZR and MZR) relations are naturally generated in a hierarchical scenario. Both relations are found to evolve with redshift. In the case of the MZR, the estimated evolution is weaker than that deduced from observational works by approximately 0.10 dex. We also determine a characteristic stellar mass, M _c≈ 3 × 10¹⁰ M_⊙, which segregates the simulated galaxy population into two distinctive groups and which remains unchanged since z ∼ 3, with a very weak evolution of its metallicity content. The value and role played by M _c is consistent with the characteristic mass estimated from the SDSS galaxy survey by Kauffmann et al. Our findings suggest that systems with stellar masses smaller than M _c are responsible for the evolution of this relation at least from z ≈ 3. Larger systems are stellar dominated and have formed more than 50 per cent of their stars at   z ≥ 2  , showing very weak evolution since this epoch. We also found bimodal metallicity and age distributions from z ∼ 3, which reflects the existence of two different galaxy populations. Although SN feedback may affect the properties of galaxies and help to shape the MZR, it is unlikely that it will significantly modify M _c since, from   z = 3  this stellar mass is found in systems with circular velocities larger than 100 km s⁻¹.     

A robust method for measuring the Hubble parameter

We obtain a robust, non-parametric, estimate of the Hubble constant from the linear diameters and rotation velocities of galaxies in the recent KLUN sample, calibrated using Cepheid distances to Hubble Space Telescope Key Project galaxies. There are two key features that make our analysis considerably more robust than previous work. First, the method is independent of the spatial distribution of galaxies and is insensitive to Malmquist bias. It may, therefore, be applied to more distant samples than so-called 'plateau' methods – making it much less vulnerable to the impact of peculiar motions in the Local Supercluster. Secondly, we include information on the galaxy rotation velocities in a fully non-parametric manner: unlike the conventional Tully–Fisher relation we reconstruct a robust estimate of the cumulative distribution function of galaxy diameter at given rotation velocity, without requiring the assumption of, for example, a linear Tully–Fisher relation with symmetric Gaussian residuals.
Using this robust method we find H ₀=65±6 km s⁻¹ Mpc⁻¹ from our analysis – in excellent agreement with many recent determinations of the Hubble parameter, although somewhat larger than previous results using galaxy diameters.     

Galaxy groups at 0.3 ≤z≤ 0.55 – I. Group properties

The evolution of galaxies in groups may have important implications for the evolution of the star formation history of the Universe, since many processes which operate in groups may suppress star formation and the fraction of galaxies in bound groups grows rapidly between   z = 1  and the present day. In this paper, we present an investigation of the properties of galaxies in galaxy groups at intermediate redshift  ( z ∼ 0.4)  . The groups were selected from the Canadian Network for Observational Cosmology Redshift Survey (CNOC2) redshift survey as described by Carlberg et al., with further spectroscopic follow-up undertaken at the Magellan telescope in order to improve the completeness and depth of the sample. We present the data for the individual groups, and find no clear trend in the fraction of passive galaxies with group velocity dispersion and group concentration. We stack the galaxy groups in order to compare the properties of group galaxies with those of field galaxies at the same redshift. The groups contain a larger fraction of passive galaxies than the field, this trend being particularly clear for galaxies brighter than   M _{B J} < −20  in the higher velocity dispersion groups. In addition, we see evidence for an excess of bright passive galaxies in the groups relative to the field. In contrast, the luminosity functions of the star-forming galaxies in the groups and the field are consistent. These trends are qualitatively consistent with the differences between group and field galaxies seen in the local Universe.