{
  "abstract": "Motivated by the finding that massive galaxies with tidal features (GwT) are preferentially found in low-density environments, one wonders whether this trend arises from enhanced debris survivability or from more active mass-assembly histories. If driven by the latter, structural signatures, such as more developed stellar halos, should also form through cumulative accretion. To address this, we analyze azimuthally averaged surface-brightness profiles of 436 massive early-type galaxies from the DESI Legacy Imaging Survey, comparing the median-stacked profiles of galaxies with tidal features to those without. We find that, after resampling by stellar mass and environmental density, a subtle but systematic structural divergence emerges in the galaxy outskirts ($r>5\\times r_{50}$). Specifically, the GwT population in the lower-density & higher-mass regime exhibits a relative intensity excess. This suggests that more developed stellar halos have formed, likely due to longer and/or more significant accretion events. In contrast, those in the higher-density & lower-mass regime show a relative deficiency in intensity, which is reasonable to interpret as a result of structural disruption from environmental effects rather than a lack of cumulative accretion. Our findings suggest that visible tidal features$-$particularly in massive systems within quiet environments$-$do not merely reflect recent stochastic accretion events but also hint at the long-term assembly history of galaxies. This work is a depth-limited study that offers a glimpse into an integrated analysis of tidal debris and stellar halos, thereby introducing a novel pathway to unravel the complex assembly histories of galaxies.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2610.34966",
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Woowon Byun"
    },
    {
      "name": "Yongmin Yoon"
    },
    {
      "name": "Kyungwon Chun"
    },
    {
      "name": "Jongwan Ko"
    },
    {
      "name": "Jae-Woo Kim"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5pd2z43kpjzct.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2610.34966",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "5pd2z43kpjzct",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.34966",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "astro-ph.GA"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3103|Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223845444",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2610.34966",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-26",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5pd2z43kpjzct.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:35:35Z",
      "native_id": "2610.34966",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.34966"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "arxiv:astro-ph.GA",
      "subfield": "galaxies"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Linking Detectable Tidal Features to Stellar Halo Growth: An Integrated Analysis of the Outskirts of Massive Early-type Galaxies",
  "title_text": "Linking Detectable Tidal Features to Stellar Halo Growth: An Integrated Analysis of the Outskirts of Massive Early-type Galaxies",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:35:35Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5pd2z43kpjzct",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}