On the Spin Bias of Satellite Galaxies in the Local Group-like Environment

We utilize the Millennium-II simulation databases to study the spin bias of dark subhalos in the Local Group-like systems which have two prominent satellites with comparable masses. Selecting the group-size halos with total mass similar to that of the Local Group (LG) from the friends-of-friends halo catalog and locating their subhalos from the substructure catalog, we determine the most massive (main) and second to the most massive (submain) ones among the subhalos hosted by each selected halo. When the dimensionless spin parameter (lambda) of each subhalo is derived from its specific angular momentum and circular velocity at virial radius, a signal of correlation is detected between the spin parameters of the subhalos and the main-to-submain mass ratios of their host halos at z=0: The higher main-to-submain mass ratio a host halo has, the higher mean spin parameter its subhalos have. It is also found that the correlations exist even for the subhalo progenitors at z=0.5 and z=1. Our interpretation of this result is that the subhalo spin bias is not a transient effect but an intrinsic property of a LG-like system with higher main-to- submain mass ratio, caused by stronger anisotropic stress in the region. A cosmological implication of our result is also discussed.Comment: Accepted for publication in JCAP, 15 pages, 12 figures, dimensionless spin parameter of each subhalo determined from its circular velocity measured at the virial radius, the correlations between the spin parameters of the subhalo progenitors and the main-to-submain mass ratios of their descendant hosts newly determined, minor mistakes correcte

Bursty stellar populations and obscured AGN in galaxy bulges

[Abridged] We investigate trends between the recent star formation history and black hole growth in galaxy bulges in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The galaxies lie at 0.01<z<0.07 where the fibre aperture covers only the central 0.6-4.0kpc diameter of the galaxy. We find strong trends between black hole growth, as measured by dust-attenuation-corrected OIII luminosity, and the recent star formation history of the bulges. We conclude that our results support the popular hypothesis for black hole growth occurring through gas inflow into the central regions of galaxies, followed by a starburst and triggering of the AGN. However, while this is a significant pathway for the growth of black holes, it is not the dominant one in the present-day Universe. More unspectacular processes are apparently responsible for the majority of this growth. In order to arrive at these conclusions we have developed a set of new high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) optical spectral indicators, designed to allow a detailed study of stellar populations which have undergone recent enhanced star formation. Working in the rest-frame wavelength range 3750-4150AA, ideally suited to many recent and ongoing spectroscopic surveys at low and high redshift, the first two indices are equivalent to the previously well studied 4000AA break strength and Hdelta equivalent width. The primary advantage of this new method is a greatly improved SNR for the latter index, allowing the present study to use spectra with SNR-per-pixel as low as 8.Comment: 27 pages, submitted to MNRAS. Due to astro-ph size restrictions 6 figures in appendix are available as separate files. Full version, with full resolution figures available at http://www.mpa-garching.mpg.de/~vwild/HDelta/Hd_PCAmethod.pd

IVOA Recommendation: VOResource: an XML Encoding Schema for Resource Metadata Version 1.03

This document describes an XML encoding standard for IVOA Resource Metadata, referred to as VOResource. This schema is primarily intended to support interoperable registries used for discovering resources; however, any application that needs to describe resources may use this schema. In this document, we define the types and elements that make up the schema as representations of metadata terms defined in the IVOA standard, Resource Metadata for the Virtual Observatory [Hanicsh et al. 2004]. We also describe the general model for the schema and explain how it may be extended to add new metadata terms and describe more specific types of resources

IVOA Recommendation: IVOA Photometry Data Model

The Photometry Data Model (PhotDM) standard describes photometry filters, photometric systems, magnitude systems, zero points and its interrelation with the other IVOA data models through a simple data model. Particular attention is given necessarily to optical photometry where specifications of magnitude systems and photometric zero points are required to convert photometric measurements into physical flux density units

Quenching of Star Formation

In the last decade we have seen an enormous increase in the size and quality of spectroscopic galaxy surveys, both at low and high redshift. New statistical techniques to analyse large portions of galaxy spectra are now finding favour over traditional index based methods. Here we will review a new robust and iterative Principal Component Analysis (PCA) algorithm, which solves several common issues with classic PCA. Application to the 4000AA break region of galaxies in the VIMOS VLT Deep Survey (VVDS) and Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) gives new high signal-to-noise ratio spectral indices easily interpretable in terms of recent star formation history. In particular, we identify a sample of post-starburst galaxies at z~0.7 and z~0.07. We quantify for the first time the importance of post-starburst galaxies, consistent with being descendants of gas-rich major mergers, for building the red sequence. Finally, we present a comparison with new low and high redshift "mock spectroscopic surveys" derived from a Millennium Run semi-analytic model.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. Conference proceedings in "Classification and Discovery in Large Astronomical Surveys", 2008, C.A.L. Bailer-Jones (ed.