1,391 research outputs found
The zCOSMOS Redshift Survey: the role of environment and stellar mass in shaping the rise of the morphology-density relation from z~1
For more than two decades we have known that galaxy morphological segregation
is present in the Local Universe. It is important to see how this relation
evolves with cosmic time. To investigate how galaxy assembly took place with
cosmic time, we explore the evolution of the morphology-density relation up to
redshift z~1 using about 10000 galaxies drawn from the zCOSMOS Galaxy Redshift
Survey. Taking advantage of accurate HST/ACS morphologies from the COSMOS
survey, of the well-characterised zCOSMOS 3D environment, and of a large sample
of galaxies with spectroscopic redshift, we want to study here the evolution of
the morphology-density relation up to z~1 and its dependence on galaxy
luminosity and stellar mass. The multi-wavelength coverage of the field also
allows a first study of the galaxy morphological segregation dependence on
colour. We further attempt to disentangle between processes that occurred early
in the history of the Universe or late in the life of galaxies. The zCOSMOS
field benefits of high-resolution imaging in the F814W filter from the Advanced
Camera for Survey (ACS). We use standard morphology classifiers, optimised for
being robust against band-shifting and surface brightness dimming, and a new,
objective, and automated method to convert morphological parameters into early,
spiral, and irregular types. We use about 10000 galaxies down to I_AB=22.5 with
a spectroscopic sampling rate of 33% to characterise the environment of
galaxies up to z~1 from the 100 kpc scales of galaxy groups up to the 100 Mpc
scales of the cosmic web. ABRIDGEDComment: 23 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
Grand Design and Flocculent Spirals in the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S4G)
Spiral arm properties of 46 galaxies in the Spitzer Survey of Stellar
Structure in Galaxies (S4G) were measured at 3.6mu, where extinction is small
and the old stars dominate. The sample includes flocculent, multiple arm, and
grand design types with a wide range of Hubble and bar types. We find that most
optically flocculent galaxies are also flocculent in the mid-IR because of star
formation uncorrelated with stellar density waves, whereas multiple arm and
grand design galaxies have underlying stellar waves. Arm-interarm contrasts
increase from flocculent to multiple arm to grand design galaxies and with
later Hubble types. Structure can be traced further out in the disk than in
previous surveys. Some spirals peak at mid-radius while others continuously
rise or fall, depending on Hubble and bar type. We find evidence for regular
and symmetric modulations of the arm strength in NGC 4321. Bars tend to be
long, high amplitude, and flat-profiled in early type spirals, with arm
contrasts that decrease with radius beyond the end of the bar, and they tend to
be short, low amplitude, and exponential-profiled in late Hubble types, with
arm contrasts that are constant or increase with radius. Longer bars tend to
have larger amplitudes and stronger arms.Comment: 31 pages, 14 figures, ApJ in pres
An Integrated Picture of Star Formation, Metallicity Evolution, and Galactic Stellar Mass Assembly
We present an integrated study of star formation and galactic stellar mass
assembly from z=0.05-1.5 and galactic metallicity evolution from z=0.05-0.9
using a very large and highly spectroscopically complete sample selected by
rest-frame NIR bolometric flux in the GOODS-N. We assume a Salpeter IMF and fit
Bruzual & Charlot (2003) models to compute the galactic stellar masses and
extinctions. We determine the expected formed stellar mass density growth rates
produced by star formation and compare them with the growth rates measured from
the formed stellar mass functions by mass interval. We show that the growth
rates match if the IMF is slightly increased from the Salpeter IMF at
intermediate masses (~10 solar masses). We investigate the evolution of galaxy
color, spectral type, and morphology with mass and redshift and the evolution
of mass with environment. We find that applying extinction corrections is
critical when analyzing galaxy colors; e.g., nearly all of the galaxies in the
green valley are 24um sources, but after correcting for extinction, the bulk of
the 24um sources lie in the blue cloud. We find an evolution of the
metallicity-mass relation corresponding to a decrease of 0.21+/-0.03 dex
between the local value and the value at z=0.77 in the 1e10-1e11 solar mass
range. We use the metallicity evolution to estimate the gas mass of the
galaxies, which we compare with the galactic stellar mass assembly and star
formation histories. Overall, our measurements are consistent with a galaxy
evolution process dominated by episodic bursts of star formation and where star
formation in the most massive galaxies (>1e11 solar masses) ceases at z<1.5
because of gas starvation. (Abstract abridged)Comment: 48 pages, Accepted by the Astrophysical Journa
Unfolding Convex Polyhedra via Radially Monotone Cut Trees
A notion of "radially monotone" cut paths is introduced as an effective
choice for finding a non-overlapping edge-unfolding of a convex polyhedron.
These paths have the property that the two sides of the cut avoid overlap
locally as the cut is infinitesimally opened by the curvature at the vertices
along the path. It is shown that a class of planar, triangulated convex domains
always have a radially monotone spanning forest, a forest that can be found by
an essentially greedy algorithm. This algorithm can be mimicked in 3D and
applied to polyhedra inscribed in a sphere. Although the algorithm does not
provably find a radially monotone cut tree, it in fact does find such a tree
with high frequency, and after cutting unfolds without overlap. This
performance of a greedy algorithm leads to the conjecture that spherical
polyhedra always have a radially monotone cut tree and unfold without overlap.Comment: 41 pages, 39 figures. V2 updated to cite in an addendum work on
"self-approaching curves.
Correlation Statistics of Irregular and Spiral Galaxies Mapped in HI
Several measures of galaxy size and mass obtained from the neutral hydrogen
mapping of 70 dwarf irregular galaxies presented in Paper I (Hoffman et al.
1996) are compared statistically to those for the set of all available
HI-mapped dwarfs and HI-mapped spirals distributed within the same spatial
volume to investigate variations in Tully-Fisher relations and in surface
densities as functions of galaxy size and luminosity or mass. Some ambiguities
due to the ``non-commutativity'' of the correlations among the variables are
addressed and linear regressions of logarithms of blue luminosity, HI and
optical radii, velocity profile half-width incorporating rotation and random
motions, HI mass, and indicative dynamical mass are presented and analyzed. The
surface density of HI is almost constant along the sequence of
size/mass/luminosity while surface density of blue luminosity increases with
galaxy size. For quantities not involving HI we find no evidence for a
``break'' between dwarfs and spirals, but we do find some curvature in velocity
vs. radius and in the Tully-Fisher relation. There is an indication for a
difference in the correlations involving HI mass or radius between dwarfs alone
and spirals alone, in the sense that irregulars have somewhat more HI mass or
slightly larger HI radii than spirals at a given blue luminosity, optical
radius, or velocity profile width.Comment: AASTeX, to appear in ApJ, 26 pages + 3 tables + 12 figure
Dwarf Galaxies and the Cosmic Web
We use a cosmological simulation of the formation of the Local Group of
Galaxies to identify a mechanism that enables the removal of baryons from
low-mass halos without appealing to feedback or reionization. As the Local
Group forms, matter bound to it develops a network of filaments and pancakes.
This moving web of gas and dark matter drifts and sweeps a large volume,
overtaking many halos in the process. The dark matter content of these halos is
unaffected but their gas can be efficiently removed by ram-pressure. The loss
of gas is especially pronounced in low-mass halos due to their lower binding
energy and has a dramatic effect on the star formation history of affected
systems. This "cosmic web stripping" may help to explain the scarcity of dwarf
galaxies compared with the numerous low-mass halos expected in \Lambda CDM and
the large diversity of star formation histories and morphologies characteristic
of faint galaxies. Although our results are based on a single high-resolution
simulation, it is likely that the hydrodynamical interaction of dwarf galaxies
with the cosmic web is a crucial ingredient so far missing from galaxy
formation models.Comment: Submitted to ApJL. 6 pages, 4 figures. A set of movies showing the
interaction between dwarf galaxies and the Cosmic Web can be found at mirror
1 http://www.astro.uvic.ca/~mario/dwarf-web/ or at mirror 2
http://www.iate.oac.uncor.edu/~alejandro/dwarf-web/ . Comments are welcome
Multi-wavelength Observations of Dusty Star Formation at Low and High Redshift
This paper examines what can be learned about high-redshift star formation
from the small fraction of high-redshift galaxies' luminosities that is emitted
at accessible wavelengths. We review and quantify empirical correlations
between bolometric luminosities produced by star formation and the UV, mid-IR,
sub-mm, and radio luminosities of galaxies in the local universe. These
correlations suggest that observations of high-redshift galaxies at any of
these wavelengths should constrain their star-formation rates to within
0.2--0.3 dex. We assemble the limited evidence that high-redshift galaxies obey
these locally calibrated correlations. The characteristic luminosities and dust
obscurations of galaxies at z ~ 0, z ~ 1, and z ~ 3 are reviewed. After
discussing the relationship between the high-redshift populations selected in
surveys at different wavelengths, we calculate the contribution to the 850um
background from each. The available data show that a correlation between
star-formation rate and dust obscuration L_dust/L_UV exists at low and high
redshift. This correlation plays a central role in the major conclusion of this
paper: most star formation at high redshift occurred in galaxies with 1 <
L_dust/L_UV < 100 similar to those that host the majority of star formation in
the local universe and to those that are detected in UV-selected surveys.
(abridged)Comment: Scheduled for publication in ApJ v544 Dec 2000. Significant changes
to section 4. Characteristic UV and dust luminosities of star-forming
galaxies at redshifts z~0, z~1, and z~3 presented. Existence of extremely
obscured galaxies more clearly acknowledged. Original conclusions reinforced
by the observed correlation between bolometric luminosity and dust
obscuration at 0<z<
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