2,515 research outputs found
A Stellar Mass Threshold for Quenching of Field Galaxies
We demonstrate that dwarf galaxies (10^7 < M_stellar < 10^9 Msun) with no
active star formation are extremely rare (<0.06%) in the field. Our sample is
based on the NASA-Sloan Atlas which is a re-analysis of the Sloan Digital Sky
Survey Data Release 8. We examine the relative number of quenched versus star
forming dwarf galaxies, defining quenched galaxies as having no Halpha emission
(EW_Halpha < 2 AA) and a strong 4000AA-break. The fraction of quenched dwarf
galaxies decreases rapidly with increasing distance from a massive host,
leveling off for distances beyond 1.5 Mpc. We define galaxies beyond 1.5 Mpc of
a massive host galaxy to be in the field. We demonstrate that there is a
stellar mass threshold of M_stellar < 1.0x10^9 Msun below which quenched
galaxies do not exist in the field. Below this threshold, we find that none of
the 2951 field dwarf galaxies are quenched; all field dwarf galaxies show
evidence for recent star formation. Correcting for volume effects, this
corresponds to a 1-sigma upper limit on the quenched fraction of 0.06%. In more
dense environments, quenched galaxies account for 23% of the dwarf population
over the same stellar mass range. The majority of quenched dwarf galaxies
(often classified as dwarf elliptical galaxies) are within 2 virial radii of a
massive galaxy, and only a few percent of quenched dwarf galaxies exist beyond
4 virial radii. Thus, for galaxies with stellar mass less than 1.0x10^9 Msun,
ending star-formation requires the presence of a more massive neighbor,
providing a stringent constraint on models of star formation feedback.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, accepted to Ap
Counts-in-Cylinders in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey with Comparisons to N-body Simulations
Environmental statistics provide a necessary means of comparing the
properties of galaxies in different environments and a vital test of models of
galaxy formation within the prevailing, hierarchical cosmological model. We
explore counts-in-cylinders, a common statistic defined as the number of
companions of a particular galaxy found within a given projected radius and
redshift interval. Galaxy distributions with the same two-point correlation
functions do not necessarily have the same companion count distributions. We
use this statistic to examine the environments of galaxies in the Sloan Digital
Sky Survey, Data Release 4. We also make preliminary comparisons to four models
for the spatial distributions of galaxies, based on N-body simulations, and
data from SDSS DR4 to study the utility of the counts-in-cylinders statistic.
There is a very large scatter between the number of companions a galaxy has and
the mass of its parent dark matter halo and the halo occupation, limiting the
utility of this statistic for certain kinds of environmental studies. We also
show that prevalent, empirical models of galaxy clustering that match observed
two- and three-point clustering statistics well fail to reproduce some aspects
of the observed distribution of counts-in-cylinders on 1, 3 and 6-Mpc/h scales.
All models that we explore underpredict the fraction of galaxies with few or no
companions in 3 and 6-Mpc/h cylinders. Roughly 7% of galaxies in the real
universe are significantly more isolated within a 6 Mpc/h cylinder than the
galaxies in any of the models we use. Simple, phenomenological models that map
galaxies to dark matter halos fail to reproduce high-order clustering
statistics in low-density environments.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures. Accepted, Ap
Faint, Evolving Radio AGN in SDSS Luminous Red Galaxies
We detect and study the properties of faint radio AGN in Luminous Red
Galaxies (LRGs). The LRG sample comprises 760,000 objects from a catalog of LRG
photometric redshifts constructed from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)
imaging data, and 65,000 LRGs from the SDSS spectroscopic sample. These
galaxies have typical 1.4 GHz flux densities in the 10s-100s of microJy, with
the contribution from a low-luminosity AGN dominating any contribution from
star formation. To probe the radio properties of such faint objects, we employ
a stacking technique whereby FIRST survey image cutouts at each optical LRG
position are sorted by the parameter of interest and median-combined within
bins. We find that median radio luminosity scales with optical luminosity
(L_opt) as L_1.4 GHz ~ L_opt^(beta), where beta appears to decrease from beta ~
1 at z = 0.4 to beta ~ 0 at z = 0.7, a result which could be indicative of AGN
cosmic downsizing. We also find that the overall LRG population, which is
dominated by low-luminosity AGN, experiences significant cosmic evolution
between z = 0.2 and z = 0.7. This implies a considerable increase in total AGN
heating for these massive ellipticals with redshift. By matching against the
FIRST catalog, we investigate the incidence and properties of LRGs associated
with double-lobed (FR I/II) radio galaxies. (Abridged)Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, Accepted by A
Cooperation, collective action, and the archeology of large-scale societies
Archeologists investigating the emergence of large-scale societies in the past have renewed interest in examining the dynamics of cooperation as a means of understanding societal change and organizational variability within human groups over time. Unlike earlier approaches to these issues, which used models designated voluntaristic or managerial, contemporary research articulates more explicitly with frameworks for cooperation and collective action used in other fields, thereby facilitating empirical testing through better definition of the costs, benefits, and social mechanisms associated with success or failure in coordinated group action. Current scholarship is nevertheless bifurcated along lines of epistemology and scale, which is understandable but problematic for forging a broader, more transdisciplinary field of cooperation studies. Here, we point to some areas of potential overlap by reviewing archeological research that places the dynamics of social cooperation and competition in the foreground of the emergence of large-scale societies, which we define as those having larger populations, greater concentrations of political power, and higher degrees of social inequality. We focus on key issues involving the communal-resource management of subsistence and other economic goods, as well as the revenue flows that undergird political institutions. Drawing on archeological cases from across the globe, with greater detail from our area of expertise in Mesoamerica, we offer suggestions for strengthening analytical methods and generating more transdisciplinary research programs that address human societies across scalar and temporal spectra
The size distribution of galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
abridged: We use a complete sample of about 140,000 galaxies from the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to study the size distribution of galaxies and its
dependence on their luminosity, stellar mass, and morphological type. The large
SDSS database provides statistics of unprecedented accuracy. For each type of
galaxy, the size distribution at given luminosity (or stellar mass) is well
described by a log-normal function, characterized by its median and
dispersion . For late-type galaxies, there is a characteristic
luminosity at (assuming ) corresponding to a stellar
mass M_0\sim 10^{10.6}\Msun. Galaxies more massive than have
and , while less massive
galaxies have and . For
early-type galaxies, the - relation is significantly steeper,
, but the - relation is similar
to that of late-type galaxies. Faint red galaxies have sizes quite independent
of their luminosities.Comment: 42 pages, 18 figures, 2 tables; replaced with the version accepted by
MNRA
Cosmic homogeneity demonstrated with luminous red galaxies
We test the homogeneity of the Universe at with the Luminous Red
Galaxy (LRG) spectroscopic sample of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. First, the
mean number of LRGs within completely surveyed LRG-centered spheres of
comoving radius is shown to be proportional to at radii greater than
. The test has the virtue that it does not rely
on the assumption that the LRG sample has a finite mean density; its results
show, however, that there \emph{is} such a mean density. Secondly, the survey
sky area is divided into 10 disjoint solid angular regions and the fractional
rms density variations of the LRG sample in the redshift range
among these () regions is found to be 7
percent of the mean density. This variance is consistent with typical biased
\lcdm models and puts very strong constraints on the quality of SDSS
photometric calibration.Comment: submitted to Ap
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