Proto-clusters in the Lambda CDM Universe

We compare the highly clustered populations of very high redshift galaxies with proto-clusters identified numerically in a standard $\Lambda$CDM universe ($\Omega_0=0.3, \lambda_0=0.7$) simulation. We evolve 256^3 dark matter particles in a comoving box of side 150h^{-1}Mpc. By the present day there are 63 cluster sized objects of mass in excess of 10^{14}h^{-1}Mo in this box. We trace these clusters back to higher redshift finding that their progenitors at z=4--5 are extended regions of typically 20--40 Mpc (comoving) in size, with dark halos of mass in excess of 10^{12}h^{-1}Mo and are overdense by typically 1.3--13 times the cosmological mean density. Comparison with the observation of Lyman alpha emitting (LAEs) galaxies at z=4.86 and at z=4.1 indicates that the observed excess clustering is consistent with that expected for a proto-cluster region if LAEs typically correspond to massive dark halos of more than 10^{12}h^{-1}Mo. We give a brief discussion on the relation between high redshift concentration of massive dark halos and present day rich clusters of galaxies.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

The Spiderweb galaxy: a forming massive cluster galaxy at z~2

We present a deep image of the radio galaxy MRC 1138-262 taken with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) at a redshift of z = 2.2. The galaxy is known to have properties of a cD galaxy progenitor and be surrounded by a 3 Mpc-sized structure, identified with a protocluster. The morphology shown on the new deep HST/ACS image is reminiscent of a spider's web. More than 10 individual clumpy features are observed, apparently star-forming satellite galaxies in the process of merging with the progenitor of a dominant cluster galaxy 11 Gyr ago. There is an extended emission component, implying that star formation was occurring over a 50 times 40 kpc region at a rate of more than 100 M_sun/yr. A striking feature of the newly named ``Spiderweb galaxy'' is the presence of several faint linear galaxies within the merging structure. The dense environments and fast galaxy motions at the centres of protoclusters may stimulate the formation of these structures, which dominate the faint resolved galaxy populations in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. The new image provides a unique testbed for simulations of forming dominant cluster galaxies.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures (reduced to grayscale); ApJ Letter

Observing the very low-surface brightness dwarfs in a deep field in the VIRGO cluster: constraints on Dark Matter scenarios

We report the discovery of 11 very faint (r< 23), low surface brightness ({\mu}_r< 27 mag/arcsec^2) dwarf galaxies in one deep field in the Virgo cluster, obtained by the prime focus cameras (LBC) at the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). These extend our previous sample to reach a total number of 27 galaxies in a field of just of 0.17 deg^2 located at a median distance of 390 kpc from the cluster center. Their association with the Virgo cluster is supported by their separate position in the central surface brightness - total magnitude plane with respect to the background galaxies of similar total magnitude. For a significant fraction (26\%) of the sample the association to the cluster is confirmed by spectroscopic follow-up. We show that the mere abundance of satellite galaxies corresponding to our observed number in the target field provides extremely tight constraints on Dark Matter models with suppressed power spectrum compared to the Cold Dark Matter case, independently of the galaxy luminosity distribution. In particular, requiring the observed number of satellite galaxies not to exceed the predicted abundance of Dark Matter sub-halos yields a limit m_X >3 keV at 1-{\sigma} and m_X > 2.3 keV at 2-{\sigma} confidence level for the mass of thermal Warm Dark Matter particles. Such a limit is competitive with other limits set by the abundance of ultra-faint satellite galaxies in the Milky Way, is completely independent of baryon physics involved in galaxy formation, and has the potentiality for appreciable improvements with next observations. We extend our analysis to Dark Matter models based on sterile neutrinos, showing that our observations set tight constraints on the combination of sterile neutrino mass m_{\nu} and mixing parameter sin^2(2{\theta}). We discuss the robustness of our results with respect to systematics.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

VLA radio continuum observations of a new sample of high redshift radio galaxies

We present new deep multi-frequency radio-polarimetric images of a sample of high redshift radio galaxies (HzRGs), having redshift between 1.7 and 4.1. The radio data at 4.7 and 8.2 GHz were taken with the Very Large Array in the A configuration and provide a highest angular resolution of 0.2''. Maps of total intensity, radio spectral index, radio polarization and internal magnetic field are presented for each source. The morphology of most objects is that of standard FRII double radio sources, but several contain multiple hot-spots in one or both lobes. Compared to similar samples of HzRGs previously imaged, there is a higher fraction (29%) of compact steep spectrum sources (i.e. sources with a projected linear size less than 20 kpc). Radio cores are identified in about half of the sample and tend to have relatively steep spectra (alpha < -1). Polarization is detected in all but 4 sources, with typical polarization at 8.2 GHz of around 10-20%. The Faraday rotation can be measured in most of the radio galaxies: the observed rotation measure (RM) of 8 radio sources exceeds 100 rad m^{-2} in at least one of the lobes, with large gradients between the two lobes. We find no dependence of Faraday rotation with other properties of the radio sources. If the origin of the Faraday rotation is local to the sources, as we believe, then the intrinsic RM is more than a 1000 rad m^{-2}. Because low redshift radio galaxies residing at the center of clusters usually show extreme RMs, we suggest that the high-z large RM sources also lie in very dense environments. Finally, we find that the fraction of powerful radio galaxies with extreme Faraday rotation increases with redshift, as would be expected if their average environment tends to become denser with decreasing cosmic epoch.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A Supplemen

On the X-ray emission of z~2 radio galaxies: IC scattering of the CMB & no evidence for fully-formed potential wells

We present the results of 20 ksec Chandra observations for each of 5 radio galaxies in the redshift range 2.0 < z < 2.6. For 4 of the 5 targets we detect unresolved X-ray components coincident with the radio nuclei. From spectral analysis of one of the cores and comparison to the empirical radio to X-ray luminosity ratio correlation, we find that obscuring material (n(HI)~10^22 cm^-2) may be surrounding the nuclei. We detect X-ray emission coincident with the radio hotspots or lobes in 4 of the 5 targets, which can be explained by Inverse-Compton (IC) scattering of CMB photons. The magnetic field strengths of ~100-200 muG that we derive agree with the equipartition magnetic field strengths. The relative ease with which the lobe X-ray emission is detected is a consequence of the (1+z)^4 increase in the energy density of the CMB. An HST image of one of the sources shows that the X-ray emission could also be produced by a reservoir of hot, shocked gas, as evidenced by a bright, optical bow-shock. By stacking our data we created a deep, 100 ksec exposure to search for diffuse X-ray emission from intra-cluster gas. We detect no diffuse emission and derive upper limits of ~1e+44 erg/s, thereby ruling out a virialized structure of cluster-size scale at z~2. The average number of soft X-ray sources in our fields is consistent with the number density of AGN in the Chandra Deep Fields. Their angular distribution shows no evidence for large-scale structure associated with the radio galaxies.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures (3 color figs), 6 tables, Accepted for Publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

QSO hosts and environments at z=0.9 to 4.2: JHK images with adaptive optics

We have observed nine QSOs with redshifts 0.85 to 4.16 at near-IR wavelengths with the adaptive optics bonnette of the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope. Exposure times ranged from 1500 to 24000s (mostly near 7000s) in J, H, or K bands, with pixels 0.035 arcsec on the sky. The FWHM of the co-added images at the location of the quasars are typically 0.16 arcsec. Including another QSO published previously, we find associated QSO structure in at least eight of ten objects, including the QSO at z = 4.16. The structures seen in all cases include long faint features which appear to be tidal tails. In four cases we have also resolved the QSO host galaxy, but find them to be smooth and symmetrical: future PSF removal may expand this result. Including one object previously reported, of the nine objects with more extended structure, five are radio-loud, and all but one of these appear to be in a dense small group of compact galaxy companions. The radio-quiet objects do not occupy the same dense environments, as seen in the NIR. In this small sample we do not find any apparent trends of these properties with redshift, over the range 0.8 < z < 2.4. The colors of the host galaxies and companions are consistent with young stellar populations at the QSO redshift. Our observations suggest that adaptive optic observations in the visible region will exhibit luminous signatures of the substantial star-formation activity that must be occurring.Comment: 22 pages including 10 tables, plus 11 figures. To appear in A

The detection of ultra-faint low surface brightness dwarf galaxies in the Virgo Cluster: a Probe of Dark Matter and Baryonic Physics

We have discovered 11 ultra-faint ($r\lesssim 22.1$) low surface brightness (LSB, central surface brightness $23\lesssim \mu_r\lesssim 26$) dwarf galaxy candidates in one deep Virgo field of just $576$ arcmin$^2$ obtained by the Large Binocular Camera (LBC) at the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). Their association with the Virgo cluster is supported by their distinct position in the central surface brightness - total magnitude plane with respect to the background galaxies of similar total magnitude. They have typical absolute magnitudes and scale sizes, if at the distance of Virgo, in the range $-13\lesssim M_r\lesssim -9$ and $250\lesssim r_s\lesssim 850$ pc, respectively. Their colors are consistent with a gradually declining star formation history with a specific star formation rate of the order of $10^{-11}$ yr$^{-1}$, i.e. 10 times lower than that of main sequence star forming galaxies. They are older than the cluster formation age and appear regular in morphology. They represent the faintest extremes of the population of low luminosity LSB dwarfs that has been recently detected in wider surveys of the Virgo cluster. Thanks to the depth of our observations we are able to extend the Virgo luminosity function down to $M_r\sim -9.3$ (corresponding to total masses $M\sim 10^7$ M$_{\odot}$), finding an average faint-end slope $\alpha\simeq -1.4$. This relatively steep slope puts interesting constraints on the nature of the Dark Matter and in particular on warm Dark Matter (WDM) often invoked to solve the overprediction of the dwarf number density by the standard CDM scenario. We derive a lower limit on the WDM particle mass $>1.5$ keV.Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ, 13 pages, 6 figure