VIMOS Ultra-Deep Survey (VUDS): Witnessing the assembly of a massive cluster at z ~ 3.3

Using new spectroscopic observations obtained as part of the VIMOS Ultra-Deep Survey (VUDS), we performed a systematic search for overdense environments in the early universe (z > 2) and report here on the discovery of C1 J0227-0421, a massive protocluster at z = 3.29. This protocluster is characterized by both the large overdensity of spectroscopically confirmed members, δ_(gal) = 10.5 ± 2.8, and a significant overdensity in photometric redshift members. The halo mass of this protocluster is estimated by a variety of methods to be ~3 x 10^(14) M_☉ at z ~ 3.3, which, evolved to z = 0 results in a halo mass rivaling or exceeding that of the Coma cluster. The properties of 19 spectroscopically confirmed member galaxies are compared with a large sample of VUDS/VVDS galaxies in lower density field environments at similar redshifts. We find tentative evidence for an excess of redder, brighter, and more massive galaxies within the confines of the protocluster relative to the field population, which suggests that we may be observing the beginning of environmentally induced quenching. The properties of these galaxies are investigated, including a discussion of the brightest protocluster galaxy, which appears to be undergoing vigorous coeval nuclear and starburst activity. The remaining member galaxies appear to have characteristics that are largely similar to the field population. Though we find weaker evidence of the suppression of the median star formation rates among and differences in the stacked spectra of member galaxies with respect to the field, we defer any conclusions about these trends to future work with the ensemble of protostructures that are found in the full VUDS sample

The VIMOS Ultra Deep Survey. Luminosity and stellar mass dependence of galaxy clustering at z~3

We present the study of the dependence of galaxy clustering on luminosity and stellar mass in the redshift range 2$<$z$<$3.5 using 3236 galaxies with robust spectroscopic redshifts from the VIMOS Ultra Deep Survey (VUDS). We measure the two-point real-space correlation function $w_p(r_p)$ for four volume-limited stellar mass and four luminosity, M$_{UV}$ absolute magnitude selected, sub-samples. We find that the scale dependent clustering amplitude $r_0$ significantly increases with increasing luminosity and stellar mass indicating a strong galaxy clustering dependence on these properties. This corresponds to a strong relative bias between these two sub-samples of $\Delta$b/b$^*$=0.43. Fitting a 5-parameter HOD model we find that the most luminous and massive galaxies occupy the most massive dark matter haloes with $\langle$M$_h$$\rangle$ = 10$^{12.30}$ h$^{-1}$ M$_{\odot}$. Similar to the trends observed at lower redshift, the minimum halo mass M$_{min}$ depends on the luminosity and stellar mass of galaxies and grows from M$_{min}$ =10$^{9.73}$ h$^{-1}$M$_{\odot}$ to M$_{min}$=10$^{11.58}$ h$^{-1}$M$_{\odot}$ from the faintest to the brightest among our galaxy sample, respectively. We find the difference between these halo masses to be much more pronounced than is observed for local galaxies of similar properties. Moreover, at z~3, we observe that the masses at which a halo hosts, on average, one satellite and one central galaxy is M$_1$$\approx$4M$_{min}$ over all luminosity ranges, significantly lower than observed at z~0 indicating that the halo satellite occupation increases with redshift. The luminosity and stellar mass dependence is also reflected in the measurements of the large scale galaxy bias, which we model as b$_{g,HOD}$($>$L)=1.92+25.36(L/L$^*$)$^{7.01}$. We conclude our study with measurements of the stellar-to-halo mass ratio (SHMR).Comment: 20 pages, 11 figures, A&A in press, v2. revised discussion in sec. 5.5, changed Fig. 4 and Fig. 11, added reference

The Assembly of the Red Sequence at z ~ 1: The Color and Spectral Properties of Galaxies in the Cl1604 Supercluster

We investigate the properties of the 525 spectroscopically confirmed members of the Cl1604 supercluster at z ~ 0.9 as part of the Observations of Redshift Evolution in Large Scale Environments survey. In particular, we focus on the photometric, stellar mass, morphological, and spectral properties of the 305 member galaxies of the eight clusters and groups that comprise the Cl1604 supercluster. Using an extensive Keck Low-Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (LRIS)/DEep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph (DEIMOS) spectroscopic database in conjunction with ten-band ground-based, Spitzer, and Hubble Space Telescope imaging, we investigate the buildup of the red sequence in groups and clusters at high redshift. Nearly all of the brightest and most massive red-sequence galaxies present in the supercluster environment are found to lie within the bounds of the cluster and group systems, with a surprisingly large number of such galaxies present in low-mass group systems. Despite the prevalence of these red-sequence galaxies, we find that the average cluster galaxy has a spectrum indicative of a star-forming galaxy, with a star formation rate between those of z ~ 1 field galaxies and moderate-redshift cluster galaxies. The average group galaxy is even more active, exhibiting spectral properties indicative of a starburst. The presence of massive, red galaxies and the high fraction of starbursting galaxies present in the group environment suggest that significant processing is occurring in group environments at z ~ 1 and earlier. There is a deficit of low-luminosity red-sequence galaxies in all Cl1604 clusters and groups, suggesting that such galaxies transition to the red sequence at later times. Extremely massive (~10^(12)M_☉) red-sequence galaxies routinely observed in rich clusters at z ~ 0 are also absent from the Cl1604 clusters and groups. We suggest that such galaxies form at later times through merging processes. There are significant populations of transition galaxies at intermediate stellar masses (log(M_*)=10.25-10.75) present in the group and cluster environments, suggesting that this range is important for the buildup of the red-sequence mass function at z ~ 1. Through a comparison of the transitional populations present in the Cl1604 cluster and group systems, we find evidence that massive blue-cloud galaxies are quenched earliest in the most dynamically relaxed systems and at progressively later times in dynamically unrelaxed systems

Measuring the Stellar Masses of z~7 Galaxies with Spitzer Ultrafaint Survey Program (SURFS UP)

We present Spitzer/IRAC observations of nine $z'$-band dropouts highly magnified (2<mu<12) by the Bullet Cluster. We combine archival imaging with our Exploratory program (SURFS UP), which results in a total integration time of ~30 hr per IRAC band. We detect (>3sigma) in both IRAC bands the brightest of these high-redshift galaxies, with [3.6]=23.80+-0.28 mag, [4.5]=23.78+-0.25 mag, and (H-[3.6])=1.17+-0.32 mag. The remaining eight galaxies are undetected to [3.6]~26.4 mag and [4.5]~26.0 mag with stellar masses of ~5x10^7 M_sol. The detected galaxy has an estimated magnification of mu=12+-4, which implies this galaxy has an ultraviolet luminosity of L_1500~0.3 L*_{z=7} --- the lowest luminosity individual source detected in IRAC at z>7. By modeling the broadband photometry, we estimate the galaxy has an intrinsic star-formation rate of SFR~1.3 M_sol/yr and stellar mass of M~2x10^9 M_sol, which gives a specific star-formation rate of sSFR~0.7 Gyr^-1. If this galaxy had sustained this star-formation rate since z~20, it could have formed the observed stellar mass (to within a factor of ~2), we also discuss alternate star-formation histories and argue the exponentially-increasing model is unlikely. Finally, based on the intrinsic star-formation rate, we estimate this galaxy has a likely [C II] flux of = 10^{-17} erg/s/cm2.Comment: Accepted to ApJL. 6 pages, 3 figures, 2 table

Spectroscopic confirmation of an ultra-faint galaxy at the epoch of reionization

Within one billion years of the Big Bang, intergalactic hydrogen was ionized by sources emitting ultraviolet and higher energy photons. This was the final phenomenon to globally affect all the baryons (visible matter) in the Universe. It is referred to as cosmic reionization and is an integral component of cosmology. It is broadly expected that intrinsically faint galaxies were the primary ionizing sources due to their abundance in this epoch. However, at the highest redshifts ($z>7.5$; lookback time 13.1 Gyr), all galaxies with spectroscopic confirmations to date are intrinsically bright and, therefore, not necessarily representative of the general population. Here, we report the unequivocal spectroscopic detection of a low luminosity galaxy at $z>7.5$. We detected the Lyman-$\alpha$ emission line at $\sim 10504$ {\AA} in two separate observations with MOSFIRE on the Keck I Telescope and independently with the Hubble Space Telescope's slit-less grism spectrograph, implying a source redshift of $z = 7.640 \pm 0.001$. The galaxy is gravitationally magnified by the massive galaxy cluster MACS J1423.8+2404 ($z = 0.545$), with an estimated intrinsic luminosity of $M_{AB} = -19.6 \pm 0.2$ mag and a stellar mass of $M_{\star} = 3.0^{+1.5}_{-0.8} \times 10^8$ solar masses. Both are an order of magnitude lower than the four other Lyman-$\alpha$ emitters currently known at $z > 7.5$, making it probably the most distant representative source of reionization found to date

Dust properties of Lyman break galaxies at z∼3z\sim3

We explore from a statistical point of view the far-infrared (far-IR) and sub-millimeter (sub-mm) properties of a large sample of LBGs (22,000) at z~3 in the COSMOS field. The large number of galaxies allows us to split it in several bins as a function of UV luminosity, UV slope, and stellar mass to better sample their variety. We perform stacking analysis in PACS (100 and 160 um), SPIRE (250, 350 and 500 um) and AzTEC (1.1 mm) images. Our stacking procedure corrects the biases induced by galaxy clustering and incompleteness of our input catalogue in dense regions. We obtain the full IR spectral energy distributions (SED) of subsamples of LBGs and derive the mean IR luminosity as a function of UV luminosity, UV slope, and stellar mass. The average IRX is roughly constant over the UV luminosity range, with a mean of 7.9 (1.8 mag). However, it is correlated with UV slope, and stellar mass. We investigate using a statistically-controlled stacking analysis as a function of (stellar mass, UV slope) the dispersion of the IRX-UVslope and IRX-M* plane. Our results enable us to study the average relation between star-formation rate (SFR) and stellar mass, and we show that our LBG sample lies on the main sequence of star formation at z~3.Comment: Accepted to A&A, 17 Pages, 14 Figures, 2 Table

Detection of Lyman-Alpha Emission From a Triple Imaged z=6.85 Galaxy Behind MACS J2129.4-0741

We report the detection of Ly$\alpha$ emission at $\sim9538$\AA{} in the Keck/DEIMOS and \HST WFC3 G102 grism data from a triply-imaged galaxy at $z=6.846\pm0.001$ behind galaxy cluster MACS J2129.4$-$0741. Combining the emission line wavelength with broadband photometry, line ratio upper limits, and lens modeling, we rule out the scenario that this emission line is \oii at $z=1.57$. After accounting for magnification, we calculate the weighted average of the intrinsic Ly$\alpha$ luminosity to be $\sim1.3\times10^{42}~\mathrm{erg}~\mathrm{s}^{-1}$ and Ly$\alpha$ equivalent width to be $74\pm15$\AA{}. Its intrinsic UV absolute magnitude at 1600\AA{} is $-18.6\pm0.2$ mag and stellar mass $(1.5\pm0.3)\times10^{7}~M_{\odot}$, making it one of the faintest (intrinsic $L_{UV}\sim0.14~L_{UV}^*$) galaxies with Ly$\alpha$ detection at $z\sim7$ to date. Its stellar mass is in the typical range for the galaxies thought to dominate the reionization photon budget at $z\gtrsim7$; the inferred Ly$\alpha$ escape fraction is high ($\gtrsim 10$\%), which could be common for sub-$L^*$ $z\gtrsim7$ galaxies with Ly$\alpha$ emission. This galaxy offers a glimpse of the galaxy population that is thought to drive reionization, and it shows that gravitational lensing is an important avenue to probe the sub-$L^*$ galaxy population.Comment: Accepted by ApJ Letter