Probabilistic positional association of catalogs of astrophysical sources: the Aspects code

We describe a probabilistic method of cross-identifying astrophysical sources in two catalogs from their positions and positional uncertainties. The probability that an object is associated with a source from the other catalog, or that it has no counterpart, is derived under two exclusive assumptions: first, the classical case of several-to-one associations, and then the more realistic but more difficult problem of one-to-one associations. In either case, the likelihood of observing the objects in the two catalogs at their effective positions is computed and a maximum likelihood estimator of the fraction of sources with a counterpart -- a quantity needed to compute the probabilities of association -- is built. When the positional uncertainty in one or both catalogs is unknown, this method may be used to estimate its typical value and even to study its dependence on the size of objects. It may also be applied when the true centers of a source and of its counterpart at another wavelength do not coincide. To compute the likelihood and association probabilities under the different assumptions, we developed a Fortran 95 code called "Aspects" ([asp{\epsilon}], "ASsociation PositionnellE/ProbabilistE de CaTalogues de Sources" in French); its source files are made freely available. To test Aspects, all-sky mock catalogs containing up to 10^5 objects were created, forcing either several-to-one or one-to-one associations. The analysis of these simulations confirms that, in both cases, the assumption with the highest likelihood is the right one and that estimators of unknown parameters built for the appropriate association model are reliable.Comment: One typo corrected and links added. One-column format (A&A official version is in two-column format). 20 pages, 5 figures. Version 2 of code Aspects available at http://www2.iap.fr/users/fioc/Aspects/ . Detailed documentation and complements at arXiv:1404.4224. Numerical Recipes routines not needed anymor

P\'egase.3: A code for modeling the UV-to-IR/submm spectral and chemical evolution of galaxies with dust

A code computing consistently the evolution of stars, gas and dust, as well as the energy they radiate, is required to derive reliably the history of galaxies by fitting synthetic SEDs to multiwavelength observations. The new code P\'egase.3 described in this paper extends to the far-IR/submm the UV-to-near-IR modeling provided by previous versions of P\'egase. It first computes the properties of single stellar populations at various metallicities. It then follows the evolution of the stellar light of a galaxy and the abundances of the main metals in the ISM, assuming some scenario of mass assembly and star formation. It simultaneously calculates the masses of the various grain families, the optical depth of the galaxy and the attenuation of the SED through the diffuse ISM in spiral and spheroidal galaxies, using grids of radiative transfer precomputed with Monte Carlo simulations taking scattering into account. The code determines the mean radiation field and the temperature probability distribution of stochastically heated individual grains. It then sums up their spectra to yield the overall emission by dust in the diffuse ISM. The nebular emission of the galaxy is also computed, and a simple modeling of the effects of dust on the SED of star-forming regions is implemented. The main outputs are UV-to-submm SEDs of galaxies from their birth up to 20 Gyr, colors, masses of galactic components, ISM abundances of metallic elements and dust species, supernova rates. The temperatures and spectra of individual grains are also available. The paper discusses several of these outputs for a scenario representative of Milky Way-like spirals. P\'egase.3 is fully documented and its Fortran 95 source files are public. The code should be especially useful for cosmological simulations and to interpret future mid- and far-IR data, whether obtained by JWST, LSST, Euclid or e-ELT.Comment: 15 pages. In press in A&A. Source files of the code available at http://www.iap.fr/users/fioc/Pegase/Pegase.3/ (and http://www.iap.fr/pegase/); documentation at arXiv:1902.0219