1,227 research outputs found
The size-star formation relation of massive galaxies at 1.5<z<2.5
We study the relation between size and star formation activity in a complete
sample of 225 massive (M > 5 x 10^10 Msun) galaxies at 1.5<z<2.5, selected from
the FIREWORKS UV-IR catalog of the CDFS. Based on stellar population synthesis
model fits to the observed restframe UV-NIR SEDs, and independent MIPS 24
micron observations, 65% of galaxies are actively forming stars, while 35% are
quiescent. Using sizes derived from 2D surface brightness profile fits to high
resolution (FWHM_{PSF}~0.45 arcsec) groundbased ISAAC data, we confirm and
improve the significance of the relation between star formation activity and
compactness found in previous studies, using a large, complete mass-limited
sample. At z~2, massive quiescent galaxies are significantly smaller than
massive star forming galaxies, and a median factor of 0.34+/-0.02 smaller than
galaxies of similar mass in the local universe. 13% of the quiescent galaxies
are unresolved in the ISAAC data, corresponding to sizes <1 kpc, more than 5
times smaller than galaxies of similar mass locally. The quiescent galaxies
span a Kormendy relation which, compared to the relation for local early types,
is shifted to smaller sizes and brighter surface brightnesses and is
incompatible with passive evolution. The progenitors of the quiescent galaxies,
were likely dominated by highly concentrated, intense nuclear star bursts at
z~3-4, in contrast to star forming galaxies at z~2 which are extended and
dominated by distributed star formation.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
High-precision Photometric Redshifts from Spitzer/IRAC: Extreme [3.6]-[4.5] Colors Identify Galaxies in the Redshift Range z~6.6-6.9
One of the most challenging aspects of studying galaxies in the z>~7 universe
is the infrequent confirmation of their redshifts through spectroscopy, a
phenomenon thought to occur from the increasing opacity of the intergalactic
medium to Lya photons at z>6.5. The resulting redshift uncertainties inhibit
the efficient search for [C II] in z~7 galaxies with sub-mm instruments such as
ALMA, given their limited scan speed for faint lines. One means by which to
improve the precision of the inferred redshifts is to exploit the potential
impact of strong nebular emission lines on the colors of z~4-8 galaxies as
observed by Spitzer/IRAC. At z~6.8, galaxies exhibit IRAC colors as blue as
[3.6]-[4.5] ~-1, likely due to the contribution of [O III]+Hb to the 3.6 mum
flux combined with the absence of line contamination in the 4.5 mum band. In
this paper we explore the use of extremely blue [3.6]-[4.5] colors to identify
galaxies in the narrow redshift window z~6.6-6.9. When combined with an
I-dropout criterion, we demonstrate that we can plausibly select a relatively
clean sample of z~6.8 galaxies. Through a systematic application of this
selection technique to our catalogs from all five CANDELS fields, we identify
20 probable z~6.6-6.9 galaxies. We estimate that our criteria select the ~50%
strongest line emitters at z~6.8 and from the IRAC colors we estimate a typical
[O III]+Hb rest-frame equivalent width of 1085A for this sample. The small
redshift uncertainties on our sample make it particularly well suited for
follow-up studies with facilities such as ALMA.Comment: In submission to the Astrophysical Journal, updated in response to
the referee report, 13 pages, 11 figures, 1 tabl
S-CANDELS: The Spitzer-Cosmic Assembly Near-Infrared Deep Extragalactic Survey. Survey Design, Photometry, and Deep IRAC Source Counts
The Spitzer-Cosmic Assembly Deep Near-Infrared Extragalactic Legacy Survey
(S-CANDELS; PI G. Fazio) is a Cycle 8 Exploration Program designed to detect
galaxies at very high redshifts (z > 5). To mitigate the effects of cosmic
variance and also to take advantage of deep coextensive coverage in multiple
bands by the Hubble Space Telescope Multi-Cycle Treasury Program CANDELS,
S-CANDELS was carried out within five widely separated extragalactic fields:
the UKIDSS Ultra-Deep Survey, the Extended Chandra Deep Field South, COSMOS,
the HST Deep Field North, and the Extended Groth Strip. S-CANDELS builds upon
the existing coverage of these fields from the Spitzer Extended Deep Survey
(SEDS) by increasing the integration time from 12 hours to a total of 50 hours
but within a smaller area, 0.16 square degrees. The additional depth
significantly increases the survey completeness at faint magnitudes. This paper
describes the S-CANDELS survey design, processing, and publicly-available data
products. We present IRAC dual-band 3.6+4.5 micron catalogs reaching to a depth
of 26.5 AB mag. Deep IRAC counts for the roughly 135,000 galaxies detected by
S-CANDELS are consistent with models based on known galaxy populations. The
increase in depth beyond earlier Spitzer/IRAC surveys does not reveal a
significant additional contribution from discrete sources to the diffuse Cosmic
Infrared Background (CIB). Thus it remains true that only roughly half of the
estimated CIB flux from COBE/DIRBE is resolved.Comment: 23 pages, 19 figures, accepted by ApJ
Strong pair correlation in small metallic nanoclusters: the energy spectrum
The electronic shell structure in small metallic nanoclusters leads to high
level degeneracy, which is strongly beneficial for the appearance of pair
correlation. This results in a high value of Tc as well as in the appearance of
a superconducting gap which causes a strong modification of the energy
spectrum. The electronic energy spectrum becomes strongly temperature
dependent. Consequently, specific experiments to demonstrate the presence of
pair correlation can be proposed
The Bright End of the z~9 and z~10 UV Luminosity Functions using all five CANDELS Fields
The deep, wide-area (~800-900 arcmin**2) near-infrared/WFC3/IR + Spitzer/IRAC
observations over the CANDELS fields have been a remarkable resource for
constraining the bright end of high redshift UV luminosity functions (LFs).
However, the lack of HST 1.05-micron observations over the CANDELS fields has
made it difficult to identify z~9-10 sources robustly, since such data are
needed to confirm the presence of an abrupt Lyman break at 1.2 microns. We
report here on the successful identification of many such z~9-10 sources from a
new HST program (z9-CANDELS) that targets the highest-probability z~9-10 galaxy
candidates with observations at 1.05 microns, to search for a robust
Lyman-break at 1.2 microns. The potential z~9-10 candidates are preselected
from the full HST, Spitzer/IRAC S-CANDELS observations, and the
deepest-available ground-based optical+near-infrared observations. We
identified 15 credible z~9-10 galaxies over the CANDELS fields. Nine of these
galaxies lie at z~9 and 5 are new identifications. Our targeted follow-up
strategy has proven to be very efficient in making use of scarce HST time to
secure a reliable sample of z~9-10 galaxies. Through extensive simulations, we
replicate the selection process for our sample (both the preselection and
follow-up) and use it to improve current estimates for the volume density of
bright z~9 and z~10 galaxies. The volume densities we find are 5(-2)(+3)x and
8(-3)(+9)x lower, respectively, than found at z~8. When compared with the
best-fit evolution (i.e., dlog_{10} rho(UV)/dz=-0.29+/-0.02) in the UV
luminosities densities from z~8 to z~4 integrated to 0.3L*(z=3) (-20 mag),
these luminosity densities are 2.6(-0.9)(+1.5)x and 2.2(-1.1)(+2.0)x lower,
respectively, than the extrapolated trends. Our new results are broadly
consistent with the "accelerated evolution" scenario at z>8, as seen in many
theoretical models.Comment: 23 pages, 15 figures, 7 tables, updated to match the version in
press, including some minor textual corrections identified at the proof stag
HST and Spitzer imaging of red and blue galaxies at z~2.5: A correlation between size and star formation activity from compact quiescent galaxies to extended star forming galaxies
We present HST NICMOS+ACS and Spitzer IRAC+MIPS observations of 41 galaxies
at 2<z<3.5 in the FIRES MS1054 field with red and blue rest-frame optical
colors. About half of the galaxies are very compact (effective radii r_e < 1
kpc) at rest-frame optical wavelengths, the others are extended (1< r_e < 10
kpc). For reference, 1 kpc corresponds to 0.12 arcsec at z=2.5 in the adopted
cosmology. We separate actively star forming galaxies from quiescent galaxies
by modeling their rest-frame UV-NIR SEDs. The star forming galaxies span the
full range of sizes, while the quiescent galaxies all have r_e<2kpc. In the
redshift range where MIPS 24 micron imaging is a sensitive probe of re-radiated
dust emission (z<2.5), the 24 micron fluxes confirm that the light of the small
quiescent galaxies is dominated by old stars, rather than dust-enshrouded star
formation or AGN activity. The inferred surface mass densities and velocity
dispersions for the quiescent galaxies are very high compared to those in local
galaxies. The galaxies follow a Kormendy relation (between surface brightness
and size) with approximately the same slope as locally, but shifted to brighter
surface brightnesses, consistent with a mean stellar formation redshift of
z_f~5. This paper demonstrates a direct relation between star formation
activity and size at z~2.5, and the existence of a significant population of
massive, extremely dense, old stellar systems without readily identifiable
counterparts in the local universe.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap
The Color Magnitude Distribution of Field Galaxies to z~3: the evolution and modeling of the blue sequence
Using deep NIR VLT/ISAAC and optical HST/WFPC2 imaging in the fields of the
HDFS and MS1054-03, we study the rest-frame UV-to-optical colors and magnitudes
of galaxies to z~3. While there is no evidence for a red sequence at z~3, there
does appear to be a well-defined color-magnitude relation (CMR) for blue
galaxies at all redshifts, with more luminous galaxies having redder U-V
colors. The slope of the blue CMR is independent of redshift d(U-V)/dMV = -0.09
(0.01) and can be explained by a correlation of dust-reddening with luminosity.
The average color at fixed luminosity reddens strongly \Delta(U-V) = 0.75 from
z~3 to z=0, much of which can be attributed to aging of the stars. The color
scatter of the blue sequence is relatively small sigma(U-V) = 0.25 (0.03) and
constant to z~3, but notably asymmetrical with a sharp blue ridge and a wing
towards redder colors. We explore sets of star formation histories to study the
constraints placed by the shape of the scatter at z=2-3. One particular set of
models, episodic star formation, reproduces the detailed properties very well.
For a two-state model with high and low star formation, the duty cycle is
constrained to be > 40% and the contrast between the states must be a factor >
5 (or a scatter in log(SFR) of > 0.35 dex around the mean). However, episodic
models do not explain the observed tail of very red galaxies, primarily Distant
Red Galaxies (DRGs), which may have ceased star formation altogether or are
more heavily obscured. Finally, the relative number density of red, luminous MV
< -20.5 galaxies increases by a factor of ~ 6 from z = 2.7 to z = 0.5, as does
their contribution to the total rest-frame V-band luminosity density. We are
likely viewing the progressive formation of red, passively evolving galaxies.Comment: 29 pages, 24 figures, in emulateapj style. Abstract is abridged. Some
postscript figures are compressed. accepted for publication in ApJ (scheduled
for August 20, 2007, v665n 2 issue
The Origin of Line Emission in Massive z~2.3 Galaxies: Evidence for Cosmic Downsizing of AGN Host Galaxies
Using the Gemini Near-InfraRed Spectrograph (GNIRS), we have assembled a
complete sample of 20 K-selected galaxies at 2.0<z<2.7 with high quality
near-infrared spectra. As described in a previous paper, 9 of these 20 galaxies
have strongly suppressed star formation and no detected emission lines. The
present paper concerns the 11 galaxies with detected Halpha emission, and
studies the origin of the line emission using the GNIRS spectra and follow-up
observations with SINFONI on the VLT. Based on their [NII]/Halpha ratios, the
spatial extent of the line emission and several other diagnostics, we infer
that four of the eleven emission-line galaxies host narrow line active galactic
nuclei (AGNs). The AGN host galaxies have stellar populations ranging from
evolved to star-forming. Combining our sample with a UV-selected galaxy sample
at the same redshift that spans a broader range in stellar mass, we find that
black-hole accretion is more effective at the high-mass end of the galaxy
distribution (~2.9x10^11 Msun) at z~2.3. Furthermore, by comparing our results
with SDSS data, we show that the AGN activity in massive galaxies has decreased
significantly between z~2.3 and z~0. AGNs with similar normalized accretion
rates as those detected in our K-selected galaxies reside in less massive
galaxies (~4.0x10^10 Msun) at low redshift. This is direct evidence for
downsizing of AGN host galaxies. Finally, we speculate that the typical stellar
mass-scale of the actively accreting AGN host galaxies, both at low and at high
redshift, might be similar to the mass-scale at which star-forming galaxies
seem to transform into red, passive systems.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa
A candidate redshift z ~ 10 galaxy and rapid changes in that population at an age of 500 Myr
Searches for very-high-redshift galaxies over the past decade have yielded a
large sample of more than 6,000 galaxies existing just 900-2,000 million years
(Myr) after the Big Bang (redshifts 6 > z > 3; ref. 1). The Hubble Ultra Deep
Field (HUDF09) data have yielded the first reliable detections of z ~ 8
galaxies that, together with reports of a gamma-ray burst at z ~ 8.2 (refs 10,
11), constitute the earliest objects reliably reported to date. Observations of
z ~ 7-8 galaxies suggest substantial star formation at z > 9-10. Here we use
the full two-year HUDF09 data to conduct an ultra-deep search for z ~ 10
galaxies in the heart of the reionization epoch, only 500 Myr after the Big
Bang. Not only do we find one possible z ~ 10 galaxy candidate, but we show
that, regardless of source detections, the star formation rate density is much
smaller (~10%) at this time than it is just ~200 Myr later at z ~ 8. This
demonstrates how rapid galaxy build-up was at z ~ 10, as galaxies increased in
both luminosity density and volume density from z ~ 8 to z ~ 10. The 100-200
Myr before z ~ 10 is clearly a crucial phase in the assembly of the earliest
galaxies.Comment: 41 pages, 14 figures, 2 tables, Nature, in pres
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