631 research outputs found
Tracing dark energy with quasars
The nature of dark energy, driving the accelerated expansion of the Universe,
is one of the most important issues in modern astrophysics. In order to
understand this phenomenon, we need precise astrophysical probes of the
universal expansion spanning wide redshift ranges. Quasars have recently
emerged as such a probe, thanks to their high intrinsic luminosities and, most
importantly, our ability to measure their luminosity distances independently of
redshifts. Here we report our ongoing work on observational reverberation
mapping using the time delay of the Mg II line, performed with the South
African Large Telescope (SALT).Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, submitted as PTA proceeding
Recovery of the cosmological peculiar velocity from the density field in the weakly non-linear regime
Progresso da fusariose em espigas de triticale.
Editores técnicos: Joseani Mesquita Antunes, Ana Lídia Variani Bonato, Márcia Barrocas Moreira Pimentel
The VIMOS-VLT Deep Survey: Dependence of galaxy clustering on stellar mass
We have investigated the dependence of galaxy clustering on their stellar
mass at z~1, using the data from the VIMOS-VLT Deep Survey (VVDS). We have
measured the projected two-point correlation function of galaxies, wp(rp) for a
set of stellar mass selected samples at an effective redshift =0.85. We have
control and quantify all effects on galaxy clustering due to the incompleteness
of our low mass samples. We find that more massive galaxies are more clustered.
When compared to similar results at z~0.1 in the SDSS, we observed no evolution
of the projected correlation function for massive galaxies. These objects
present a stronger linear bias at z~1 with respect to low mass galaxies. As
expected, massive objects at high redshift are found in the highest pics of the
dark matter density field.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, 43rd Rencontres de Moriond - March 15-22, 2008 -
La Thuile (Val d'Aosta, Italy
Observational Evidence for the Co-evolution of Galaxy Mergers, Quasars, and the Blue/Red Galaxy Transition
We compile a number of observations to estimate the time-averaged rate of
formation or buildup of red sequence galaxies, as a function of mass and
redshift. Comparing this with the mass functions of mergers and quasar hosts,
and independently comparing their clustering properties as a function of
redshift, we find that these populations trace the same mass distribution, with
similar evolution, at redshifts 0<z<~1.5. Knowing one of the quasar, merger, or
elliptical mass/luminosity functions, it is possible to predict the others.
Allowing for greater model dependence, we compare the rate of early-type
buildup with the implied merger and quasar triggering rates as a function of
mass and redshift and find agreement. Over this redshift range, observed merger
fractions can account for the entire bright quasar luminosity function and
buildup of the red sequence at all but the highest masses at low redshift
(>~10^11 M_solar at z<~0.3) where 'dry' mergers appear to dominate. This
supports a necessary prediction of theories where mergers between gas-rich
galaxies produce ellipticals with an associated phase of quasar activity, after
which the remnant becomes red. These populations trace a similar characteristic
transition mass, possibly reflecting the mass above which the elliptical
population is mostly (>~50%) assembled at a given redshift, which increases
with redshift over the observed range in a manner consistent with suggestions
that cosmic downsizing may apply to red galaxy assembly as well as star
formation. These mass distributions as a function of redshift do not uniformly
trace the all/red/blue galaxy population, ruling out models in which quasar
activity is generically associated with star formation or is long lived in
'old' systems.Comment: 24 pages, 17 figures. Accepted to ApJ. Substantially revised and
expanded to match published versio
Unsupervised classification reveals new evolutionary pathways
While we already seem to have a general scenario of the evolution of
different types of galaxies, a complete and satisfactory understanding of the
processes that led to the formation of all the variety of today's galaxy types
is still beyond our reach. To solve this problem, we need both large datasets
reaching high redshifts and novel methodologies for dealing with them. The
VIPERS survey statistical power, which observed galaxies at , and the application of an unsupervised clustering algorithm allowed us to
distinguish 12 galaxy classes. Studies of their environmental dependence
indicate that this classification may actually reflect different galaxy
evolutionary paths. For instance, a class of the most passive red galaxies
gathers galaxies smaller than other red galaxies of a similar
stellar mass, revealing the first sample of red nuggets at intermediate
redshift. On the other end, a class of blue dwarf galaxies is composed mainly
of AGN, challenging commonly used mid-infrared AGN selections.Comment: Accepted for publication in the ML4ASTRO (ICML 2022) proceeding boo
Influence of star-forming galaxy selection on the galaxy main sequence
This work aims to determine how the galaxy main sequence (MS) changes using
seven different commonly used methods to select the star-forming galaxies
within VIPERS data over . The form and redshift evolution of
the MS will then be compared between selection methods. The star-forming
galaxies were selected using widely known methods: a specific star-formation
rate (sSFR), Baldwin, Phillips and Terlevich (BPT) diagram, 4000\AA\ spectral
break (D4000) cut and four colour-colour cuts: NUVrJ, NUVrK, u-r, and UVJ. The
main sequences were then fitted for each of the seven selection methods using a
Markov chain Monte Carlo forward modelling routine, fitting both a linear main
sequence and a MS with a high-mass turn-over to the star-forming galaxies. This
was done in four redshift bins of , ,
, and . The slopes of all star-forming
samples were found to either remain constant or increase with redshift, and the
scatters were approximately constant. There is no clear redshift dependency of
the presence of a high-mass turn-over for the majority of samples, with the
NUVrJ and NUVrK being the only samples with turn-overs only at low redshift. No
samples have turn-overs at all redshifts. Star-forming galaxies selected with
sSFR and u-r are the only samples to have no high-mass turn-over in all
redshift bins. The normalisation of the MS increases with redshift, as
expected. The scatter around the MS is lower than the 0.3~dex
typically seen in MS studies for all seven samples. The lack, or presence, of a
high-mass turn-over is at least partially a result of the method used to select
star-forming galaxies. However, whether a turn-over should be present or not is
unclear.Comment: 20 pages, 3 appendices, 14 figures, 5 tables, accepted for
publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic
Harmonising the definition of refinement
Russell and Burch's Three Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) remain the cornerstone for principles guiding humane experimental research. However, the concept of refinement has evolved considerably since its first inception and there have been numerous interpretations, some of which are regressive from the original definition. In this paper we examine the interpretations of refinement, and propose a harmonised progressive definition that is in line with changes in animal ethics and animal welfare science. Our definition should be applied to all aspects of refinement: those related to housing, husbandry and care, techniques used in scientific procedures, periprocedural care, health and welfare monitoring, and experimental design. We argue not only that the concept should include the avoidance or minimisation of adverse effects experienced at any time during the life of an animal destined for use in a laboratory, but also that it should be applied to the founder animals. Furthermore, we take a proactive stance and argue that refinement should include enhancing well-being through environmental enrichment. The acceptance and application of this new definition by legislative authorities and in guidelines would represent a significant step forward for animal welfare
Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA): Mid-infrared properties as tracers of galaxy environment
We investigate how different mid-infrared (mid-IR) properties of galaxies
trace the environment in which the galaxies are located. For this purpose, we
first study the dependence of galaxy clustering on the absolute magnitude at
3.4 m and redshift. Then, we look into the environmental dependence of
mid-IR luminosities and the galaxy properties derived from these luminosities.
We also explore how various infrared galaxy luminosity selections influence the
galaxy clustering measurements. We use a set of W1 (3.4 m) absolute
magnitude () selected samples from the Galaxy and Mass Assembly
(GAMA) survey matched with mid-IR properties from the Wide-field Infrared
Survey Explorer (WISE) in the redshift range . We compute
the galaxy two-point correlation function (2pCF) and compare the clustering
lengths between subsamples binned in and in redshift. We also
measure the marked correlation functions (MCFs) using the luminosities in the
WISE W1 to W4 (3.4 to 22 m) bands as marks. Additionally, we compare the
measurements of MCFs with different estimates of stellar mass and star
formation rate used as marks. Finally, we check how different selections
applied to the sample affect the clustering measurements. We show strong
clustering dependence on the W1 absolute magnitude: galaxies brighter in the W1
band are more strongly clustered than their fainter counterparts. We also
observe a lack of significant redshift dependence of clustering in the redshift
range . We show that although W1 and W2 bands are direct
indicators of stellar mass, a galaxy sample selected based on W1 or W2 bands
does not perfectly show the clustering behaviour of a stellar mass selected
sample. Similar is the case with the proxy relation between W3 and W4 bands and
star formation rate.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures, accepted in A&
The VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey (VIPERS). Never mind the gaps: comparing techniques to restore homogeneous sky coverage
[Abridged] Non-uniform sampling and gaps in sky coverage are common in galaxy
redshift surveys, but these effects can degrade galaxy counts-in-cells and
density estimates. We carry out a comparison of methods that aim to fill the
gaps to correct for the systematic effects. Our study is motivated by the
analysis of the VIMOS Extragalactic Redshift Survey (VIPERS), a flux-limited
survey (i<22.5) based on one-pass observations with VIMOS, with gaps covering
25% of the surveyed area and a mean sampling rate of 35%. Our findings are
applicable to other surveys with similar observing strategies. We compare 1)
two algorithms based on photometric redshift, that assign redshifts to galaxies
based on the spectroscopic redshifts of the nearest neighbours, 2) two Bayesian
methods, the Wiener filter and the Poisson-Lognormal filter. Using galaxy mock
catalogues we quantify the accuracy of the counts-in-cells measurements on
scales of R=5 and 8 Mpc/h after applying each of these methods. We also study
how they perform to account for spectroscopic redshift error and inhomogeneous
and sparse sampling rate. We find that in VIPERS the errors in counts-in-cells
measurements on R<10 Mpc/h scales are dominated by the sparseness of the
sample. All methods underpredict by 20-35% the counts at high densities. This
systematic bias is of the same order as random errors. No method outperforms
the others. Random and systematic errors decrease for larger cells. We show
that it is possible to separate the lowest and highest densities on scales of 5
Mpc/h at redshifts 0.5<z<1.1, over a large volume such as in VIPERS survey.
This is vital for the characterisation of cosmic variance and rare populations
(e.g, brightest galaxies) in environmental studies at these redshifts.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in A&A (revised
version after minor revision and language editing
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