1,149 research outputs found
The stellar mass function of galaxies to z ~ 5 in the Fors Deep and GOODS-S fields
We present a measurement of the evolution of the stellar mass function (MF)
of galaxies and the evolution of the total stellar mass density at 0<z<5. We
use deep multicolor data in the Fors Deep Field (FDF; I-selected reaching
I_AB=26.8) and the GOODS-S/CDFS region (K-selected reaching K_AB=25.4) to
estimate stellar masses based on fits to composite stellar population models
for 5557 and 3367 sources, respectively. The MF of objects from the GOODS-S
sample is very similar to that of the FDF. Near-IR selected surveys hence
detect the more massive objects of the same principal population as do
I-selected surveys. We find that the most massive galaxies harbor the oldest
stellar populations at all redshifts. At low z, our MF follows the local MF
very well, extending the local MF down to 10^8 Msun. The faint end slope is
consistent with the local value of alpha~1.1 at least up to z~1.5. Our MF also
agrees very well with the MUNICS and K20 results at z<2. The MF seems to evolve
in a regular way at least up to z~2 with the normalization decreasing by 50% to
z=1 and by 70% to z=2. Objects having M>10^10 Msun which are the likely
progenitors of todays L* galaxies are found in much smaller numbers above z=2.
However, we note that massive galaxies with M>10^11 Msun are present even to
the largest redshift we probe. Beyond z=2 the evolution of the mass function
becomes more rapid. We find that the total stellar mass density at z=1 is 50%
of the local value. At z=2, 25% of the local mass density is assembled, and at
z=3 and z=5 we find that at least 15% and 5% of the mass in stars is in place,
respectively. The number density of galaxies with M>10^11 Msun evolves very
similarly to the evolution at lower masses. It decreases by 0.4 dex to z=1, by
0.6 dex to z=2, and by 1 dex to z=4.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ
Hybrid Superconducting Neutron Detectors
A new neutron detection concept is presented that is based on superconductive
niobium (Nb) strips coated by a boron (B) layer. The working principle of the
detector relies on the nuclear reaction 10B+n + 7Li ,
with and Li ions generating a hot spot on the current-biased Nb strip
which in turn induces a superconducting-normal state transition. The latter is
recognized as a voltage signal which is the evidence of the incident neutron.
The above described detection principle has been experimentally assessed and
verified by irradiating the samples with a pulsed neutron beam at the ISIS
spallation neutron source (UK). It is found that the boron coated
superconducting strips, kept at a temperature T = 8 K and current-biased below
the critical current Ic, are driven into the normal state upon thermal neutron
irradiation. As a result of the transition, voltage pulses in excess of 40 mV
are measured while the bias current can be properly modulated to bring the
strip back to the superconducting state, thus resetting the detector.
Measurements on the counting rate of the device are presented and the future
perspectives leading to neutron detectors with unprecedented spatial
resolutions and efficiency are highlighted.Comment: 8 pages 6 figure
Integrating Superconductive and Optical Circuits
We have integrated on oxidized silicon wafers superconductive films and
Josephson junctions along with sol-gel optical channel waveguides. The
fabrication process is carried out in two steps that result to be solid and
non-invasive. It is demonstrated that 660 nm light, coupled from an optical
fibre into the channel sol-gel waveguide, can be directed toward
superconducting tunnel junctions whose current-voltage characteristics are
affected by the presence of the radiation. The dependence of the change in the
superconducting energy gap under optical pumping is discussed in terms of a
non-equilibrium superconductivity model.Comment: Document composed of 7 pages of text and 3 figure
The star formation rate history in the FORS Deep and GOODS South Fields
We measure the star formation rate (SFR) as a function of redshift z up to z
\~4.5, based on B, I and (I+B) selected galaxy catalogues from the FORS Deep
Field (FDF) and the K-selected catalogue from the GOODS-South field. Distances
are computed from spectroscopically calibrated photometric redshifts accurate
to (Delta_z / (z_spec+1)) ~0.03 for the FDF and ~0.056 for the GOODS-South
field. The SFRs are derived from the luminosities at 1500 Angstroem. We find
that the total SFR estimates derived from B, I and I+B catalogues agree very
well (\lsim 0.1 dex) while the SFR from the K catalogue is lower by ~0.2 dex.
We show that the latter is solely due to the lower star-forming activity of
K-selected intermediate and low luminosity (L<L_*) galaxies. The SFR of bright
(L>L_*) galaxies is independent of the selection band, i.e. the same for B, I,
(I+B), and K-selected galaxy samples. At all redshifts, luminous galaxies
(L>L_*) contribute only ~1/3 to the total SFR. There is no evidence for
significant cosmic variance between the SFRs in the FDF and GOODs-South field,
~0.1 dex, consistent with theoretical expectations. The SFRs derived here are
in excellent agreement with previous measurements provided we assume the same
faint-end slope of the luminosity function as previous works (alpha ~ -1.6).
However, our deep FDF data indicate a shallower slope of alpha=-1.07, implying
a SFR lower by ~0.3 dex. We find the SFR to be roughly constant up to z ~4 and
then to decline slowly beyond, if dust extinctions are assumed to be constant
with redshift.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, Accepted for publication in ApJ
Evolution of the Fraction of Clumpy Galaxies at 0.2<z<1.0 in the COSMOS field
Using the Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys data in the
COSMOS field, we systematically searched clumpy galaxies at 0.2<z<1.0 and
investigated the fraction of clumpy galaxies and its evolution as a function of
stellar mass, star formation rate (SFR), and specific SFR (SSFR). The fraction
of clumpy galaxies in star-forming galaxies with Mstar > 10^9.5 Msun decreases
with time from ~0.35 at 0.8<z<1.0 to ~0.05 at 0.2<z<0.4 irrespective of the
stellar mass, although the fraction tends to be slightly lower for massive
galaxies with Mstar > 10^10.5 Msun at each redshift. On the other hand, the
fraction of clumpy galaxies increases with increasing both SFR and SSFR in all
the redshift ranges we investigated. In particular, we found that the SSFR
dependences of the fractions are similar among galaxies with different stellar
masses, and the fraction at a given SSFR does not depend on the stellar mass in
each redshift bin. The evolution of the fraction of clumpy galaxies from z~0.9
to z~0.3 seems to be explained by such SSFR dependence of the fraction and the
evolution of SSFRs of star-forming galaxies. The fraction at a given SSFR also
appears to decrease with time, but this can be due to the effect of the
morphological K-correction. We suggest that these results are understood by the
gravitational fragmentation model for the formation of giant clumps in disk
galaxies, where the gas mass fraction is a crucial parameter.Comment: 14 Pages, 13 Figures, 1 Table, Accepted for publication in Ap
Occupation of X-ray selected galaxy groups by X-ray AGN
We present the first direct measurement of the mean Halo Occupation
Distribution (HOD) of X-ray selected AGN in the COSMOS field at z < 1, based on
the association of 41 XMM and 17 C-COSMOS AGN with member galaxies of 189 X-ray
detected galaxy groups from XMM and Chandra data. We model the mean AGN
occupation in the halo mass range logM_200[Msun] = 13-14.5 with a rolling-off
power-law with the best fit index alpha = 0.06(-0.22;0.36) and normalization
parameter f_a = 0.05(0.04;0.06). We find the mean HOD of AGN among central
galaxies to be modelled by a softened step function at logMh > logMmin = 12.75
(12.10,12.95) Msun while for the satellite AGN HOD we find a preference for an
increasing AGN fraction with Mh suggesting that the average number of AGN in
satellite galaxies grows slower (alpha_s < 0.6) than the linear proportion
(alpha_s = 1) observed for the satellite HOD of samples of galaxies. We present
an estimate of the projected auto correlation function (ACF) of galaxy groups
over the range of r_p = 0.1-40 Mpc/h at = 0.5. We use the large-scale
clustering signal to verify the agreement between the group bias estimated by
using the observed galaxy groups ACF and the value derived from the group mass
estimates. We perform a measurement of the projected AGN-galaxy group
cross-correlation function, excluding from the analysis AGN that are within
galaxy groups and we model the 2-halo term of the clustering signal with the
mean AGN HOD based on our results.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa
Detailed Shape and Evolutionary Behavior of the X-ray Luminosity Function of Active Galactic Nuclei
We construct the rest-frame 2--10 keV intrinsic X-ray luminosity function of
Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) from a combination of X-ray surveys from the
all-sky Swift BAT survey to the Chandra Deep Field-South. We use ~3200 AGNs in
our analysis, which covers six orders of magnitude in flux. The inclusion of
the XMM and Chandra COSMOS data has allowed us to investigate the detailed
behavior of the XLF and evolution. In deriving our XLF, we take into account
realistic AGN spectrum templates, absorption corrections, and probability
density distributions in photometric redshift. We present an analytical
expression for the overall behavior of the XLF in terms of the
luminosity-dependent density evolution, smoothed two power-law expressions in
11 redshift shells, three-segment power-law expression of the number density
evolution in four luminosity classes, and binned XLF. We observe a sudden
flattening of the low luminosity end slope of the XLF slope at z>~0.6. Detailed
structures of the AGN downsizing have been also revealed, where the number
density curves have two clear breaks at all luminosity classes above log LX>43.
The two break structure is suggestive of two-phase AGN evolution, consisting of
major merger triggering and secular processes.Comment: 39 Pages, 9 figures. ApJ in pres
Relation Between Stellar Mass and Star Formation Activity in Galaxies
For a mass-selected sample of 66544 galaxies with photometric redshifts from
the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS), we examine the evolution of star
formation activity as a function of stellar mass in galaxies. We estimate the
cosmic star formation rates (SFR) over the range 0.2 < z < 1.2, using the
rest-frame 2800 A flux (corrected for extinction). We find the mean SFR to be a
strong function of the galactic stellar mass at any given redshift, with
massive systems (log (M/M(Sun)) > 10.5) contributing less (by a factor of ~ 5)
to the total star formation rate density (SFRD).
Combining data from the COSMOS and Gemini Deep Deep Survey (GDDS), we extend
the SFRD-z relation as a function of stellar mass to z~2. For massive galaxies,
we find a steep increase in the SFRD-z relation to z~2; for the less massive
systems, the SFRD which also increases from z=0 to 1, levels off at z~1. This
implies that the massive systems have had their major star formation activity
at earlier epochs (z > 2) than the lower mass galaxies.
We study changes in the SFRDs as a function of both redshift and stellar mass
for galaxies of different spectral types. We find that the slope of the SFRD-z
relation for different spectral type of galaxies is a strong function of their
stellar mass. For low and intermediate mass systems, the main contribution to
the cosmic SFRD comes from the star-forming galaxies while, for more massive
systems, the evolved galaxies are the most dominant population.Comment: 34 pages; 8 figures; Accepted for publication in Ap
Shadow of a Colossus: A z=2.45 Galaxy Protocluster Detected in 3D Ly-a Forest Tomographic Mapping of the COSMOS Field
Using moderate-resolution optical spectra from 58 background Lyman-break
galaxies and quasars at within a area of the
COSMOS field ( projected area density or mean transverse separation), we reconstruct a 3D
tomographic map of the foreground Ly forest absorption at
with an effective smoothing scale of
comoving. Comparing with 61
coeval galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts in the same volume, we find that
the galaxy positions are clearly biased towards regions with enhanced IGM
absorption in the tomographic map. We find an extended IGM overdensity with
deep absorption troughs at associated with a recently-discovered
galaxy protocluster at the same redshift. Based on simulations matched to our
data, we estimate the enclosed dark matter mass within this IGM overdensity to
be , and
argue based on this mass and absorption strength that it will form at least one
galaxy cluster with , although its elongated nature suggests that
it will likely collapse into two separate clusters. We also point out a compact
overdensity of six MOSDEF galaxies at within a radius and , which does not appear
to have a large associated IGM overdensity. These results demonstrate the
potential of Ly forest tomography on larger volumes to study galaxy
properties as a function of environment, as well as revealing the large-scale
IGM overdensities associated with protoclusters and other features of
large-scale structure.Comment: To be submitted to ApJ. Figure 3 can be viewed on Youtube:
https://youtu.be/KeW1UJOPMY
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