An integral view on bar-driven secular evolution and its influence on bulges

Desde el comienzo de la astrofísica extragaláctica en los años 30 - gracias al trabajo de Edwin Hubble quien constató que nuestra galaxia era solamente una entre millones - el estudio de la formación y evolución de galaxias se ha convertido en un sector muy estudiado dentro de la investigación astrofísica. Se han hecho enormes esfuerzos para entender la multitud de tipos y tamaños de las galaxias y sus orígenes. En esta tesis, nos centramos en las galaxias cercanas con estructura barrada. Estas estructuras están presentes en aproximadamente 2/3 de la población local de las galaxias de disco, lo que ilustra la necesidad de entender mejor esta componente. En estudios anteriores ya se han investigado las barras pero su esperada influencia como actores destacados de la evolución secular no se ha podido verificar observacionalmente. De hecho, estudios de las propriedades integradas no han mostrado diferencia alguna entre galaxias barradas y no barradas. Con esta tesis, queremos investigar las barras de manera muy detallada. Nuestro objetivo es cuantificar la influencia de las barras sobre sus galaxias anfitrionas, particularmente en el contexto de la formación de los bulbos. Para ello hemos creado nuestra propria muestra, BaLROG (Bars in Low Redshift Optical Galaxies), compuesta de 16 galaxias de tipo temprano y tardío, constituyendo mosaicos grandes (54 apuntados de 1-2horas cada uno en total) con el espectrógrafo de campo integral SAURON ubicado en el telescopio William-Herschel Telescope en La Palma. Estas observaciones nos permiten estudiar barras en una resolución espacial sin precedente y determinar su impacto en diferentes regiones dentro de sus galaxias anfitrionas. Primero desarrollamos una nueva técnica para medir la fuerza de barras, basada únicamente en la cinemática estelar observada y en los parámetros intrínsecos de la galaxia. Comparamos esta medida con técnicas existentes utilizando observaciones fotométricas del telescopio Spitzer Space Telescope como parte del sondeo Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S4G). Esta comparación revela una buena concordancia entre los datos, siendo reforzada por una gran cantidad de simulaciones numéricas analizadas según el mismo método. La fuerza de la barra nos sirve de referencia para examinar si barras más fuertes producen efectos predichos más fuertes en la cinemática y las poblaciones estelares. Caracterizamos la cinemática estelar y la del gas y determinamos los parámetros de las poblaciones estelares basándonos en un análisis de índices de fuerza de las líneas espectrales de la muestra BaLROG. Encontramos evidencias importantes en cuanto a la cuestión dónde las barras influyen sus galaxias anfitrionas: i) en las regiones internas y ii) a lo largo del eje mayor de la barra. Ambos se encuentran en la cinemática y en las poblaciones. Nuestros resultados apuntan, por lo tanto, hacia una influencia común de las barras. Estas evidencias ayudan a guiar estudios estadísticos más extensos indicando dónde se puede buscar la evolución inducida por barras y, a la vez, establecen limitaciones importantes en la posible influencia de la evolución secular causada por barras. En concreto: i) Se refleja por los dips en los perfiles de la velocidad estelar y del momento angular estelar a 0.2±0.1 de la longitud de la barra (o picos interiores a este valor), anticorrelaciones entre el momento Gauss-Hermite h3 y V/¿ dentro de 0.1 longitud de barra, propiedades internas en los perfiles de velocidad y de dispersión de velocidad que aumentan con la fuerza de barra, rupturas (breaks) en los perfiles de índice y de poblaciones estelares singulares (Single Stellar Population, SSP) a 0.13±0.06 longitud de barra y una correlacion entre metalicidades centrales muy elevadas y una anticorrelación más fuerte de h3-V/¿stellar. Todos estos resultados indican que las barras pueden alterar significativamente una parte determinada en las regiones internas, probablemente llevando material hacia esas zonas y provocando así la formación de estrellas, culminando en la formación de componentes internas. No obstante, parece que no llegan hacia el núcleo, solamente hacia las regiones circumnucleares. ii) Se revela en particular en las poblaciones, donde encontramos un aplanamiento de los índices Fe5015 y Mgb a lo largo del eje mayor de la barra comparado con el eje menor y una muestra de control no-barrada. Esto se traduce en un aplanamiento de la metalicidad en las misma areas. Asímismo, se observa un aplanamiento suave del gradiente de la dispersion de velocidad estelar a medida que aumenta la fuerza de barra, a lo largo de ambos ejes. El aplanamiento de los parámetros de poblaciones estelares a lo largo del eje mayor de la barra comparado con otros ejes o galaxias no-barradas contiene informacion importante acerca de la estructura de la barra en sí misma. En vez de modificar gravemente la galaxia entera, las barras parecen ser estructuras autónomas con las estrellas fijadas en las órbitas de la barra. El aplanamiento a lo largo de esta estructura podría lograrse mediante la interacción de la creación de nuevas estructures, estrellas que por lo tanto se forman en un medio enriquecido, y la mezcla de órbitas a lo largo de la barra. Para entender mejor la relación entre barras y bulbos, complementamos el estudio de BaLROG con un estudio de muy alta resolución espectral utilizando la unidad de campo integral WiFeS en el observatorio Siding Spring Observatory para observar tres bulbos. El análisis de sus respectivas historias de formación estelar revela edades viejas en la mayoría de la masa estelar en nuestro campo de vista, a pesar de la presencia de regiones de formación estelar reciente. A saber, encontramos que por lo menos 50% de la masa estelar ya existía hace 12 Gyr. Asímismo, detectamos una componente más jóven (edad entre ~1 a ~8 Gyr) cuya distribución hoy en día parece ser afectada mucho más notablemente por las estructuras morfológicas, en particular por las barras, que la vieja. En el estudio de BaLROG, ya detectamos una similitud entre bulbos y barras en oposición a sus discos. En particular, un número de barras viejas de tipos tempranos parece residir en un disco que forma estrellas, lo que sugiere que estas barras se formaron hace mucho tiempo y que han sobrevivido hasta el día de hoy. Ambos estudios concuerdan en que el comienzo de la evolución secular inducida por barras ocurrió hace mucho tiempo, aunque muy probablemente fuese después de redshift~2, esto es, después del pico estimado de la historia de formación estelar cósmica. Ello implica que cualquier efecto posible de la evolución secular inducida por barras va a depender considerablemente de la masa que ya se formó en la proto-galaxia, y así también se explica la ausencia de efectos globales significativos de las barras. Estos resultados son una pieza muy importante del puzzle de la evolución de galaxias y nos ayudarán a restringir los modelos de formación de galaxias y motivarán futuras observaciones destinadas a detectar el comienzo de la evolución inducida por barras y sus efectos a alto redshift.Since the dawn of extragalactic astrophysics in the 1930s thanks to the work of Edwin Hubble assuring that our galaxy was just one amongst billions, the study of the formation and evolution of galaxies has been an active field in astrophysical research. Enormous efforts have been undertaken trying to understand the multitude of sizes and shapes of galaxies and their origin. In this thesis we will focus on nearby galaxies with a barred structure. These structures are present in about 2/3 of the local population of disc galaxies, which is illustrating the necessity to better understand this component. Former studies have already investigated bars, but their predicted influence as major drivers of secular evolution has not been observationally revealed. Studies of integrated quantities in fact have shown practically no differences between barred and unbarred galaxies. With this thesis, we want to investigate bars in great detail. Our aim is to quantify the influence of the bar on its host galaxy, in particular in the context of the build-up of bulges. We therefore created our own sample, BaLROG (Bars in Low Redshift Optical Galaxies), composed of 16 early- and late-type galaxies building large mosaics (54 pointings of 1-2h each) with the integral field unit SAURON on the WilliamHerschel Telescope in La Palma. These observations allow us to study bars in unprecedented spatial resolution and determine their impact in different regions on their host galaxies. We first develop a new technique to measure the strength of bars, only based on the observed stellar kinematics and intrinsic galaxy parameters. We compare this measurement to existing techniques using photometric observations, in our case from the Spitzer Space Telescope as part of the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S4G). This comparison results in a good agreement and is backed up with a large set of numerical simulations analysed with the same methods. We establish the bar strength as a yard stick to further test if stronger bars produce stronger predicted effects in kinematics or stellar populations. We characterise the stellar and gas kinematics as well as determine the stellar population parameters based on line-strength indices of the BaLROG sample. We find important clues on where bars can influence their host galaxies: i) in inner regions and ii) along the bar major axis. Both are found in kinematics and populations. Hence, our results point towards a common influence of bars. These findings help to guide larger statistical studies in terms of where to search for bar-driven evolution and set at the same time important limitations to the possible influence caused by bar-driven secular evolution. Concretely: i) Is reflected by dips in the stellar velocity and stellar angular momentum profiles at 0.2±0.1 bar length (or humps interior to this value), anti-correlations between Gauss-Hermite moment h3 and V/σ within 0.1 bar lengths, inner features in velocity and velocity dispersion profiles that increase with bar strength, breaks in the index and single stellar population (SSP) profiles at 0.13±0.06 bar length and a correlation between very high central metallicities and a stronger h3-V/σstellar anticorrelation. All these results indicate that bars seem to significantly alter a certain part in the inner regions, likely by funneling material towards them and triggering star formation, leading to the build-up of inner components. However, they seem to not reach the nucleus, only the circumcentral regions. ii) Is revealed in particular in the populations, where we find a flattening of the Fe5015 and Mgb indices along the bar major axis compared to the minor axis and an unbarred control sample. This translates into a flattening of the metallicity in the same areas. A mild flattening of the stellar velocity dispersion gradient with increasing bar strength is also observed, along both bar axes. The flattening of stellar population parameters along the bar major axis compared to other axes or unbarred galaxies holds important clues on the structure of the bar itself. Instead of strongly modifying the entire galaxy, bars seem to be self-contained structures with stars being locked on barred orbits. Through the interplay of creating new structures, hence stars forming from an enriched medium, and orbital mixing along the bar, the flattening along this structure could be achieved. In order to better understand the relation of bars to bulges, we complement the BaLROG study with a very high spectral resolution study using the integral field unit WiFeS at Siding Spring Observatory to observe three bulges. The analysis of their star formation histories yields overall old ages of the majority of the stellar mass within our field of view, despite young star-forming regions. Explicitly, we find that at least 50% of the stellar mass already existed 12 Gyr ago. Furthermore, we detect a younger component (age between ∼1 to ∼8 Gyr) whose present day distribution seems to be affected much more strongly by morphological structures, especially bars, than the older one. In the BaLROG study, we detected a similarity between bulges and bars as opposed to their surrounding discs. In particular a number of early-type old bars seemed to reside inside a star-forming disc, suggesting that these bars have formed long ago and survived until the present day. Both studies hence agree that the onset of bar-driven secular evolution occurred already long ago, although most probably below redshift∼2, meaning after the estimated peak of the history of cosmic star formation. This implies that any possible effects of bar-driven secular evolution will largely depend on the already formed mass in the proto-galaxy and explains the lack of significant global effects of bars. These results are an important piece of the puzzle of galaxy evolution and will help to constrain galaxy formation models as well as motivate future observations tailored to detecting this onset of bar-driven evolution and its effects at high redshift

Ten technologies for academic libraries

"The iSchool at the University of Missouri--Columbia, 9410 Emerging Technologies in Libraries, Fall 2017.""Emerging technologies can assist academic librarians in many areas of their work. It is sometimes difficult to determine which technologies will be worthwhile or applicable to a particular library. To aid in this process, we have compiled a list of ten of the top technology resources for academic librarians. As job roles and responsibilities can vary widely, we have chosen technologies that address organization, cataloging, retrieval, storage, and resources for patrons including students, faculty, and staff."--Introduction.Introduction -- 3D Printing -- Automated Storage & Retrieval Systems -- Blacklight -- Evernote -- Open Textbook Library (through the Open Textbook Network) -- Pic2shop App -- PlumX Metrics -- QR Codes -- Trello -- WolframAlpha -- References.Includes bibliographical references

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