99 research outputs found
Modelling high redshift Lyman-alpha Emitters
We present a new model for high redshift Lyman-Alpha Emitters (LAEs) in the
cosmological context which takes into account the resonant scattering of Ly-a
photons through expanding gas. The GALICS semi-analytic model provides us with
the physical properties of a large sample of high redshift galaxies. We
implement a gas outflow model for each galaxy based on simple scaling
arguments. The coupling with a library of numerical experiments of Ly-a
transfer through expanding or static dusty shells of gas allows us to derive
the Ly-a escape fractions and profiles. The predicted distribution of Ly-a
photons escape fraction shows that galaxies with a low star formation rate have
a f_esc of the order of unity, suggesting that, for those objects, Ly-a may be
used to trace the star formation rate assuming a given conversion law. In
galaxies forming stars intensely, the escape fraction spans the whole range
from 0 to 1. The model is able to get a good match to the UV and Ly-a
luminosity function (LF) data at 3 < z < 5. We find that we are in good
agreement with both the bright Ly-a data and the faint population observed by
Rauch et al. (2008) at z=3. Most of the Ly-a profiles of our LAEs are
redshifted by the diffusion in the outflow which suppresses IGM absorption. The
bulk of the observed Ly-a equivalent width (EW) distribution is recovered by
our model, but we fail to obtain the very large values sometimes detected.
Predictions for stellar masses and UV LFs of LAEs show a satisfactory agreement
with observational estimates. The UV-brightest galaxies are found to show only
low Ly-a EWs in our model, as it is reported by many observations of high
redshift LAEs. We interpret this effect as the joint consequence of old stellar
populations hosted by UV-bright galaxies, and high HI column densities that we
predict for these objects, which quench preferentially resonant Ly-a photons
via dust extinction.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA
The FORS Deep Field Spectroscopic Survey
We present a catalogue and atlas of low-resolution spectra of a well defined
sample of 341 objects in the FORS Deep Field. All spectra were obtained with
the FORS instruments at the ESO VLT with essentially the same spectroscopic
set-up. The observed extragalactic objects cover the redshift range 0.1 to 5.0.
98 objects are starburst galaxies and QSOs at z > 2. Using this data set we
investigated the evolution of the characteristic spectral properties of bright
starburst galaxies and their mutual relations as a function of the redshift.
Significant evolutionary effects were found for redshifts 2 < z < 4. Most
conspicuous are the increase of the average C IV absorption strength, of the
dust reddening, and of the intrinsic UV luminosity, and the decrease of the
average Ly alpha emission strength with decreasing redshift. In part the
observed evolutionary effects can be attributed to an increase of the
metallicity of the galaxies with cosmic age. Moreover, the increase of the
total star-formation rates and the stronger obscuration of the starburst cores
by dusty gas clouds suggest the occurrence of more massive starbursts at later
cosmic epochs.Comment: 24 pages, 25 figures (35 PS files), 4 tables, accepted for
publication in A&A. v2: minor typos corrected and references update
On the dependence between UV luminosity and Lyman-alpha equivalent width in high redshift galaxies
We show that with the simple assumption of no correlation between the
Ly-alpha equivalent width and the UV luminosity of a galaxy, the observed
distribution of high redshift galaxies in an equivalent width - absolute UV
magnitude plane can be reproduced. We further show that there is no dependence
between Ly-alpha equivalent width and Ly-alpha luminosity in a sample of
Ly-alpha emitters. The test was expanded to Lyman-break galaxies and again no
dependence was found. Simultaneously, we show that a recently proposed lack of
large equivalent width, UV bright galaxies (Ando et al. 2006) can be explained
by a simple observational effect, based on too small survey volumes.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, accepted in MNRA
Lyman-alpha emission galaxies at a redshift of z = 5.7 in the FORS Deep Field
We present the results of a search for Lyman-alpha emission galaxies at z~
5.7 in the FORS Deep Field. The objective of this study is to improve the faint
end of the luminosity function of high-redshift Lyman-alpha emitting galaxies
and to derive properties of intrinsically faint Lyman-alpha emission galaxies
in the young universe. Using FORS2 at the ESO VLT and a set of special
interference filters, we identified candidates for high-redshift Lyman-alpha
galaxies. We then used FORS2 in spectroscopic mode to verify the
identifications and to study their spectral properties. The narrow-band
photometry resulted in the detection of 15 likely Lyman-alpha emission
galaxies. Spectra with an adequate exposure time could be obtained for eight
galaxies. In all these cases the presence of Lyman-alpha emission at z = 5.7
was confirmed spectroscopically. The line fluxes of the 15 candidates range
between 3 and 16 * 10^-21 Wm^-2, which corresponds to star-formation rates not
corrected for dust between 1 and 5 Msun/yr. The luminosity function derived for
our photometrically identified objects extends the published luminosity
functions of intrinsically brighter Lyman-alpha galaxies. With this technique
the study of high-redshift Lyman-alpha emission galaxies can be extended to low
intrinsic luminosities.Comment: 9 pages, 17 figures. Accepted by A&A. PDF version with higher
resolution figures here:
http://www.lsw.uni-heidelberg.de/users/jheidt/fdf/pubs/fdflae5_7_110406.pd
Lyman alpha emission in high-redshift galaxies
A significant fraction of the high-redshift galaxies show strong Lyman
emission lines. For redshifts z>5, most known galaxies belong to this class.
However, so far not much is known about the physical structure and nature of
these objects. Our aim is to analyse the Lyman alpha emission in a sample of
high-redshift UV-continuum selected galaxies and to derive the physical
conditions that determine the Lyman alpha profile and the line strength.
VLT/FORS spectra with a resolution of R ~ 2000 of 16 galaxies in the redshift
range of z = 2.7 to 5 are presented. The observed Lyman alpha profiles are
compared with theoretical models. The Lyman alpha lines range from pure
absorption (EW = -17 Angstroem) to strong emission (EW = 153 Angstroem). Most
Lyman alpha emission lines show an asymmetric profile, and three galaxies have
a double-peaked profile. Both types of profiles can be explained by a uniform
model consisting of an expanding shell of neutral and ionised hydrogen around a
compact starburst region. The broad, blueshifted, low-ionisation interstellar
absorption lines indicate a galaxy-scale outflow of the ISM. The strengths of
these lines are found to be determined in part by the velocity dispersion of
the outflowing medium. We find star-formation rates of these galaxies ranging
from SFR(UV) = 1.2 to 63.2 Msun uncorrected for dust absorption. The Lyman
alpha emission strength of our target galaxies is found to be determined by the
amount of dust and the kinematics of the outflowing material.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures. A&A accepte
HyPLC: Hybrid Programmable Logic Controller Program Translation for Verification
Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) provide a prominent choice of
implementation platform for safety-critical industrial control systems. Formal
verification provides ways of establishing correctness guarantees, which can be
quite important for such safety-critical applications. But since PLC code does
not include an analytic model of the system plant, their verification is
limited to discrete properties. In this paper, we, thus, start the other way
around with hybrid programs that include continuous plant models in addition to
discrete control algorithms. Even deep correctness properties of hybrid
programs can be formally verified in the theorem prover KeYmaera X that
implements differential dynamic logic, dL, for hybrid programs. After verifying
the hybrid program, we now present an approach for translating hybrid programs
into PLC code. The new tool, HyPLC, implements this translation of discrete
control code of verified hybrid program models to PLC controller code and, vice
versa, the translation of existing PLC code into the discrete control actions
for a hybrid program given an additional input of the continuous dynamics of
the system to be verified. This approach allows for the generation of real
controller code while preserving, by compilation, the correctness of a valid
and verified hybrid program. PLCs are common cyber-physical interfaces for
safety-critical industrial control applications, and HyPLC serves as a
pragmatic tool for bridging formal verification of complex cyber-physical
systems at the algorithmic level of hybrid programs with the execution layer of
concrete PLC implementations.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures. ICCPS 201
The Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey. VLT/FORS2 Spectroscopy in the GOODS-South Field: Part III
Aims. We present the full data set of the spectroscopic campaign of the
ESO/GOODS program in the GOODS-South field, obtained with the
FORS2 spectrograph at the ESO/VLT. Method. Objects were selected as
candidates for VLT/FORS2 observations primarily based on the expectation that
the detection and measurement of their spectral features would benefit from the
high throughput and spectral resolution of FORS2. The reliability of the
redshift estimates is assessed using the redshift-magnitude and color-redshift
diagrams, and comparing the results with public data. Results. Including the
third part of the spectroscopic campaign (12 masks) to the previous work (26
masks, Vanzella et al. 2005, 2006), 1715 spectra of 1225 individual targets
have been analyzed. The actual spectroscopic catalog provides 887 redshift
determinations. The typical redshift uncertainty is estimated to be sigma(z) ~
0.001. Galaxies have been selected adopting different color criteria and using
photometric redshifts. The resulting redshift distribution typically spans two
domains: from z=0.5 to 2 and z=3.5 to 6.3. The reduced spectra and the derived
redshifts are released to the community through the ESO web page
http://www.eso.org/science/goods/Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures; accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysics. Data are available at http://www.eso.org/science/goods
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