Integral-field spectroscopy of the quadruple QSO HE 0435-1223: Evidence for microlensing

We present the first spatially resolved spectroscopic observations of the recently discovered quadruple QSO and gravitational lens HE0435-1223. Using the Potsdam Multi-Aperture Spectrophotometer (PMAS), we show that all four QSO components have very similar but not identical spectra. In particular, the spectral slopes of components A, B, and D are indistinguishable, implying that extinction due to dust plays no major role in the lensing galaxy. While also the emission line profiles are identical within the error bars, as expected from lensing, the equivalent widths show significant differences between components. Most likely, microlensing is responsible for this phenomenon. This is also consistent with the fact that component D, which shows the highest relative continuum level, has brightened by 0.07 mag since Dec 2001. We find that the emission line flux ratios between the components are in better agreement with simple lens models than broad band or continuum measurements, but that the discrepancies between model and data are still unacceptably large. Finally, we present a detection of the lensing galaxy, although this is close to the limits of the data. Comparing with a model galaxy spectrum, we obtain a redshift estimate of z_lens=0.44+-0.02.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Carbon-Enhanced Hyper-metal-poor Stars and the Stellar IMF at Low Metallicity

The two known ``hyper-metal-poor'' (HMP) stars, HE0107-5240 and HE1327-2326, have extremely high enhancements of the light elements C, N, and O relative to Fe and appear to represent a statistically significant excess population relative to the halo metallicity distribution extrapolated from [Fe/H] > -3. This study weighs the available evidence for and against three hypothetical origins for these stars: (1) that they formed from gas enriched by a primordial ``faint supernova'', (2) that they formed from gas enriched by core-collapse supernovae and C-rich gas ejected in rotation-driven winds from massive stars, and (3) that they formed as the low-mass secondaries in binary systems at Z ~ 10^{-5.5} Zsun and acquired their light-element enhancements from an intermediate-mass companion as it passed through an AGB phase. The observations interpreted here, especially the depletion of lithium seen in HE1327-2326, favor the binary mass-transfer hypothesis. If HE0107-5240 and HE1327-2326 formed in binary systems, the statistically significant absence of isolated and/or C-normal stars at similar [Fe/H] implies that low-mass stars could form at that metallicity, but that masses M ~< 1.4 Msun were disfavored in the IMF. This result is also explained if the abundance-derived top-heavy IMF for primordial stars persists to [Fe/H] ~ -5.5. This finding indicates that low-mass star formation was possible at extremely low metallicity, and that the typical stellar mass may have had a complex dependence on metallicity rather than a sharp transition driven solely by gas cooling.Comment: 11 pages emulateapj text including three figures, accepted for publication in ApJ v666 (Sept 2007). A companion paper to 0706.290

Is AGN feedback necessary to form red elliptical galaxies?

We have used GADGET2 to simulate the formation of an elliptical galaxy in a cosmological dark matter halo with mass 3x10^12M_Sun/h. Using a stellar population synthesis model has allowed us to compute magnitudes, colours and surface brightness profiles. We have included a model to follow the growth of a central black hole and we have compared the results of simulations with and without feedback from AGNs. We have studied the interplay between cold gas accretion and merging in the development of galactic morphologies, the link between colour and morphology evolution, the effect of AGN feedback on the photometry of early type galaxies, the redshift evolution in the properties of quasar hosts, and the impact of AGN winds on the chemical enrichment of the intergalactic medium (IGM). We have found that the early phases of galaxy formation are driven by the accretion of cold filamentary flows, which form a disc at the centre of the dark matter halo. When the dark matter halo is sufficiently massive to support the propagation of a stable shock, cold accretion is shut down, and the star formation rate begins to decline. Mergers transform the disc into an elliptical galaxy, but also bring gas into the galaxy. Without a mechanism that removes gas from the merger remnants, the galaxy ends up with blue colours, atypical for its elliptical morphology. AGN feedback can solve this problem even with a fairly low heating efficiency. We have also demonstrated that AGN winds are potentially important for the metal enrichment of the IGM a high redshift.(abridged)Comment: 19 pages and 17 figures, accepted to MNRAS ID: MN-07-1954-MJ.R1 . For high resolution images please check following link: http://www.aip.de/People/AKhalatyan/COSMOLOGY/BHCOSMO

Probing The Dust-To-Gas Ratio of z > 0 Galaxies Through Gravitational Lenses

We report the detection of differential gas column densities in three gravitational lenses, MG0414+0534, HE1104-1805, and PKS1830-211. Combined with the previous differential column density measurements in B1600+434 and Q2237+0305 and the differential extinction measurements of these lenses, we probe the dust-to-gas ratio of a small sample of cosmologically distant normal galaxies. We obtain an average dust-to-gas ratio of E(B-V)/NH =(1.4\pm0.5) e-22 mag cm^2/atoms with an estimated intrinsic dispersion in the ratio of ~40%. This average dust-to-gas ratio is consistent with the average Galactic value of 1.7e-22 mag cm^2/atoms and the estimated intrinsic dispersion is also consistent with the 30% observed in the Galaxy.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, Accepted by Ap

Strange magnification pattern in the large separation lens SDSS J1004+4112 from optical to X-rays

We present simultaneous XMM-Newton UV and X-ray observations of the quadruply lensed quasar SDSS J1004+4112 (RBS 825). Simultaneously with the XMM-Newton observations we also performed integral field spectroscopy on the two closest lens images A and B using the Calar Alto PMAS spectrograph. In X-rays the widely spaced components C and D are clearly resolved, while the closer pair of images A and B is marginally resolved in the XMM-EPIC images. The integrated X-ray flux of the system has decreased by a factor of 6 since it was observed in the ROSAT All Sky Survey in 1990, while the X-ray spectrum became much harder with the power law index evolving from Gamma=-2.3 to -1.86. By deblending the X-ray images of the lensed QSO we find that the X-ray flux ratios between the lens images A and B are significantly different from the simultaneously obtained UV ratios and previously measured optical flux ratios. Our optical spectrum of lens image A shows an enhancement in the blue emission line wings, which has been observed in previous epochs as a transient feature. We propose a scenario where intrinsic UV and X-ray variability gives rise to line variations which are selectively magnified in image A by microlensing. The extended emission of the lensing cluster of galaxies is clearly detected in the EPIC images, we measure a 0.5-2.0 keV luminosity of 1.4 E44 erg/s. Based on the cluster X-ray properties, we estimate a mass of 2-6 E14 solar masses.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

The evolution of faint AGN between z~1 and z~5 from the COMBO-17 survey

We present a determination of the optical/UV AGN luminosity function and its evolution, based on a large sample of faint (R<24) QSOs identified in the COMBO-17 survey. Using multi-band photometry in 17 filters within 350nm < lambda_obs < 930nm, we could simultaneously determine photometric redshifts with an accuracy of sigma_z<0.03 and obtain spectral energy distributions. The redshift range covered by the sample is 1.2<z<4.8, which implies that even at z~3, the sample reaches below luminosities corresponding to M_B = -23, conventionally employed to distinguish between Seyfert galaxies and quasars. We clearly detect a broad plateau-like maximum of quasar activity around z~2 and map out the smooth turnover between z~1 and z~4. The shape of the LF is characterised by some mild curvature, but no sharp `break' is present within the range of luminosities covered. Using only the COMBO-17 data, the evolving LF can be adequately described by either a pure density evolution (PDE) or a pure luminosity evolution (PLE) model. However, the absence of a strong L*-like feature in the shape of the LF inhibits a robust distinction between these modes. We present a robust estimate for the integrated UV luminosity generation by AGN as a function of redshift. We find that the LF continues to rise even at the lowest luminosities probed by our survey, but that the slope is sufficiently shallow that the contribution of low-luminosity AGN to the UV luminosity density is negligible. Although our sample reaches much fainter flux levels than previous data sets, our results on space densities and LF slopes are completely consistent with extrapolations from recent major surveys such as SDSS and 2QZ.Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures, Astronomy & Astrophysics, in print, revised versio

Small Scale Structure at High Redshift: II. Physical Properties of the CIV Absorbing Clouds

Keck HIRES spectra were obtained of the separate images of three gravitationally lensed QSOs (UM 673, Q1104-1804, and Q1422+2309). We studied the velocity and column density differences in CIV doublets in each QSO. Unlike the low ionization gas clouds typical of the interstellar gas in the Galaxy or damped Ly alpha galaxies, the spatial density distribution of CIV absorbing gas clouds turns out to be mostly featureless on scales up to a few hundred parsecs, with column density differences rising to 50 percent or more over separations beyond a few kpc. Similarly, velocity shear becomes detectable only over distances larger than a few hundred pc, rising to 70 km/s at a few kpc. The energy transmitted to the gas is substantially less than in present day star-forming regions, and the gas is less turbulent on a given spatial scale than, e.g., local HII regions. The quiescence of CIV clouds, taken with their probable low density, imply that these objects are not internal to galaxies. The CIV absorbers could be gas expelled recently to large radii and raining back onto its parent galaxy, or pre-enriched gas from an earlier (population III) episode of star formation, falling into the nearest mass concentration. However, while the metals in the gas may have been formed at higher redshifts, the residual turbulence in the clouds and the minimum coherence length measured here imply that the gas was stirred more recently, possibly by star formation events recurring on a timescale on the order of 10-100 Million years (abstract abbreviated).Comment: latex file plus 15 postscript figures (45 pages in total); to be published in the ApJ, June 20, 2001 issu

Integral field spectroscopy of QSO host galaxies

We describe a project to study the state of the ISM in ~20 low redshift (z<0.3) QSO host galaxies observed with the PMAS integral field spectrograph. We describe method developement to access the stellar and gas component of the spectrum without the strong nuclear emission to access the host galaxy properties also in the central region. It shows that integral field spectroscopy promises to be very efficient to study the gas distribution and its velocity field, and also spatially resolved stellar population in the host galaxies also of luminous AGN.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, Euro3D Science Workshop, Cambridge, May 2003, AN, accepte

A Catalogue of Field Horizontal Branch Stars Aligned with High Velocity Clouds

We present a catalogue of 430 Field Horizontal Branch (FHB) stars, selected from the Hamburg/ESO Survey (HES), which fortuitously align with high column density neutral hydrogen (HI) High-Velocity Cloud (HVC) gas. These stars are ideal candidates for absorption-line studies of HVCs, attempts at which have been made for almost 40 years with little success. A parent sample of 8321 HES FHB stars was used to extract HI spectra along each line-of-sight, using the HI Parkes All-Sky Survey. All lines-of-sight aligned with high velocity HI emission with peak brightness temperatures greater than 120mK were examined. The HI spectra of these 430 probes were visually screened and cross-referenced with several HVC catalogues. In a forthcoming paper, we report on the results of high-resolution spectroscopic observations of a sample of stars drawn from this catalogue.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. ApJS accepted. Full catalogue and all online-only images available at http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/cthom/catalogue/index.htm