Active Galactic Nuclei and their Role in Galaxy Evolution: The Infrared Perspective

The remarkable progress made in infrared (IR) astronomical instruments over the last 10-15 years has radically changed our vision of the extragalactic IR sky, and overall understanding of galaxy evolution. In particular, this has been the case for the study of active galactic nuclei (AGN), for which IR observations provide a wealth of complementary information that cannot be derived from data in other wavelength regimes. In this review, I summarize the unique contribution that IR astronomy has recently made to our understanding of AGN and their role in galaxy evolution, including both physical studies of AGN at IR wavelengths, and the search for AGN among IR galaxies in general. Finally, I identify and discuss key open issues that it should be possible to address with forthcoming IR telescopes.Comment: 34 pages, 13 figures. Invited review article, in press at the International Journal of Modern Physics

The role of HST in the study of near- and mid-infrared-selected galaxies

Because of their unique quality, Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data have played an important complementary role in studies of infrared (IR) galaxies conducted with major facilities, as VLT or Spitzer, and will be as well very valuable for future telescopes as Herschel and ALMA. I review here some of the most recent works led by European astronomers on IR galaxies, and discuss the role that HST has had in the study of different IR galaxy populations. I particularly focus the analysis on the GOODS fields, where the multiwavelength data and unique HST coverage have enabled to jointly put constraints on the evolution of star formation activity and stellar-mass growth with cosmic time.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of the 41st ESLAB Symposium "The impact of HST on European Astronomy". 4 pages, 1 figur

Analysis of the SFR - M* plane at z<3: single fitting versus multi-Gaussian decomposition

The analysis of galaxies on the star formation rate - stellar mass (SFR-M*) plane is a powerful diagnostic for galaxy evolution at different cosmic times. We consider a sample of 24463 galaxies from the CANDELS/GOODS-S survey to conduct a detailed analysis of the SFR-M* relation at redshifts 0.5$\leqslant z<$3 over more than three dex in stellar mass. To obtain SFR estimates, we utilise mid- and far-IR photometry when available, and rest-UV fluxes for all the other galaxies. We perform our analysis in different redshift bins, with two different methods: 1) a linear regression fitting of all star-forming galaxies, defined as those with specific star formation rates $\rm log_{10}(sSFR/yr^{-1}) > -9.8$, similarly to what is typically done in the literature; 2) a multi-Gaussian decomposition to identify the galaxy main sequence (MS), the starburst sequence and the quenched galaxy cloud. We find that the MS slope becomes flatter when higher stellar mass cuts are adopted, and that the apparent slope change observed at high masses depends on the SFR estimation method. In addition, the multi-Gaussian decomposition reveals the presence of a starburst population which increases towards low stellar masses and high redshifts. We find that starbursts make up ~5% of all galaxies at z=0.5-1.0, while they account for ~16% of galaxies at 2$<z<$3 with log$_{10}(M^{*})=$8.25-11.25. We conclude that the dissection of the SFR-M* in multiple components over a wide range of stellar masses is necessary to understand the importance of the different modes of star formation through cosmic time.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in A&A, after addressing referee report. Main changes with respect to v1: two new appendixes to investigate the impact of redshift outliers and to test a two-Gaussian component fit to the sSFR distribution. No conclusion change

Rest-frame ultra-violet spectra of massive galaxies at z=3: evidence of high-velocity outflows

Galaxy formation models invoke the presence of strong feedback mechanisms that regulate the growth of massive galaxies at high redshifts. In this paper we aim to: (1) confirm spectroscopically the redshifts of a sample of massive galaxies selected with photometric redshifts z > 2.5; (2) investigate the properties of their stellar and interstellar media; (3) detect the presence of outflows, and measure their velocities. To achieve this, we analysed deep, high-resolution (R~2000) FORS2 rest-frame UV spectra for 11 targets. We confirmed that 9 out of 11 have spectroscopic redshifts z > 2.5. We also serendipitously found two mask fillers at redshift z > 2.5, which originally were assigned photometric redshifts 2.0 < z < 2.5. In the four highest-quality spectra we derived outflow velocities by fitting the absorption line profiles with models including multiple dynamical components. We found strongly asymmetric, high-ionisation lines, from which we derived outflow velocities ranging from 480 to 1518 km/s. The two galaxies with highest velocity show signs of AGN. We revised the spectral energy distribution fitting U-band through 8 micron photometry, including the analysis of a power-law component subtraction to identify the possible presence of active galactic nuclei (AGN). The revised stellar masses of all but one of our targets are >1e10 Msun, with four having stellar masses > 5e10 Msun. Three galaxies have a significant power-law component in their spectral energy distributions, which indicates that they host AGN. We conclude that massive galaxies are characterised by significantly higher velocity outflows than the typical Lyman break galaxies at z ~ 3. The incidence of high-velocity outflows (~40% within our sample) is also much higher than among massive galaxies at z < 1, which is consistent with the powerful star formation and nuclear activity that most massive galaxies display at z > 2.Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures, Accepted for publication in A&

Morphology and Redshifts of Extremely Red Galaxies in the GOODS/CDFS deep ISAAC field

We present the photometric redshift distribution of a sample of 198 Extremely Red Galaxies (ERGs) with Ks3.92 (Vega), selected by Roche et al. in 50.4 sq. arcmin of the Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS). The sample has been obtained using ISAAC-VLT and ACS-HST GOODS public data. We also show the results of a morphological study of the 72 brightest ERGs in the z band (z<25, AB).Comment: 2 pages, 2 figures. To appear in the proceedings of the ESO/USM/MPE Workshop "Multiwavelength Mapping of Galaxy Formation and Evolution", Venice, October 13-16, 200

Discovery of a faint, star-forming, multiply lensed, Lyman-alpha blob

We report the discovery of a multiply lensed Lyman-$\alpha$ blob (LAB) behind the galaxy cluster AS1063 using the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on the Very Large Telescope (VLT). The background source is at $z=$ 3.117 and is intrinsically faint compared to almost all previously reported LABs. We used our highly precise strong lensing model to reconstruct the source properties, and we find an intrinsic luminosity of $L_{\rm Ly\alpha}$=$1.9\times10^{42}$ erg s$^{-1}$, extending to 33 kpc. We find that the LAB is associated with a group of galaxies, and possibly a protocluster, in agreement with previous studies that find LABs in overdensities. In addition to Lyman-$\alpha$ (Ly$\alpha$) emission, we find \ion{C}{IV}, \ion{He}{II}, and \ion{O}{III}] ultraviolet (UV) emission lines arising from the centre of the nebula. We used the compactness of these lines in combination with the line ratios to conclude that the \Lya nebula is likely powered by embedded star formation. Resonant scattering of the \Lya photons then produces the extended shape of the emission. Thanks to the combined power of MUSE and strong gravitational lensing, we are now able to probe the circumgalatic medium of sub-$L_{*}$ galaxies at $z\approx 3$.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures; moderate changes to match the accepted A&A versoi

The role of the LIRG and ULIRG phases in the evolution of Ks-selected galaxies

We investigate the role of the luminous infrared galaxy (LIRG) and ultra-luminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG) phases in the evolution of Ks-selected galaxies and, in particular, Extremely Red Galaxies (ERGs). With this aim, we compare the properties of a sample of 2905 Ks<21.5 (Vega mag) galaxies in the GOODS/CDFS with the sub-sample of those 696 sources which are detected at 24 microns. We find that LIRGs constitute 30% of the galaxies with stellar mass M>1x10^{11} Msun assembled at redshift z=0.5. A minimum of 65% of the galaxies with M>2.5x10^{11} Msun at z~2-3 are ULIRGs at those redshifts. 60% of the ULIRGs in our sample have the characteristic colours of ERGs. Conversely, 40% of the ERGs with stellar mass M>1.3x10^{11} Msun at 1.5<z<2.0 and a minimum of 52% of those with the same mass cut at 2.0<z<3.0 are ULIRGs. The average optical/near-IR properties of the massive ERGs at similar redshifts that are identified with ULIRGs and that are not have basically no difference, suggesting that both populations contain the same kind of objects in different phases of their lives. LIRGs and ULIRGs have an important role in galaxy evolution and mass assembly, and, although they are only able to trace a fraction of the massive (M>1x10^{11} Msun) galaxies present in the Universe at a given time, this fraction becomes very significant (>50%) at redshifts z>~2.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 9 pages, 6 figure

The stellar mass function of the most massive galaxies at 3<=z<5 in the UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey

We have analysed a sample of 1292 4.5 micron-selected galaxies at z>=3, over 0.6 square degrees of the UKIRT Infrared Deep Survey (UKIDSS) Ultra Deep Survey (UDS). Using photometry from the U band through 4.5 microns, we have obtained photometric redshifts and derived stellar masses for our sources. Only two of our galaxies potentially lie at z>5. We have studied the galaxy stellar mass function at 3<=z<5, based on the 1213 galaxies in our catalogue with [4.5]<= 24.0. We find that: i) the number density of M > 10^11 Msun galaxies increased by a factor > 10 between z=5 and 3, indicating that the assembly rate of these galaxies proceeded > 20 times faster at these redshifts than at 0<z<2; ii) the Schechter function slope alpha is significantly steeper than that displayed by the local stellar mass function, which is both a consequence of the steeper faint end and the absence of a pure exponential decline at the high-mass end; iii) the evolution of the comoving stellar mass density from z=0 to 5 can be modelled as log10 (rho_M) =-(0.05 +/- 0.09) z^2 - (0.22 -/+ 0.32) z + 8.69. At 3 10^11 Msun galaxies would be missed by optical surveys with R<27 or z<26. Thus, our study demonstrates the importance of deep mid-IR surveys over large areas to perform a complete census of massive galaxies at high z and trace the early stages of massive galaxy assembly.Comment: 16 pages, 15 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA