The clustering and bias of radio-selected AGN and star-forming galaxies in the COSMOS field

Dark matter haloes in which galaxies reside are likely to have a significant impact on their evolution. We investigate the link between dark matter haloes and their constituent galaxies by measuring the angular two-point correlation function of radio sources, using recently released 3 GHz imaging over $\sim 2 \ \mathrm{deg}^2$of the COSMOS field. We split the radio source population into Star Forming Galaxies (SFGs) and Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), and further separate the AGN into radiatively efficient and inefficient accreters. Restricting our analysis to$z<1$, we find SFGs have a bias,$b = 1.5 ^{+0.1}_{-0.2}$, at a median redshift of$z=0.62$. On the other hand, AGN are significantly more strongly clustered with$b = 2.1\pm 0.2$at a median redshift of 0.7. This supports the idea that AGN are hosted by more massive haloes than SFGs. We also find low-accretion rate AGN are more clustered ($b = 2.9 \pm 0.3$) than high-accretion rate AGN ($b = 1.8^{+0.4}_{-0.5}$) at the same redshift ($z \sim 0.7$), suggesting that low-accretion rate AGN reside in higher mass haloes. This supports previous evidence that the relatively hot gas that inhabits the most massive haloes is unable to be easily accreted by the central AGN, causing them to be inefficient. We also find evidence that low-accretion rate AGN appear to reside in halo masses of$M_{h} \sim 3-4 \times 10^{13}h^{-1}$M$_{\odot}$at all redshifts. On the other hand, the efficient accreters reside in haloes of$M_{h} \sim 1-2 \times 10^{13}h^{-1}$M$_{\odot}$at low redshift but can reside in relatively lower mass haloes at higher redshifts. This could be due to the increased prevalence of cold gas in lower mass haloes at$z \ge 1$compared to$z<1$.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures, 1 table, accepted by MNRA

Extragalactic Very-High-Energy gamma-ray background

We study the origin of the extragalactic diffuse gamma-ray background using the data from the Fermi telescope. To estimate the background level, we count photons at high Galactic latitudes |b|>60 degrees. Subtracting photons associated to known sources and the residual cosmic ray and Galactic diffuse backgrounds, we estimate the Extragalactic Gamma-ray Background (EGB) flux. We find that the spectrum of EGB in the very-high-energy (VHE) band above 30 GeV follows the stacked spectrum of BL Lacs. LAT data reveal the positive (1+z)^k, 1<k<4 cosmological evolution of the BL Lac source population consistent with that of their parent population, FR I radio galaxies. We show that EGB at E>30 GeV could be completely explained by emission from unresolved BL Lacs if k~3.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, accepted to Astrophysics Journa

Average radio spectral energy distribution of highly star-forming galaxies

The infrared-radio correlation (IRRC) offers a way to assess star formation from radio emission. Multiple studies found the IRRC to decrease with increasing redshift. This may in part be due to the lack of knowledge about the possible radio spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of star-forming galaxies. We constrain the radio SED of a complete sample of highly star-forming galaxies (SFR &gt; 100 M?/ yr) based on the VLA-COSMOS 1.4 GHz Joint and 3 GHz Large Project catalogs. We reduce archival GMRT 325 MHz and 610 MHz observations, broadening the rest-frame frequency range to 0.3-15 GHz. Employing survival analysis and fitting a double power law SED, we find that the slope steepens from a spectral index of a1 = 0.51±0.04 below 4.5 GHz to a2 = 0.98±0.07 above 4.5 GHz. Our results suggest that the use of a K-correction assuming a single power-law radio SED for star forming galaxies is likely not the root cause of the IRRC trend

Magellan Spectroscopy of AGN Candidates in the COSMOS Field

We present spectroscopic redshifts for the first 466 X-ray and radio-selected AGN targets in the 2 deg^2 COSMOS field. Spectra were obtained with the IMACS instrument on the Magellan (Baade) telescope, using the nod-and-shuffle technique. We identify a variety of Type 1 and Type 2 AGN, as well as red galaxies with no emission lines. Our redshift yield is 72% down to i_AB=24, although the yield is >90% for i_AB<22. We expect the completeness to increase as the survey continues. When our survey is complete and additional redshifts from the zCOSMOS project are included, we anticipate ~1100 AGN with redshifts over the entire COSMOS field. Our redshift survey is consistent with an obscured AGN population that peaks at z~0.7, although further work is necessary to disentangle the selection effects.Comment: 19 pages, 14 figures. Accepted to ApJS special COSMOS issue. The full electronic version of Table 2 can be found at http://shaihulud.as.arizona.edu/~jtrump/tab2.tx

Sub-millimeter galaxies as progenitors of compact quiescent galaxies

Three billion years after the big bang (at redshift z=2), half of the most massive galaxies were already old, quiescent systems with little to no residual star formation and extremely compact with stellar mass densities at least an order of magnitude larger than in low redshift ellipticals, their descendants. Little is known about how they formed, but their evolved, dense stellar populations suggest formation within intense, compact starbursts 1-2 Gyr earlier (at 3<z<6). Simulations show that gas-rich major mergers can give rise to such starbursts which produce dense remnants. Sub-millimeter selected galaxies (SMGs) are prime examples of intense, gas-rich, starbursts. With a new, representative spectroscopic sample of compact quiescent galaxies at z=2 and a statistically well-understood sample of SMGs, we show that z=3-6 SMGs are consistent with being the progenitors of z=2 quiescent galaxies, matching their formation redshifts and their distributions of sizes, stellar masses and internal velocities. Assuming an evolutionary connection, their space densities also match if the mean duty cycle of SMG starbursts is 42 (+40/-29) Myr (consistent with independent estimates), which indicates that the bulk of stars in these massive galaxies were formed in a major, early surge of star-formation. These results suggests a coherent picture of the formation history of the most massive galaxies in the universe, from their initial burst of violent star-formation through their appearance as high stellar-density galaxy cores and to their ultimate fate as giant ellipticals.Comment: ApJ (in press

The XXL Survey VII: A supercluster of galaxies at z=0.43

The XXL Survey is the largest homogeneous and contiguous survey carried out with XMM-Newton. Covering an area of 50 square degrees distributed over two fields, it primarily investigates the large-scale structures of the Universe using the distribution of galaxy clusters and active galactic nuclei as tracers of the matter distribution. Given its depth and sky coverage, XXL is particularly suited to systematically unveiling the clustering of X-ray clusters and to identifying superstructures in a homogeneous X-ray sample down to the typical mass scale of a local massive cluster. A friends-of-friends algorithm in three-dimensional physical space was run to identify large-scale structures. In this paper we report the discovery of the highest redshift supercluster of galaxies found in the XXL Survey. We describe the X-ray properties of the clusters members of the structure and the optical follow-up. The newly discovered supercluster is composed of six clusters of galaxies at a median redshift z around 0.43 and distributed across approximately 30 by 15 arc minutes (10 by 5 Mpc on sky) on the sky. This structure is very compact with all the clusters residing in one XMM pointing; for this reason this is the first supercluster discovered with the XXL Survey. Spectroscopic follow-up with WHT (William Herschel Telescope) and NTT (New Technology Telescope) confirmed a median redshift of z = 0.43. An estimate of the X-ray mass and luminosity of this supercluster and of its total gas mass put XLSSC-e at the average mass range of superclusters; its appearance, with two members of equal size, is quite unusual with respect to other superclusters and provides a unique view of the formation process of a massive structure.Comment: A&A, accepted; special XXL issu

The VLA-COSMOS 3 GHz Large Project: Average radio spectral energy distribution of highly star-forming galaxies

We construct the average radio spectral energy distribution (SED) of highly star-forming galaxies (HSFGs) up to z ~ 4. Infrared and radio luminosities are bound by a tight correlation that is defined by the so-called q parameter. This infrared-radio correlation provides the basis for the use of radio luminosity as a star-formation tracer. Recent stacking and survival analysis studies find q to be decreasing with increasing redshift. It was pointed out that a possible cause of the redshift trend could be the computation of rest-frame radio luminosity via a single power-law assumption of the star-forming galaxies' (SFGs) SED. To test this, we constrained the shape of the radio SED of a sample of HSFGs. To achieve a broad rest-frame frequency range, we combined previously published Very Large Array observations of the COSMOS field at 1:4 GHz and 3 GHz with unpublished Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT) observations at 325MHz and 610MHz by employing survival analysis to account for non-detections in the GMRT maps. We selected a sample of HSFGs in a broad redshift range (z ? [0:3; 4]; SFR = 100 M yr-1) and constructed the average radio SED. By fitting a broken power-law, we find that the spectral index changes from a1 = 0:42-0:06 below a rest-frame frequency of 4:3 GHz to a2 = 0:94 ± 0:06 above 4:3 GHz. Our results are in line with previous low-redshift studies of HSFGs ( SFR &gt; 10 M yr-1) that show the SED of HSFGs to differ from the SED found for normal SFGs ( SFR &lt; 10 M yr-1). The difference is mainly in a steeper spectrum around 10 GHz, which could indicate a smaller fraction of thermal free-free emission. Finally, we also discuss the impact of applying this broken power-law SED in place of a simple power-law in K-corrections of HSFGs and a typical radio SED for normal SFGs drawn from the literature. We find that the shape of the radio SED is unlikely to be the root cause of the q-z trend in SFGs

Exploring AGN Activity over cosmic time with the SKA

In this Chapter we present the motivation for undertaking both a wide and deep survey with the SKA in the context of studying AGN activity across cosmic time. With an rms down to 1 µJy/beam at 1 GHz over 1,000 - 5,000 deg2 in 1 year (wide tier band 1/2) and an rms down to 200 nJy/beam over 10 - 30 deg2 in 2000 hours (deep tier band 1/2), these surveys will directly detect faint radio-loud and radio-quiet AGN (down to a 1 GHz radio luminosity of about 2×1023 W/Hz at z = 6). For the first time, this will enable us to conduct detailed studies of the cosmic evolution of radio AGN activity to the cosmic dawn (z ? 6), covering all environmental densities