scholarly journals An accurate low-redshift measurement of the cosmic neutral hydrogen density

2019 ◽  
Vol 489 (2) ◽  
pp. 1619-1632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenkai Hu ◽  
Laura Hoppmann ◽  
Lister Staveley-Smith ◽  
Katinka Geréb ◽  
Tom Oosterloo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Density ◽  
Neutral Hydrogen ◽  
Sloan Digital Sky Survey ◽  
Gas Content ◽  
Beam Size ◽  
Hydrogen Density ◽  
Sky Survey ◽  
Systematic Effects ◽  
Large Survey ◽  
Weighting Technique

ABSTRACT Using a spectral stacking technique, we measure the neutral hydrogen (H i) properties of a sample of galaxies at z < 0.11 across 35 pointings of the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope. The radio data contain 1895 galaxies with redshifts and positions known from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We carefully quantified the effects of sample bias, aperture used to extract spectra, sidelobes and weighting technique and use our data to provide a new estimate for the cosmic H i mass density. We find a cosmic H i mass density of $\Omega _{\rm H\,{\small I}} = (4.02 \pm 0.26)\times 10^{-4} h_{70}^{-1}$ at 〈z〉 = 0.066, consistent with measurements from blind H i surveys and other H i stacking experiments at low redshifts. The combination of the small interferometer beam size and the large survey volume makes our result highly robust against systematic effects due to confusion at small scales and cosmic variance at large scales. Splitting into three sub-samples with 〈z〉 = 0.038, 0.067, and 0.093 shows no significant evolution of the H i gas content at low redshift.

scholarly journals Analysis of Systematic Effects and Statistical Uncertainties in Angular Clustering of Galaxies from Early Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data

2002 ◽  
Vol 579 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Scranton ◽  
David Johnston ◽  
Scott Dodelson ◽  
Joshua A. Frieman ◽  
Andy Connolly ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
Sloan Digital Sky Survey ◽  
Sky Survey ◽  
Systematic Effects

scholarly journals The effect of dust bias on the census of neutral gas and metals in the high-redshift Universe due to SDSS-II quasar colour selection

2019 ◽  
Vol 486 (3) ◽  
pp. 4377-4397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens-Kristian Krogager ◽  
Johan P U Fynbo ◽  
Palle Møller ◽  
Pasquier Noterdaeme ◽  
Kasper E Heintz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Density ◽  
High Redshift ◽  
Target Selection ◽  
Neutral Hydrogen ◽  
Sloan Digital Sky Survey ◽  
Selection Probability ◽  
Optical Extinction ◽  
Neutral Gas ◽  
High Redshift Universe ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACT We present a systematic study of the impact of a dust bias on samples of damped Ly α absorbers (DLAs). This bias arises as an effect of the magnitude and colour criteria utilized in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) quasar target selection up until data release 7 (DR7). The bias has previously been quantified assuming only a contribution from the dust obscuration. In this work, we apply the full set of magnitude and colour criteria used up until SDSS-DR7 in order to quantify the full impact of dust biasing against dusty and metal-rich DLAs. We apply the quasar target selection algorithm on a modelled population of intrinsic colours, and by exploring the parameter space consisting of redshift, ($z_{\rm{\small QSO}}$and zabs), optical extinction, and H i column density, we demonstrate how the selection probability depends on these variables. We quantify the dust bias on the following properties derived for DLAs at z ≈ 3: the incidence rate, the mass density of neutral hydrogen and metals, and the average metallicity. We find that all quantities are significantly affected. When considering all uncertainties, the mass density of neutral hydrogen is underestimated by 10–50 per cent, and the mass density in metals is underestimated by 30–200 per cent. Lastly, we find that the bias depends on redshift. At redshift z = 2.2, the mass density of neutral hydrogen and metals might be underestimated by up to a factor of 2 and 5, respectively. Characterizing such a bias is crucial in order to accurately interpret and model the properties and metallicity evolution of absorption-selected galaxies.

scholarly journals New Results on DLA Systems: Statistics

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (S319) ◽  
pp. 40-40
Author(s):  
Sandhya Rao ◽  
David Turnshek ◽  
Eric Monier ◽  
Gendith Sardane
Keyword(s):  
Galaxy Formation ◽  
Mass Density ◽  
Neutral Hydrogen ◽  
Gas Content ◽  
Neutral Gas ◽  
Quasar Spectra ◽  
Galaxy Formation And Evolution ◽  
Formation And Evolution ◽  
Space Data ◽  
The Universe

AbstractThe damped Lyman-α absorption-line systems (DLAs) that are observed in quasar spectra arise in neutral-gas-rich regions of intervening galaxies. With the highest neutral hydrogen column densities observed (N(HI) ⩾ 2 × 1020 atoms cm−2), they are known to trace the bulk of the neutral gas content of the Universe, and are thus powerful probes of galaxy formation and evolution. However, DLAs are extremely rare, and since the Lyman-α line falls in the UV for redshifts z < 1.65, not many are known at low redshift due to the limited availability of space data. Our HST surveys for DLAs in strong MgII absorbers have been successful at showing that MgII can be used as an unbiased tracer of DLAs. We present new results on their incidence, or redshift number density, dn/dz, and cosmological neutral gas mass density, ΩDLA, at redshifts 0.11 ⩽ z ⩽ 1.65, and incorporate results from higher and lower redshift studies in the literature to derive the evolution of neutral gas in the Universe.

scholarly journals Revealing galactic scale bars with the help of Galaxy Zoo

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (H16) ◽  
pp. 324-324
Author(s):  
Karen L. Masters ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Stellar Mass ◽  
Sloan Digital Sky Survey ◽  
Gas Content ◽  
Barred Galaxies ◽  
Sky Survey ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Galaxy Sample ◽  
External Sources ◽  
Disc Galaxies ◽  
Environmental Dependence

AbstractWe use visual classifications of the brightest 250,000 galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Main Galaxy Sample provided by citizen scientists via the Galaxy Zoo project (www.galaxyzoo.org, Lintott et al. 2008) to identify a sample of local disc galaxies with reliable bar identifications.These data, combined with information on the atomic gas content from the ALFALFA survey (Haynes et al. 2011) show that disc galaxies with higher gas content have lower bar fractions.We use a gas deficiency parameter to show that disc galaxies with more/less gas than expected for their stellar mass are less/more likely to host bars. Furthermore, we see that at a fixed gas content there is no residual correlation between bar fraction and stellar mass. We argue that this suggests previously observed correlations between galaxy colour/stellar mass and (strong) bar fraction (e.g. from the sample in Masters et al. 2011, and also see Nair & Abraham 2010) could be driven by the interaction between bars and the gas content of the disc, since more massive, optically redder disc galaxies are observed to have lower gas contents.Furthermore we see evidence that at a fixed gas content the global colours of barred galaxies are redder than those of unbarred galaxies. We suggest that this could be due to the exchange of angular momentum beyond co-rotation which might stop a replenishment of gas from external sources, and act as a source of feedback to temporarily halt or reduce the star formation in the outer parts of barred discs.These results (published as Masters et al. 2012) combined with those of Skibba et al. (2012), who use the same sample to show a clear (but subtle and complicated) environmental dependence of the bar fraction in disc galaxies, suggest that bars are intimately linked to the evolution of disc galaxies.

scholarly journals Galaxy pairs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey – X. Does gas content alter star formation rate enhancement in galaxy interactions?

2015 ◽  
Vol 449 (4) ◽  
pp. 3719-3740 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jillian M. Scudder ◽  
Sara L. Ellison ◽  
Emmanuel Momjian ◽  
Jessica L. Rosenberg ◽  
Paul Torrey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Star Formation Rate ◽  
Formation Rate ◽  
Sloan Digital Sky Survey ◽  
Gas Content ◽  
Galaxy Interactions ◽  
Rate Enhancement ◽  
Sky Survey

scholarly journals Detecting neutral hydrogen at z ≳ 3 in large spectroscopic surveys of quasars

2020 ◽  
Vol 498 (2) ◽  
pp. 1951-1962
Author(s):  
Michele Fumagalli ◽  
Sotiria Fotopoulou ◽  
Laura Thomson
Keyword(s):  
Random Forest ◽  
Neutral Hydrogen ◽  
Sloan Digital Sky Survey ◽  
Broad Absorption Line ◽  
Quasar Spectra ◽  
Sky Survey ◽  
William Herschel ◽  
High Column

ABSTRACT We present a pipeline based on a random forest classifier for the identification of high column density clouds of neutral hydrogen (i.e. the Lyman limit systems, LLSs) in absorption within large spectroscopic surveys of z ≳ 3 quasars. We test the performance of this method on mock quasar spectra that reproduce the expected data quality of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument and the WHT (William Herschel Telescope) Enhanced Area Velocity Explorer surveys, finding ${\gtrsim}90{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ completeness and purity for $N_{\rm H\,\rm{\small I}} \gtrsim 10^{17.2}~\rm cm^{-2}$ LLSs against quasars of g &lt; 23 mag at z ≈ 3.5–3.7. After training and applying our method on 10 000 quasar spectra at z ≈ 3.5–4.0 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (Data Release 16), we identify ≈6600 LLSs with $N_{\rm H\,\rm{\small I}} \gtrsim 10^{17.5}~\rm cm^{-2}$ between z ≈ 3.1 and 4.0 with a completeness and purity of ${\gtrsim}90{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ for the classification of LLSs. Using this sample, we measure a number of LLSs per unit redshift of ℓ(z) = 2.32 ± 0.08 at z = [3.3, 3.6]. We also present results on the performance of random forest for the measurement of the LLS redshifts and H i column densities, and for the identification of broad absorption line quasars.

scholarly journals The Neutral Hydrogen Cosmological Mass Density at z = 5

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (S321) ◽  
pp. 309-314
Author(s):  
Neil H. M. Crighton ◽  
Michael T. Murphy ◽  
J. Xavier Prochaska ◽  
Gábor Worseck ◽  
Marc Rafelski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Functional Form ◽  
Mass Density ◽  
High Redshift ◽  
Formation Rate ◽  
Neutral Hydrogen ◽  
Ionized Gas ◽  
Galactic Winds ◽  
Lower Column ◽  
Systematic Effects

AbstractWe present the largest homogeneous survey of redshift > 4.4 damped Lyα systems (DLAs) using the spectra of 163 quasars that comprise the Giant Gemini GMOS (GGG) survey. With this survey we make the most precise high-redshift measurement of the cosmological mass density of neutral hydrogen, ΩHI. After correcting for systematic effects using a combination of mock and higher-resolution spectra, we find ΩHI= 0.98+0.20-0.18 × 10−3 at 〈z〉 = 4.9, assuming a 20% contribution from lower column density systems below the DLA threshold. By comparing to literature measurements at lower redshifts, we show that ΩHI can be described by the functional form ΩHI(z) ∝ (1 + z)0.4. This gradual decrease from z = 5 to 0 suggests that in the galaxies which dominate the cosmic star formation rate, Hi is a transitory gas phase fuelling star formation which must be continually replenished by more highly-ionized gas from the intergalactic medium, and from recycled galactic winds.

scholarly journals The observed peripheral growth of disc galaxies from z ~ 1

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (S321) ◽  
pp. 324-326
Author(s):  
Dimitri A. Gadotti ◽  
Sonali Sachdeva ◽  
Kanak Saha ◽  
Harinder P. Singh
Keyword(s):  
Significant Role ◽  
Hubble Space Telescope ◽  
Mass Density ◽  
Stellar Mass ◽  
Dominant Mode ◽  
Sloan Digital Sky Survey ◽  
Sky Survey ◽  
Disc Size ◽  
Inside Out ◽  
Disc Galaxies

AbstractUsing images from the Hubble Space Telescope and Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we have computed both parametric and non-parametric measures, and examined the evolution in size, concentration, stellar mass, effective stellar mass density and asymmetry for a sample of 600 disc galaxies from z ~ 1 till z ~ 0. We find that disc galaxies have gained more than 50 per cent of their present stellar mass over the last 8 Gyr. Also, the increase in disc size is found to be peripheral. While the average total (Petrosian) radius almost doubles from z ~ 1 to z ~ 0, the average effective (half-light) radius undergoes a marginal increase in comparison. This indicates that galaxies grow more substantially in their outskirts, and is consistent with the inside-out growth picture. The substantial increase in mass and size indicates that accretion of external material has been a dominant mode of galaxy growth, where the circumgalactic environment plays a significant role.

scholarly journals Spotting high-z molecular absorbers using neutral carbon

2018 ◽  
Vol 612 ◽  
pp. A58 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Noterdaeme ◽  
C. Ledoux ◽  
S. Zou ◽  
P. Petitjean ◽  
R. Srianand ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Sloan Digital Sky Survey ◽  
Gas Content ◽  
Molecular Gas ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Neutral Gas ◽  
Sky Survey ◽  
Complete Survey ◽  
Physical And Chemical ◽  
Gas Conversion

While molecular quasar absorption systems provide unique probes of the physical and chemical properties of the gas as well as original constraints on fundamental physics and cosmology, their detection remains challenging. Here we present the results from a complete survey for molecular gas in thirty-nine absorption systems selected solely upon the detection of neutral carbon lines in Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectra, without any prior knowledge of the atomic or molecular gas content. H2 is found in all twelve systems (including seven new detections) where the corresponding lines are covered by the instrument setups and measured to have logN(H2) ≳ 18, indicating a self-shielded regime. We also report seven CO detections (7/39) down to logN(CO)  ~ 13.5, including a new one, and put stringent constraints on N(CO) for the remaining 32 systems. N(CO) and N(C I) are found to be strongly correlated with N(CO)/N(C I) ~ 1/10. This suggests that the C I-selected absorber population is probing gas deeper than the H I–H2 transition in which a substantial fraction of the total hydrogen in the cloud is in the form of H2. We conclude that targeting C I-bearing absorbers is a very efficient way to find high-metallicity molecular absorbers. However, probing the molecular content in lower-metallicity regimes as well as high-column-density neutral gas remains to be undertaken to unravel the processes of gas conversion in normal high-z galaxies.

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