scholarly journals Redshift evolution of the H2/H i mass ratio in galaxies

2021 ◽  
Vol 502 (1) ◽  
pp. L85-L89
Author(s):  
Laura Morselli ◽  
A Renzini ◽  
A Enia ◽  
G Rodighiero

ABSTRACT In this paper, we present an attempt to estimate the redshift evolution of the molecular to neutral gas mass ratio within galaxies (at fixed stellar mass). For a sample of five nearby grand design spirals located on the main-sequence (MS) of star-forming galaxies, we exploit maps at 500 pc resolution of stellar mass and star formation rate (M⋆ and SFR). For the same cells, we also have estimates of the neutral (MH i) and molecular ($M_{\rm H_2}$) gas masses. To compute the redshift evolution, we exploit two relations: (i) one between the molecular-to-neutral mass ratio and the total gas mass (Mgas), whose scatter shows a strong dependence with the distance from the spatially resolved MS, and (ii) the one between $\log (M_{\rm {H_2}}/M_{\star })$ and log (MH i/M⋆). For both methods, we and that $M_{\rm H_2}$/MH i within the optical radius slightly decreases with redshift, contrary to common expectations of galaxies becoming progressively more dominated by molecular hydrogen at high redshifts. We discuss possible implications of this trend on our understanding of the internal working of high-redshift galaxies.

2019 ◽  
Vol 489 (2) ◽  
pp. 2792-2818 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Zanella ◽  
E Le Floc’h ◽  
C M Harrison ◽  
E Daddi ◽  
E Bernhard ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We investigate the contribution of clumps and satellites to the galaxy mass assembly. We analysed spatially resolved HubbleSpace Telescope observations (imaging and slitless spectroscopy) of 53 star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 1–3. We created continuum and emission line maps and pinpointed residual ‘blobs’ detected after subtracting the galaxy disc. Those were separated into compact (unresolved) and extended (resolved) components. Extended components have sizes ∼2 kpc and comparable stellar mass and age as the galaxy discs, whereas the compact components are 1.5 dex less massive and 0.4 dex younger than the discs. Furthermore, the extended blobs are typically found at larger distances from the galaxy barycentre than the compact ones. Prompted by these observations and by the comparison with simulations, we suggest that compact blobs are in situ formed clumps, whereas the extended ones are accreting satellites. Clumps and satellites enclose, respectively, ∼20 per cent and ≲80 per cent of the galaxy stellar mass, ∼30 per cent and ∼20 per cent of its star formation rate. Considering the compact blobs, we statistically estimated that massive clumps (M⋆ ≳ 109 M⊙) have lifetimes of ∼650 Myr, and the less massive ones (108 < M⋆ < 109 M⊙) of ∼145 Myr. This supports simulations predicting long-lived clumps (lifetime ≳ 100 Myr). Finally, ≲30 per cent (13 per cent) of our sample galaxies are undergoing single (multiple) merger(s), they have a projected separation ≲10 kpc, and the typical mass ratio of our satellites is 1:5 (but ranges between 1:10 and 1:1), in agreement with literature results for close pair galaxies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 491 (1) ◽  
pp. 944-964 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirko Curti ◽  
Filippo Mannucci ◽  
Giovanni Cresci ◽  
Roberto Maiolino

ABSTRACT The relationships between stellar mass, gas-phase metallicity and star-formation rate (i.e. the mass–metallicity, MZR, and the fundamental metallicity relation, FMR) in the local Universe are revisited by fully anchoring the metallicity determination for SDSS galaxies on the Te abundance scale defined exploiting the strong-line metallicity calibrations presented by Curti et al. Self-consistent metallicity measurements allow a more unbiased assessment of the scaling relations involving M, Z and SFR, which provide powerful constraints for the chemical evolution models. We parametrize the MZR with a new functional form that allows us to better characterize the turnover mass. The slope and saturation metallicity are in good agreement with previous determinations of the MZR based on the Te method, while showing significantly lower normalization compared to those based on photoionization models. The Z–SFR dependence at fixed stellar mass is also investigated, being particularly evident for highly star-forming galaxies, where the scatter in metallicity is reduced up to a factor of ${\sim}30{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$. A new parametrization of the FMR is given by explicitly introducing the SFR dependence of the turnover mass into the MZR. The residual scatter in metallicity for the global galaxy population around the new FMR is 0.054 dex. The new FMR presented in this work represents a useful local benchmark to compare theoretical predictions and observational studies (of both local and high-redshift galaxies) whose metallicity measurements are tied to the abundance scale defined by the Te method, hence allowing proper assessment of its evolution with cosmic time.


2019 ◽  
Vol 488 (3) ◽  
pp. 3929-3948 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Cano-Díaz ◽  
V Ávila-Reese ◽  
S F Sánchez ◽  
H M Hernández-Toledo ◽  
A Rodríguez-Puebla ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We study the global star formation rate (SFR) versus stellar mass (M*) correlation, and the spatially resolved SFR surface density (ΣSFR) versus stellar mass surface density (Σ*) correlation, in a sample of ∼2000 galaxies from the MaNGA MPL-5 survey. We classify galaxies and spatially resolved areas into star forming and retired according to their ionization processes. We confirm the existence of a star-forming main sequence (SFMS) for galaxies and spatially resolved areas, and show that they have the same nature, with the global as a consequence of the local one. The latter presents a bend below a limit Σ* value, ≈3 × 107 M$\odot$ kpc−2, which is not physical. Using only star-forming areas (SFAs) above this limit, a slope and a scatter of ≈1 and ≈0.27 dex are determined. The retired galaxies/areas strongly segregate from their respective SFMSs, by ∼−1.5 dex on average. We explore how the global/local SFMSs depend on galaxy morphology, finding that for star-forming galaxies and SFAs, there is a trend to lower values of star formation activity with earlier morphological types, which is more pronounced for the local SFMS. The morphology not only affects the global SFR due to the diminish of SFAs with earlier types, but also affects the local SF process. Our results suggest that the local SF at all radii is established by some universal mechanism partially modulated by morphology. Morphology seems to be connected to the slow aging and sharp decline of the SF process, and on its own it may depend on other properties as the environment.


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (S321) ◽  
pp. 273-273
Author(s):  
C. Catalán-Torrecilla ◽  
A. Gil de Paz ◽  
A. Castillo-Morales ◽  
J. Méndez-Abreu ◽  
S. Pascual ◽  
...  

AbstractExploring the spatial distribution of the star formation rate (SFR) in nearby galaxies is essential to understand their evolution through cosmic time. With this aim in mind, we use a representative sample that contains a variety of morphological types, the CALIFA Integral Field Spectroscopy (IFS) sample. Previous to this work, we have verified that our extinction-corrected Hα measurements successfully reproduce the values derived from other SFR tracers such as Hαobs + IR or UVobs + IR (Catalán-Torrecilla et al. 2015).Now, we go one step further applying 2-dimensional photometric decompositions (Méndez-Abreu et al. (2008), Méndez-Abreu et al. (2014)) over these datacubes. This method allows us to obtain the amount of SFR in the central part (bulge or nuclear source), the bar and the disk, separately. First, we determine the light coming from each component as the ratio between the luminosity in every component (bulge, bar or disk) and the total luminosity of the galaxy. Then, for each galaxy we multiply the IFS datacubes by these previous factors to recover the luminosity in each component. Finally, we derive the spectrum associated to each galaxy component integrating the spatial information in the weighted datacube using an elliptical aperture covering the whole galaxy.2D photometric decomposition applied over 3D datacubes will give us a more detailed understanding of the role that disks play in more massive galaxies. Knowing if the disks in more massive SF galaxies have on average a lower or higher level of star formation activity and how these results are affected by the presence of nuclear bars are still open questions that we can now solve. We describe the behavior of these components in the SFR vs. stellar mass diagram. In particular, we highlight the role of the disks and their contribution to both the integrated SFR for the whole galaxy and the SFR in the disk at different stellar masses in the SFR vs. stellar mass diagram together with their relative position to the star forming Main Sequence.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (S359) ◽  
pp. 22-26
Author(s):  
Carlos Gómez-Guijarro

AbstractStarbursting dust-rich galaxies are capable of assembling large amounts of stellar mass very quickly. They have been proposed as progenitors of the population of compact massive quiescent galaxies at z ˜ 2. To test this connection, we present a detailed spatially-resolved study of the stars, dust, and stellar mass in a sample of six submillimeter-bright starburst galaxies at z ˜ 4.5. We found that the systems are undergoing minor mergers and the bulk star formation is located in extremely compact regions. On the other hand, optically-compact star forming galaxies have also been proposed as immediate progenitors of compact massive quiescent galaxies. Were they formed in slow secular processes or in rapid merger-driven starbursts? We explored the location of galaxies with respect to star-forming and structural relations and study the burstiness of star formation. Our results suggest that compact star-forming galaxies could be starbursts winding down and eventually becoming quiescent.


2019 ◽  
Vol 492 (1) ◽  
pp. 1492-1512
Author(s):  
S Gillman ◽  
A L Tiley ◽  
A M Swinbank ◽  
C M Harrison ◽  
Ian Smail ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We present an analysis of the gas dynamics of star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 1.5 using data from the KMOS Galaxy Evolution Survey. We quantify the morphology of the galaxies using HSTcandels imaging parametrically and non-parametrically. We combine the H α dynamics from KMOS with the high-resolution imaging to derive the relation between stellar mass (M*) and stellar specific angular momentum (j*). We show that high-redshift star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 1.5 follow a power-law trend in specific stellar angular momentum with stellar mass similar to that of local late-type galaxies of the form j*  ∝  M$_*^{0.53\, \pm \, 0.10}$. The highest specific angular momentum galaxies are mostly disc-like, although generally both peculiar morphologies and disc-like systems are found across the sequence of specific angular momentum at a fixed stellar mass. We explore the scatter within the j* – M* plane and its correlation with both the integrated dynamical properties of a galaxy (e.g. velocity dispersion, Toomre Qg, H α star formation rate surface density ΣSFR) and its parametrized rest-frame UV / optical morphology (e.g. Sérsic index, bulge to total ratio, clumpiness, asymmetry, and concentration). We establish that the position in the j* – M* plane is strongly correlated with the star-formation surface density and the clumpiness of the stellar light distribution. Galaxies with peculiar rest-frame UV / optical morphologies have comparable specific angular momentum to disc- dominated galaxies of the same stellar mass, but are clumpier and have higher star formation rate surface densities. We propose that the peculiar morphologies in high-redshift systems are driven by higher star formation rate surface densities and higher gas fractions leading to a more clumpy interstellar medium.


2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (S319) ◽  
pp. 45-48
Author(s):  
Daniel Schaerer ◽  
Stephane de Barros ◽  
Frederic Boone

AbstractWe stress the importance of consistent SED analysis for distant star-forming galaxies (SFGs). We then summarise recent results from such an analysis concerning their basic physical properties, such as the determination of star formation rate (SFR), stellar mass, specific star SFR, UV attenuation, and how this affects our knowledge of star formation properties at high-z.


2018 ◽  
Vol 613 ◽  
pp. A72 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Girard ◽  
M. Dessauges-Zavadsky ◽  
D. Schaerer ◽  
M. Cirasuolo ◽  
O. J. Turner ◽  
...  

We present results from the KMOS LENsing Survey (KLENS), which is exploiting gravitational lensing to study the kinematics of 24 star-forming galaxies at 1.4 < z < 3.5 with a median mass of log(M⋆∕M⊙) = 9.6 and a median star formation rate (SFR) of 7.5 M⊙ yr−1. We find that 25% of these low mass/low SFR galaxies are rotation-dominated, while the majority of our sample shows no velocity gradient. When combining our data with other surveys, we find that the fraction of rotation-dominated galaxies increases with the stellar mass, and decreases for galaxies with a positive offset from the main sequence (higher specific star formation rate). We also investigate the evolution of the intrinsic velocity dispersion, σ0, as a function of the redshift, z, and stellar mass, M⋆, assuming galaxies in quasi-equilibrium (Toomre Q parameter equal to 1). From the z − σ0 relation, we find that the redshift evolution of the velocity dispersion is mostly expected for massive galaxies (log(M⋆∕M⊙) > 10). We derive a M⋆ − σ0 relation, using the Tully–Fisher relation, which highlights that a different evolution of the velocity dispersion is expected depending on the stellar mass, with lower velocity dispersions for lower masses, and an increase for higher masses, stronger at higher redshift. The observed velocity dispersions from this work and from comparison samples spanning 0 < z < 3.5 appear to follow this relation, except at higher redshift (z > 2), where we observe higher velocity dispersions for low masses (log(M⋆∕M⊙) ~ 9.6) and lower velocity dispersions for high masses (log(M⋆∕M⊙) ~ 10.9) than expected. This discrepancy could, for instance, suggest that galaxies at high redshift do not satisfy the stability criterion, or that the adopted parametrization of the specific star formation rate and molecular properties fail at high redshift.


2020 ◽  
Vol 492 (2) ◽  
pp. 2818-2827 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Lupi ◽  
Stefano Bovino

ABSTRACT Current galaxy observations suggest that a roughly linear correlation exists between the [C ii] emission and the star formation rate, either as spatially resolved or integrated quantities. Observationally, this correlation seems to be independent of metallicity, but the very large scatter does not allow to properly assess whether this is true. On the other hand, theoretical models tend to suggest a metallicity dependence of the correlation. In this study, we investigate the metallicity evolution of the correlation via a high-resolution zoom-in cosmological simulation of a dwarf galaxy employing state-of-the-art sub-grid modelling for gas cooling, star formation, and stellar feedback, and that self-consistently evolves the abundances of metal elements out of equilibrium. Our results suggest that the correlation should evolve with metallicity, in agreement with theoretical predictions, but also that this evolution can be hardly detected in observations, because of the large scatter. We also find that most of the [C ii] emission is associated with neutral gas at low-intermediate densities, whereas the highest emissivity is produced by the densest regions around star-forming regions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 494 (4) ◽  
pp. 4730-4750
Author(s):  
Michael L Palumbo ◽  
Sheila J Kannappan ◽  
Elaine M Frazer ◽  
Kathleen D Eckert ◽  
Dara J Norman ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We identify and characterize compact dwarf starburst (CDS) galaxies in the REsolved Spectroscopy Of a Local VolumE (RESOLVE) survey, a volume-limited census of galaxies in the local Universe, to probe whether this population contains any residual ‘blue nuggets,’ a class of intensely star-forming compact galaxies first identified at high redshift z. Our 50 low-z CDS galaxies are defined by dwarf masses (stellar mass M* &lt; 109.5 M⊙), compact bulged-disc or spheroid-dominated morphologies (using a quantitative criterion, $\mu _\Delta \gt 8.6$), and specific star formation rates (SSFRs) above the defining threshold for high-z blue nuggets (log  SSFR [Gyr−1] &gt; −0.5). Across redshifts, blue nuggets exhibit three defining properties: compactness relative to contemporaneous galaxies, abundant cold gas, and formation via compaction in mergers or colliding streams. Those with halo mass below Mhalo ∼ 1011.5 M⊙ may in theory evade permanent quenching and cyclically refuel until the present day. Selected only for compactness and starburst activity, our CDS galaxies generally have Mhalo ≲ 1011.5 M⊙ and gas-to-stellar mass ratio ≳1. Moreover, analysis of archival DECaLS photometry and new 3D spectroscopic observations for CDS galaxies reveals a high rate of photometric and kinematic disturbances suggestive of dwarf mergers. The SSFRs, surface mass densities, and number counts of CDS galaxies are compatible with theoretical and observational expectations for redshift evolution in blue nuggets. We argue that CDS galaxies represent a maximally starbursting subset of traditional compact dwarf classes such as blue compact dwarfs and blue E/S0s. We conclude that CDS galaxies represent a low-z tail of the blue nugget phenomenon formed via a moderated compaction channel that leaves open the possibility of disc regrowth and evolution into normal disc galaxies.


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