No Arabic abstract
We analyze the dependence of galaxy structure (size and Sersic index) and mode of star formation (Sigma_SFR and SFR_IR/SFR_UV) on the position of galaxies in the SFR versus Mass diagram. Our sample comprises roughly 640000 galaxies at z~0.1, 130000 galaxies at z~1, and 36000 galaxies at z~2. Structural measurements for all but the z~0.1 galaxies were based on HST imaging, and SFRs are derived using a Herschel-calibrated ladder of SFR indicators. We find that a correlation between the structure and stellar population of galaxies (i.e., a Hubble sequence) is already in place since at least z~2.5. At all epochs, typical star-forming galaxies on the main sequence are well approximated by exponential disks, while the profiles of quiescent galaxies are better described by de Vaucouleurs profiles. In the upper envelope of the main sequence, the relation between the SFR and Sersic index reverses, suggesting a rapid build-up of the central mass concentration in these starbursting outliers. We observe quiescent, moderately and highly star-forming systems to co-exist over an order of magnitude or more in stellar mass. At each mass and redshift, galaxies on the main sequence have the largest size. The rate of size growth correlates with specific SFR, and so does Sigma_SFR at each redshift. A simple model using an empirically determined SF law and metallicity scaling, in combination with an assumed geometry for dust and stars is able to relate the observed Sigma_SFR and SFR_IR/SFR_UV, provided a more patchy dust geometry is assumed for high-redshift galaxies.
We study the star formation rate (SFR) - stellar mass (M*) relation in a self-consistent manner from 0 < z < 2.5 with a sample of galaxies selected from the NEWFIRM Medium-Band Survey. We find a significant non-linear slope of the relation, SFR propto M*^0.6, and a constant observed scatter of 0.34 dex, independent of redshift and M*. However, if we select only blue galaxies we find a linear relation SFR propto M*, similar to previous results at z = 0 by Peng et al. (2010). This selection excludes red, dusty, star-forming galaxies with higher masses, which brings down the slope. By selecting on L_IR/L_UV (a proxy for dust obscuration) and the rest-frame U-V colors, we show that star-forming galaxies fall in three distinct regions of the log(SFR)-log(M*) plane: 1) actively star-forming galaxies with normal dust obscuration and associated colors (54% for log(M*) > 10 at 1 < z < 1.5), 2) red star-forming galaxies with low levels of dust obscuration and low specific SFRs (11%), and 3) dusty, blue star-forming galaxies with high specific SFRs (7%). The remaining 28% comprises quiescent galaxies. Galaxies on the normal star formation sequence show strong trends of increasing dust attenuation with stellar mass and a decreasing specific SFR, with an observed scatter of 0.25 dex (0.17 dex intrinsic scatter). The dusty, blue galaxies reside in the upper envelope of the star formation sequence with remarkably similar spectral shapes at all masses, suggesting that the same physical process is dominating the stellar light. The red, low-dust star-forming galaxies may be in the process of shutting off and migrating to the quiescent population.
To investigate the mass dependence of structural transformation and star formation quenching, we construct three galaxy samples using massive ($M_* > 10^{10} M_{odot}$) red, green, and blue galaxy populations at $0.5<z<2.5$ in five 3D--{it HST}/CANDELS fields. The structural parameters, including effective radius ($r_{rm e}$), galaxy compactness ($Sigma_{1.5}$), and second order moment of 20% brightest pixels ($M_{20}$) are found to be correlated with stellar mass. S{e}rsic index ($n$), concentration ($C$), and Gini coefficient ($G$) seem to be insensitive to stellar mass. The morphological distinction between blue and red galaxies is found at a fixed mass bin, suggesting that quenching processes should be accompanied with transformations of galaxy structure and morphology. Except for $r_e$ and $Sigma_{1.5}$ at high mass end, structural parameters of green galaxies are intermediate between red and blue galaxies in each stellar mass bin at $z < 2$, indicating green galaxies are at a transitional phase when blue galaxies are being quenched into quiescent statuses. The similar sizes and compactness for the blue and green galaxies at high-mass end implies that these galaxies will not appear to be significantly shrunk until they are completely quenched into red QGs. For the green galaxies at $0.5<z<1.5$, a morphological transformation sequence of bulge buildup can be seen as they are gradually shut down their star formation activities, while a faster morphological transformation is verified for the green galaxies at $1.5<z<2.5$.
We use the GAMA I dataset combined with GALEX, SDSS and UKIDSS imaging to construct the low-redshift (z<0.1) galaxy luminosity functions in FUV, NUV, ugriz, and YJHK bands from within a single well constrained volume of 3.4 x 10^5 (Mpc/h)^{3}. The derived luminosity distributions are normalised to the SDSS DR7 main survey to reduce the estimated cosmic variance to the 5 per cent level. The data are used to construct the cosmic spectral energy distribution (CSED) from 0.1 to 2.1 mum free from any wavelength dependent cosmic variance for both the elliptical and non-elliptical populations. The two populations exhibit dramatically different CSEDs as expected for a predominantly old and young population respectively. Using the Driver et al. (2008) prescription for the azimuthally averaged photon escape fraction, the non-ellipticals are corrected for the impact of dust attenuation and the combined CSED constructed. The final results show that the Universe is currently generating (1.8 +/- 0.3) x 10^{35} h W Mpc^{-3} of which (1.2 +/- 0.1) x 10^{35} h W Mpc^{-3} is directly released into the inter-galactic medium and (0.6 +/- 0.1) x 10^{35} h W Mpc^{-3} is reprocessed and reradiated by dust in the far-IR. Using the GAMA data and our dust model we predict the mid and far-IR emission which agrees remarkably well with available data. We therefore provide a robust description of the pre- and post dust attenuated energy output of the nearby Universe from 0.1micron to 0.6mm. The largest uncertainty in this measurement lies in the mid and far-IR bands stemming from the dust attenuation correction and its currently poorly constrained dependence on environment, stellar mass, and morphology.
We select 25,000 galaxies from the NEWFIRM Medium Band Survey (NMBS) to study the rest-frame U-V color distribution of galaxies at 0 < z < 2.5. The five unique NIR filters of the NMBS enable the precise measurement of photometric redshifts and rest-frame colors for 9,900 galaxies at 1 < z < 2.5. The rest-frame U-V color distribution at all z<~2.5 is bimodal, with a red peak, a blue peak, and a population of galaxies in between (the green valley). Model fits to the optical-NIR SEDs and the distribution of MIPS-detected galaxies indicate that the colors of galaxies in the green valley are determined largely by the amount of reddening by dust. This result does not support the simplest interpretation of green valley objects as a transition from blue star-forming to red quiescent galaxies. We show that correcting the rest-frame colors for dust reddening allows a remarkably clean separation between the red and blue sequences up to z~2.5. Our study confirms that dusty starburst galaxies can contribute a significant fraction to red sequence samples selected on the basis of a single rest-frame color (i.e. U-V), so extra care must be taken if samples of truly red and dead galaxies are desired. Interestingly, of galaxies detected at 24 microns, 14% remain on the red sequence after applying the reddening correction.
We present the analysis of Herschel SPIRE far-infrared (FIR) observations of the z = 2.515 lensed galaxy SMM J163554.2+661225. Combining new 250, 350, and 500 micron observations with existing data, we make an improved fit to the FIR spectral energy distribution (SED) of this galaxy. We find a total infrared (IR) luminosity of L(8--1000 micron) = 6.9 +/- 0.6x10^11 Lsol; a factor of 3 more precise over previous L_IR estimates for this galaxy, and one of the most accurate measurements for any galaxy at these redshifts. This FIR luminosity implies an unlensed star formation rate (SFR) for this galaxy of 119 +/- 10 Msol per yr, which is a factor of 1.9 +/- 0.35 lower than the SFR derived from the nebular Pa-alpha emission line (a 2.5-sigma discrepancy). Both SFR indicators assume identical Salpeter initial mass functions (IMF) with slope Gamma=2.35 over a mass range of 0.1 - 100 Msol, thus this discrepancy suggests that more ionizing photons may be necessary to account for the higher Pa-alpha-derived SFR. We examine a number of scenarios and find that the observations can be explained with a varying star formation history (SFH) due to an increasing star formation rate (SFR), paired with a slight flattening of the IMF. If the SFR is constant in time, then larger changes need to be made to the IMF by either increasing the upper-mass cutoff to ~ 200 Msol, or a flattening of the IMF slope to 1.9 +/- 0.15, or a combination of the two. These scenarios result in up to double the number of stars with masses above 20 Msol, which produce the requisite increase in ionizing photons over a Salpeter IMF with a constant SFH.