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Register a new userMASSIV: Mass Assembly Survey with SINFONI in VVDS. IV. Fundamental relations of star-forming galaxies at 1<z< 1.6
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How mass assembly occurs in galaxies and which process(es) contribute to this activity are among the most highly debated questions in galaxy formation theories. This has motivated our survey MASSIV of 0.9<z<1.9 star-forming galaxies selected from the purely flux-limited VVDS redshift survey. For the first time, we derive the relations between galaxy size, mass, and internal velocity, and the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation, from a statistically representative sample of star-forming galaxies. We find a dynamical mass that agrees with those of rotating galaxies containing a gas fraction of ~20%, perfectly consistent with the content derived using the Kennicutt-Schmidt formulation and the expected evolution. Non-rotating galaxies have more compact sizes for their stellar component, and are less massive than rotators, but do not have statistically different sizes for their gas-component. We measure a marginal evolution in the size-stellar mass and size-velocity relations in which discs become evenly smaller with cosmic time at fixed stellar mass or velocity, and are less massive at a given velocity than in the local Universe. The scatter in the Tully-Fisher relation is smaller when we introduce the S05 index, which we interpret as evidence of an increase in the contribution to galactic kinematics of turbulent motions with cosmic time. We report a persistently large scatter for rotators in our relations, that we suggest is intrinsic, and possibly caused by complex physical mechanism(s) at work in our stellar mass/luminosity regime and redshift range. Our results consistently point towards a mild, net evolution of these relations, comparable to those predicted by cosmological simulations of disc formation for at least 8Gyr and a dark halo strongly coupled with galactic spectrophotometric properties.
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A key open issue for galaxy evolution and formation models is the understanding of the different mechanisms of galaxy assembly at various cosmic epochs. The aim of this study is to derive the global and spatially-resolved metal content in high-redshift galaxies. Using VLT/SINFONI IFU spectroscopy of a first sample of 50 galaxies at z~1.2 in the MASSIV survey, we are able to measure the Ha and [NII]6584 emission lines. Using the N2 ratio as a proxy for oxygen abundance in the interstellar medium, we measure the metallicity of the sample galaxies. We develop a tool to extract spectra in annular regions of these galaxies, leading to a spatially-resolved estimate of the oxygen abundance in each galaxy. We derive a metallicity gradient for 26 galaxies in our sample and discover a significant fraction of galaxies with a positive gradient. Using a simple chemical evolution model, we derive infall rates of pristine gas onto the disks. Seven galaxies display a positive gradient at a high confidence level. Four out of these are interacting and one is a chain galaxy. We suggest that interactions might be responsible for shallowing and even inverting the abundance gradient. We also identify two interesting correlations in our sample: a) galaxies with higher gas velocity dispersion have shallower/positive gradients; and b) metal-poor galaxies tend to show a positive gradient whereas metal-rich ones tend to show a negative one. This last observation can be explained by the infall of metal-poor gas into the center of the disks. We address the question of the origin of this infall under the influence of gas flows triggered by interactions and/or cold gas accretion.
We aim to measure the major merger rate of star-forming galaxies at 0.9 < z <1.8, using close pairs identified from integral field spectroscopy (IFS). We use the velocity field maps obtained with SINFONI/VLT on the MASSIV sample, selected from the star-forming population in the VVDS. We identify physical pairs of galaxies from the measurement of the relative velocity and the projected separation (r_p) of the galaxies in the pair. Using the well constrained selection function of the MASSIV sample we derive the gas-rich major merger fraction (luminosity ratio mu = L_2/L_1 >= 1/4), and, using merger time scales from cosmological simulations, the gas-rich major merger rate at a mean redshift up to z = 1.54. We find a high gas-rich major merger fraction of 20.8+15.2-6.8 %, 20.1+8.0-5.1 % and 22.0+13.7-7.3 % for close pairs with r_p <= 20h^-1 kpc in redshift ranges z = [0.94, 1.06], [1.2, 1.5) and [1.5, 1.8), respectively. This translates into a gas-rich major merger rate of 0.116+0.084-0.038 Gyr^-1, 0.147+0.058-0.037 Gyr^-1 and 0.127+0.079-0.042 Gyr^-1 at z = 1.03, 1.32 and 1.54, respectively. Combining our results with previous studies at z < 1, the gas-rich major merger rate evolves as (1+z)^n, with n = 3.95 +- 0.12, up to z = 1.5. From these results we infer that ~35% of the star-forming galaxies with stellar masses M = 10^10 - 10^10.5 M_Sun have undergone a major merger since z ~ 1.5. We develop a simple model which shows that, assuming that all gas-rich major mergers lead to early-type galaxies, the combined effect of gas-rich and dry mergers is able to explain most of the evolution in the number density of massive early-type galaxies since z ~ 1.5, with our measured gas-rich merger rate accounting for about two-thirds of this evolution.
(Abridged) Processes driving mass assembly are expected to evolve on different timescales along cosmic time. A transition might happen around z ~ 1 as the cosmic star formation rate starts its decrease. Identifying the dynamical nature of galaxies on a representative sample is necessary to infer and compare the mass assembly mechanisms across cosmic time. We present an analysis of the kinematics properties of 50 galaxies with 0.9 < z < 1.6 from the MASSIV sample observed with SINFONI/VLT with 4.5x10^9 Msun < M < 1.7x10^11 Msun and 6 Msun/yr < SFR < 300 Msun/yr. This is the largest sample with 2D-kinematics in this redshift range. We provide a classification based on kinematics as well as on close galaxy environment. We find that 29% of galaxies are experiencing merging or have close companions that may be gravitationally linked. This is placing a lower limit on the fraction of interacting galaxies. We find that at least 44% of the galaxies display ordered rotation whereas at least 35% are non-rotating objects. All rotators except one are compatible with rotation-dominated (Vmax/sigma > 1) systems. Non-rotating objects are mainly small objects (Re < 4 kpc). Combining our sample with other 3D-spectroscopy samples, we find that the local velocity dispersion of the ionized gas component decreases continuously from z ~ 3 to z = 0. The proportion of disks also seems to be increasing in star-forming galaxies when the redshift decreases. The number of interacting galaxies seems to be at a maximum at z ~ 1.2. These results draw a picture in which cold gas accretion may still be efficient at z ~ 1.2 but in which mergers may play a much more significant role at z ~ 1.2 than at higher redshift. From a dynamical point of view, the redshift range 1 < z < 2 therefore appears as a transition period in the galaxy mass assembly process.
MASSIV (Mass Assembly Survey with SINFONI in VVDS) is a sample of 84 distant star-forming galaxies observed with the SINFONI Integral Field Unit (IFU) on the VLT. These galaxies are selected inside a redshift range of 0.8 < z < 1.9, i.e. where they are between 3 and 5 billion years old. The sample aims to probe the dynamical and chemical abundances properties of representative galaxies of this cosmological era. On the one hand, close environment study shows that about a third of the sample is involved in major mergers. On the other hand, kinematical analysis revealed that 42% of the sample is rotating disks, in accordance with higher redshift samples. The remaining 58% show complex kinematics, suggesting a dynamical support based on dispersion, and about half of these galaxies is involved in major mergers. Spheroids, unrelaxed merger remnants, or extremely turbulent disks might be an explanation for such a behavior. Furthermore, the spatially resolved metallicity analysis reveals positive gradients, adding a piece to the puzzle of galaxies evolution scenarios.
Understanding the different mechanisms of galaxy assembly at various cosmic epochs is a key issue for galaxy evolution and formation models. We present MASSIV (Mass Assembly Survey with SINFONI in VVDS) in this context, an on-going survey with VLT/SINFONI aiming to probe the kinematics and chemical abundances of a unique sample of 84 star-forming galaxies selected in the redshift range z ~ 1-2. This large sample, spanning a wide range of stellar masses, is unique at these high redshifts and statistically representative of the overall galaxy population. In this paper, we give an overview of the MASSIV survey and then focus on the spatially-resolved chemical properties of high-z galaxies and their implication on the process of galaxy assembly.
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