No Arabic abstract
We present a comprehensive study of the relations between gas kinematics, metallicity, and stellar mass in a sample of 82 GRB-selected galaxies using absorption and emission methods. We find the velocity widths of both emission and absorption profiles to be a proxy of stellar mass. We also investigate the velocity-metallicity correlation and its evolution with redshift and find the correlation derived from emission lines to have a significantly smaller scatter compared to that found using absorption lines. Using 33 GRB hosts with measured stellar mass and metallicitiy, we study the mass-metallicity relation for GRB host galaxies in a stellar mass range of $10^{8.2} M_{odot}$ to $10^{11.1} M_{odot}$ and a redshift range of $ zsim 0.3-3.4$. The GRB-selected galaxies appear to track the mass-metallicity relation of star forming galaxies but with an offset of 0.15 towards lower metallicities. This offset is comparable with the average error-bar on the metallicity measurements of the GRB sample and also the scatter on the MZ relation of the general population. It is hard to decide whether this relatively small offset is due to systematic effects or the intrinsic nature of GRB hosts. We also investigate the possibility of using absorption-line metallicity measurements of GRB hosts to study the mass-metallicity relation at high redshifts. Our analysis shows that the metallicity measurements from absorption methods can significantly differ from emission metallicities and assuming identical measurements from the two methods may result in erroneous conclusions.
We compare the relations among various integrated characteristics of ~25,000 low-redshift (z<1.0) compact star-forming galaxies (CSFGs) from Data Release 16 (DR16) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and of high-redshift (z>1.5) star-forming galaxies (SFGs) with respect to oxygen abundances, stellar masses M*, far-UV absolute magnitudes M(FUV), star-formation rates SFR and specific star-formation rates sSFR, Lyman-continuum photon production efficiencies (xi_ion), UV continuum slopes beta, [OIII]5007/[OII]3727 and [NeIII]3868/[OII]3727 ratios, and emission-line equivalent widths EW([OII]3727), EW([OIII]5007), and EW(Halpha). We find that the relations for low-z CSFGs with high equivalent widths of the Hbeta emission line, EW(Hbeta)>100A, and high-z SFGs are very similar, implying close physical properties in these two categories of galaxies. Thus, CSFGs are likely excellent proxies for the SFGs in the high-z Universe. They also extend to galaxies with lower stellar masses, down to ~10^6 Msun, and to absolute FUV magnitudes as faint as -14 mag. Thanks to their proximity, CSFGs can be studied in much greater detail than distant SFGs. Therefore, the relations between the integrated characteristics of the large sample of CSFGs studied here can prove very useful for our understanding of high-z dwarf galaxies in future observations with large ground-based and space telescopes.
We study relations between global characteristics of low-redshift (0 < z < 1) compact star-forming galaxies, including absolute optical magnitudes, Hbeta emission-line luminosities (or equivalently star-formation rates), stellar masses, and oxygen abundances. The sample consists of 5182 galaxies with high-excitation HII regions selected from the SDSS DR7 and SDSS/BOSS DR10 surveys adopting a criterion [OIII]4959/Hbeta > 1. These data were combined with the corresponding data for high-redshift (2 < z < 3) star-forming galaxies. We find that in all diagrams low-z and high-z star-forming galaxies are closely related indicating a very weak dependence of metallicity on stellar mass, redshift, and star-formation rate. This finding argues in favour of the universal character of the global relations for compact star-forming galaxies with high-excitation HII regions over redshifts 0 < z < 3.
We present a sample of low-redshift (z<0.133) candidates for extremely low-metallicity star-forming galaxies with oxygen abundances 12+logO/H<7.4 selected from the Data Release 14 (DR14) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Three methods are used to derive their oxygen abundances. Among these methods two are based on strong [OII]3727, [OIII]4959, and [OIII]5007 emission lines, which we call strong-line and semi-empirical methods. These were applied for all galaxies. We have developed one of these methods, the strong-line method, in this paper. This method is specifically focused on the accurate determination of metallicity in extremely low-metallicity galaxies and may not be used at higher metallicities with12+logO/H>7.5. The third, the direct Te method, was applied for galaxies with detected [OIII]4363 emission lines. All three methods give consistent abundances and can be used in combination or separately for selection of lowest-metallicity candidates. However, the strong-line method is preferable for spectra with a poorly detected or undetected [OIII]4363 emission line. In total, our list of selected candidates for extremely low-metallicity galaxies includes 66 objects.
Assessments of the cold-gas reservoir in galaxies are a cornerstone for understanding star-formation processes and the role of feedback and baryonic cycling in galaxy evolution. Here we exploit a sample of 392 galaxies (dubbed MAGMA, Metallicity and Gas for Mass Assembly), presented in a recent paper, to quantify molecular and atomic gas properties across a broad range in stellar mass, Mstar, from $sim 10^7 - 10^{11}$ Msun. First, we find the metallicity ($Z$) dependence of alpha_CO to be shallower than previous estimates, with alpha_CO$propto (Z/Z_odot)^{-1.55}$. Second, molecular gas mass MH2 is found to be strongly correlated with Mstar and star-formation rate (SFR), enabling predictions of MH2 good to within $sim$0.2 dex. The behavior of atomic gas mass MHI in MAGMA scaling relations suggests that it may be a third, independent variable that encapsulates information about the circumgalactic environment and gas accretion. If Mgas is considered to depend on MHI, together with Mstar and SFR, we obtain a relation that predicts Mgas to within $sim$0.05 dex. Finally, the analysis of depletion times and the scaling of MHI/Mstar and MH2/Mstar over three different mass bins suggests that the partition of gas and the regulation of star formation through gas content depends on the mass regime. Dwarf galaxies tend to be overwhelmed by (HI) accretion, while for galaxies in the intermediate Mstar gas-equilibrium bin, star formation proceeds apace with gas availability. In the most massive gas-poor, bimodality galaxies, HI does not apparently participate in star formation, although it generally dominates in mass over H2. Our results confirm that atomic gas plays a key role in baryonic cycling, and is a fundamental ingredient for current and future star formation, especially in dwarf galaxies. (abridged for arXiv)
I provide an overview about star-forming galaxies at high redshift and their physical properties. Starting from the populations of Ly-$alpha$ emitters and Lyman break galaxies, I summarize their common features and distinction. Then I summarize recent insight onto their physical properties gained from SED models including nebular emission, and various implications from these studies on the properties of star-formation at high redshift. Finally, I present new results and an overview on the dust content and UV attenuation of $z>6$ galaxies obtained from IRAM and ALMA observations.