Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userExtremely Massive Quasars are not Good Proxies for Dense Environments Compared to Massive Galaxies: Environments of Extremely Massive Quasars and Galaxies
94
0
0.0
(
0
)
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
Black hole mass scaling relations suggest that extremely massive black holes (EMBHs) with $M_mathrm{BH}ge10^{9.4},M_{odot}$ are found in the most massive galaxies with $M_mathrm{star}ge10^{11.6},M_{odot}$, which are commonly found in dense environments, like galaxy clusters. Therefore, one can expect that there is a close connection between active EMBHs and dense environments. Here, we study the environments of 9461 galaxies and 2943 quasars at $0.24 le z le 0.40$, among which 52 are extremely massive quasars with $log(M_mathrm{BH}/M_{odot}) ge 9.4$, using Sloan Digital Sky Survey and MMT Hectospec data. We find that, on average, both massive quasars and massive galaxies reside in environments more than $sim2$ times as dense as those of their less massive counterparts with $log(M_mathrm{BH}/M_{odot}) le 9.0$. However, massive quasars reside in environments about half as dense as inactive galaxies with $log(M_mathrm{BH}/M_{odot}) ge 9.4$, and only about one third of massive quasars are found in galaxy clusters, while about two thirds of massive galaxies reside in such clusters. This indicates that massive galaxies are a much better signpost for galaxy clusters than massive quasars. The prevalence of massive quasars in moderate to low density environments is puzzling, considering that several simulation results show that these quasars appear to prefer dense environments. Several possible reasons for this discrepancy are discussed, although further investigation is needed to obtain a definite explanation.
rate research
Read More
We study the preferred environments of $z sim 0$ massive relic galaxies ($M_star gtrsim 10^{10}~mathrm{M_odot}$ galaxies with little or no growth from star formation or mergers since $z sim 2$). Significantly, we carry out our analysis on both a large cosmological simulation and an observed galaxy catalogue. Working on the Millennium I-WMAP7 simulation we show that the fraction of today massive objects which have grown less than 10 per cent in mass since $z sim 2$ is ~0.04 per cent for the whole massive galaxy population with $M_star > 10^{10}~mathrm{M_odot}$. This fraction rises to ~0.18 per cent in galaxy clusters, confirming that clusters help massive galaxies remain unaltered. Simulations also show that massive relic galaxies tend to be closer to cluster centres than other massive galaxies. Using the New York University Value-Added Galaxy Catalogue, and defining relics as $M_star gtrsim 10^{10}~mathrm{M_odot}$ early-type galaxies with colours compatible with single-stellar population ages older than 10 Gyr, and which occupy the bottom 5-percentile in the stellar mass-size distribution, we find $1.11 pm 0.05$ per cent of relics among massive galaxies. This fraction rises to $2.4 pm 0.4$ per cent in high-density environments. Our findings point in the same direction as the works by Poggianti et al. and Stringer et al. Our results may reflect the fact that the cores of the clusters are created very early on, hence the centres host the first cluster members. Near the centres, high-velocity dispersions and harassment help cluster core members avoid the growth of an accreted stellar envelope via mergers, while a hot intracluster medium prevents cold gas from reaching the galaxies, inhibiting star formation.
Under the $Lambda$ cold dark matter ($Lambda$CDM) cosmological models, massive galaxies are expected to be larger in denser environments through frequent hierarchical mergers with other galaxies. Yet, observational studies of low-redshift early-type galaxies have shown no such trend, standing as a puzzle to solve during the past decade. We analyzed 73,116 early-type galaxies at $0.1leq z < 0.15$, adopting a robust nonparametric size measurement technique and extending the analysis to many massive galaxies. We find for the first time that local early-type galaxies heavier than $10^{11.2}M_{odot}$ show a clear environmental dependence in mass-size relation, in such a way that galaxies are as much as 20-40% larger in densest environments than in underdense environments. Splitting the sample into the brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) and non-BCGs does not affect the result. This result agrees with the $Lambda$CDM cosmological simulations and suggests that mergers played a significant role in the growth of massive galaxies in dense environments as expected in theory.
Galaxy merger histories correlate strongly with stellar mass, largely regardless of morphology. Thus, at fixed stellar mass, spheroids and discs share similar assembly histories, both in terms of the frequency of mergers and the distribution of their mass ratios. Since mergers are the principal drivers of disc-to-spheroid morphological transformation, and the most massive galaxies typically have the richest merger histories, it is surprising that discs exist at all at the highest stellar masses (e.g. beyond the knee of the mass function). Using Horizon-AGN, a cosmological hydro-dynamical simulation, we show that extremely massive (M*> 10^11.4 MSun) discs are created via two channels. In the primary channel (accounting for ~70% of these systems and ~8% of massive galaxies) the most recent, significant merger (stellar mass ratio > 1:10) between a massive spheroid and a gas-rich satellite `spins up the spheroid by creating a new rotational stellar component, leaving a massive disc as the remnant. In the secondary channel (accounting for ~30% of these systems and ~3% of massive galaxies), a system maintains a disc throughout its lifetime, due to an anomalously quiet merger history. Not unexpectedly, the fraction of massive discs is larger at higher redshift, due to the Universe being more gas-rich. The morphological mix of galaxies at the highest stellar masses is, therefore, a strong function of the gas fraction of the Universe. Finally, these massive discs have similar black-hole masses and accretion rates to massive spheroids, providing a natural explanation for why a minority of powerful AGN are surprisingly found in disc galaxies.
Using a sample of nine massive compact galaxies at z ~ 2.3 with rest-frame optical spectroscopy and comprehensive U through 8um photometry we investigate how assumptions in SED modeling change the stellar mass estimates of these galaxies, and how this affects our interpretation of their size evolution. The SEDs are fit to Tau-models with a range of metallicities, dust laws, as well as different stellar population synthesis codes. These models indicate masses equal to, or slightly smaller than our default masses. The maximum difference is 0.16 dex for each parameter considered, and only 0.18 dex for the most extreme combination of parameters. Two-component populations with a maximally old stellar population superposed with a young component provide reasonable fits to these SEDs using the models of Bruzual & Charlot (2003); however, using models with updated treatment of TP-AGB stars the fits are poorer. The two-component models predict masses that are 0.08 to 0.22 dex larger than the Tau-models. We also test the effect of a bottom-light IMF and find that it would reduce the masses of these galaxies by 0.3 dex. Considering the range of allowable masses from the Tau-models, two-component fits, and IMF, we conclude that on average these galaxies lie below the mass-size relation of galaxies in the local universe by a factor of 3-9, depending on the SED models used.
We study the kinematics and scaling relations of a sample of 43 giant spiral galaxies that have stellar masses exceeding $10^{11}$ $M_odot$ and optical discs up to 80 kpc in radius. We use a hybrid 3D-1D approach to fit 3D kinematic models to long-slit observations of the H$alpha$-[NII] emission lines and we obtain robust rotation curves of these massive systems. We find that all galaxies in our sample seem to reach a flat part of the rotation curve within the outermost optical radius. We use the derived kinematics to study the high-mass end of the two most important scaling relations for spiral galaxies: the stellar/baryonic mass Tully-Fisher relation and the Fall (mass-angular momentum) relation. All galaxies in our sample, with the possible exception of the two fastest rotators, lie comfortably on both these scaling relations determined at lower masses, without any evident break or bend at the high-mass regime. When we combine our high-mass sample with lower-mass data from the Spitzer Photometry & Accurate Rotation Curves catalog, we find a slope of $alpha=4.25pm0.19$ for the stellar Tully-Fisher relation and a slope of $gamma=0.64pm0.11$ for the Fall relation. Our results indicate that most, if not all, of these rare, giant spiral galaxies are scaled
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
