No Arabic abstract
An analytical approach is proposed to study the evolution of the star-forming galaxy (SFG) main sequence (MS) and the fraction of dust-obscured SF up to $zsim4$. Far-ultraviolet (FUV) and infrared (IR) star formation rates, SFRs, are described as conditional probability functions of $M_{ast}$. We convolve them with the galaxy stellar mass function (GSMF) of SFGs to derive the FUV and IR LFs. The 2 SF modes formalism is used to describe starburst galaxies. By fitting observed FUV and IR LFs, the parametrization of SFR$_{rm FUV}-M_{ast}$ and SFR$_{rm IR}-M_{ast}$ are constrained. Our derived SFR$_{rm FUV+IR}-M_{ast}$ reproduces the evolution of the MS as compared to other observational inferences. At any redshift, we find that the sSFR$_{rm FUV+IR}-M_{ast}$ relation for MS SFGs approaches to a power law at the high-mass end. At lower masses, it bends and eventually the slope sign changes from negative to positive at very low masses. At $zsim0$, this change of sign is at $M_{ast}sim5times10^{8}{rm M}_{odot}$ close to dust-obscured SF regime, $M_{ast}sim6times10^{8}{rm M}_{odot}$. The slope sign change is related to the knee of the FUV LF. Our derived dust-obscured fractions agree with previous determinations at $0leq zleq2.5$. Dust-obscured fractions depend strongly on mass with almost no dependence with redshift at $zgtrsim1.2$. At $zlesssim0.75$ high-mass galaxies become more transparent compared to their high redshift counterparts. On the opposite, low- and intermediate-mass galaxies have become more obscured by dust. The joint evolution of the GSMF and the FUV and IR LFs is a promising approach to study mass growth and dust formation/destruction mechanisms.
We present the first results from the 2mm Mapping Obscuration to Reionization (MORA) survey, the largest ALMA contiguous blank-field survey to-date with a total area of 184 sq. arcmin and the only at 2mm to search for dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs). We use the 13 sources detected above 5sigma to estimate the first ALMA galaxy number counts at this wavelength. These number counts are then combined with the state-of-the-art galaxy number counts at 1.2mm and 3mm and with a backward evolution model to place constraints on the evolution of the IR luminosity function and dust-obscured star formation in the last 13 billion years. Our results suggest a steep redshift evolution on the space density of DSFGs and confirm the flattening of the IR luminosity function at faint luminosities, with a slope of $alpha_{LF} = -0.42^{+0.02}_{-0.04}$. We conclude that the dust-obscured component, which peaks at z=2-2.5, has dominated the cosmic history of star formation for the past ~12 billion years, back to z~4. At z=5, the dust-obscured star formation is estimated to be ~35% of the total star formation rate density and decreases to 25%-20% at z=6-7, implying a minor contribution of dust-enshrouded star formation in the first billion years of the Universe. With the dust-obscured star formation history constrained up to the end of the epoch of reionization, our results provide a benchmark to test galaxy formation models, to study the galaxy mass assembly history, and to understand the dust and metal enrichment of the Universe at early times.
Star formation rate (SFR) measurements at z>4 have relied mostly on rest-frame far-ultraviolet (FUV) observations. The corrections for dust attenuation based on IRX-$beta$ relation are highly uncertain and are still debated in the literature. Hence, rest-frame far-infrared (FIR) observations are necessary to constrain the dust-obscured component of the SFR. In this paper, we exploit the rest-frame FIR continuum observations collected by the ALMA Large Program to INvestigate [CII] at Early times (ALPINE) to directly constrain the obscured SFR in galaxies at 4.4<z<5.9. We use stacks of continuum images to measure average infrared (IR) luminosities taking into account both detected and undetected sources. Based on these measurements, we measure the position of the main sequence of star-forming galaxies and the specific SFR (sSFR) at $zsim4.5$ and $zsim5.5$. We find that the main sequence and sSFR do not evolve significantly between $zsim4.5$ and $zsim5.5$, as opposed to lower redshifts. We develop a method to derive the obscured SFR density (SFRD) using the stellar masses or FUV-magnitudes as a proxy of FIR fluxes measured on the stacks and combining them with the galaxy stellar mass functions and FUV luminosity functions from the literature. We obtain consistent results independent of the chosen proxy. We find that the obscured fraction of SFRD is decreasing with increasing redshift but even at $zsim5.5$ it constitutes around 61% of the total SFRD.
We present a framework for modelling the star-formation histories of galaxies as a stochastic process. We define this stochastic process through a power spectrum density with a functional form of a broken power-law. Star-formation histories are correlated on short timescales, the strength of this correlation described by a power-law slope, $alpha$, and they decorrelate to resemble white noise over a timescale that is proportional to the timescale of the break in the power spectrum density, $tau_{rm break}$. We use this framework to explore the properties of the stochastic process that, we assume, gives rise to the log-normal scatter about the relationship between star-formation rate and stellar mass, the so-called galaxy star-forming main sequence. Specifically, we show how the measurements of the normalisation and width ($sigma_{rm MS}$) of the main sequence, measured in several passbands that probe different timescales, give a constraint on the parameters of the underlying power spectrum density. We first derive these results analytically for a simplified case where we model observations by averaging over the recent star-formation history. We then run numerical simulations to find results for more realistic observational cases. As a proof of concept, we use observational estimates of the main sequence scatter at $zsim0$ and $M_{star}approx10^{10}~M_{odot}$ measured in H$alpha$, UV+IR and the u-band, and show that combination of these point to $tau_{rm break}=178^{+104}_{-66}$ Myr, when assuming $alpha=2$. This implies that star-formation histories of galaxies lose memory of their previous activity on a timescale of $sim200$ Myr, highlighting the importance of baryonic effects that act over the dynamical timescales of galaxies.
We argue that the interplay between cosmic rays, the initial mass function, and star formation plays a crucial role in regulating the star-forming main sequence. To explore these phenomena we develop a toy model for galaxy evolution in which star formation is regulated by a combination of a temperature-dependent initial mass function and heating due to starlight, cosmic rays and, at very high redshift, the cosmic microwave background. This produces an attractor, near-equilibrium solution which is consistent with observations of the star-forming main sequence over a broad redshift range. Additional solutions to the same equations may correspond to other observed phases of galaxy evolution including quiescent galaxies. This model makes several falsifiable predictions, including higher metallicities and dust masses than anticipated at high redshift and isotopic abundances in the Milky Way. It also predicts that stellar mass-to-light ratios are lower than produced using a Milky Way-derived IMF, so that inferences of stellar masses and star formation rates for high redshift galaxies are overestimated. In some cases, this may also transform inferred dark matter profiles from core-like to cusp-like.
We derive two-dimensional dust attenuation maps at $sim1~mathrm{kpc}$ resolution from the UV continuum for ten galaxies on the $zsim2$ Star-Forming Main Sequence (SFMS). Comparison with IR data shows that 9 out of 10 galaxies do not require further obscuration in addition to the UV-based correction, though our sample does not include the most heavily obscured, massive galaxies. The individual rest-frame $V$-band dust attenuation (A$_{rm V}$) radial profiles scatter around an average profile that gently decreases from $sim1.8$ mag in the center down to $sim0.6$ mag at $sim3-4$ half-mass radii. We use these maps to correct UV- and H$alpha$-based star-formation rates (SFRs), which agree with each other. At masses $<10^{11}~M_{rm sun}$, the dust-corrected specific SFR (sSFR) profiles are on average radially constant at a mass-doubling timescale of $sim300~mathrm{Myr}$, pointing at a synchronous growth of bulge and disk components. At masses $>10^{11}~M_{rm sun}$, the sSFR profiles are typically centrally-suppressed by a factor of $sim10$ relative to the galaxy outskirts. With total central obscuration disfavored, this indicates that at least a fraction of massive $zsim2$ SFMS galaxies have started their inside-out star-formation quenching that will move them to the quenched sequence. In combination with other observations, galaxies above and below the ridge of the SFMS relation have respectively centrally-enhanced and centrally-suppressed sSFRs relative to their outskirts, supporting a picture where bulges are built due to gas `compaction that leads to a high central SFR as galaxies move towards the upper envelope of SFMS.