No Arabic abstract
We present an analysis of the environment of six QSO triplets at 1 $lesssim$ z $lesssim$ 1.5 by analyzing multiband (r,i,z, or g,r,i) images obtained with Megacam at the CFHT telescope, aiming to investigate whether they are associated or not with galaxy protoclusters. This was done by using photometric redshifts trained using the high accuracy photometric redshifts of the COSMOS2015 catalogue. To improve the quality of our photometric redshift estimation, we included in our analysis near-infrared photometry (3.6 and 4.5 $mu m$) from the unWISE survey available for our fields and the COSMOS survey. This approach allowed us to obtain good photometric redshifts with dispersion, as measured with the robust Sigma NMAD statistics of $sim$ 0.04 for our six fields. Our analysis setup was reproduced on lightcones constructed from the Millennium Simulation data and the latest version of the L-GALAXIES semi-analytic model to verify the protocluster detectability in such conditions. The density field in a redshift slab containing each triplet was then analyzed with a Gaussian kernel density estimator. We did not find any significant evidence of the triplets inhabiting dense structures, such as a massive galaxy cluster or protocluster.
We use both photometric and spectroscopic data from the {it Hubble Space Telescope} to explore the relationships among 4000 AA break (D4000) strength, colors, stellar masses, and morphology, in a sample of 352 galaxies with log$(M_{*}/M_{odot}) > 9.44$ at 0.6 $lesssim z lesssim$ 1.2. We have identified authentically quiescent galaxies in the $UVJ$ diagram based on their D4000 strengths. This spectroscopic identification is in good agreement with their photometrically-derived specific star formation rates (sSFR). Morphologically, most (that is, 66 out of 68 galaxies, $sim$ 97 %) of these newly identified quiescent galaxies have a prominent bulge component. However, not all of the bulge-dominated galaxies are quenched. We found that bulge-dominated galaxies show positive correlations among the D4000 strength, stellar mass, and the Sersic index, while late-type disks do not show such strong positive correlations. Also, bulge-dominated galaxies are clearly separated into two main groups in the parameter space of sSFR vs. stellar mass and stellar surface density within the effective radius, $Sigma_{rm e}$, while late-type disks and irregulars only show high sSFR. This split is directly linked to the `blue cloud and the `red sequence populations, and correlates with the associated central compactness indicated by $Sigma_{rm e}$. While star-forming massive late-type disks and irregulars (with D4000 $<$ 1.5 and log$(M_{*}/M_{odot}) gtrsim 10.5$) span a stellar mass range comparable to bulge-dominated galaxies, most have systematically lower $Sigma_{rm e}$ $lesssim$ $10^{9}M_{odot}rm{kpc^{-2}}$. This suggests that the presence of a bulge is a necessary but not sufficient requirement for quenching at intermediate redshifts.
We quantify the star formation (SF) in the inner cores ($mathcal{R}$/$R_{200}$$leq$0.3) of 24 massive galaxy clusters at 0.2$lesssim$$z$$lesssim$0.9 observed by the $Herschel$ Lensing Survey and the Cluster Lensing and Supernova survey with $Hubble$. These programmes, covering the rest-frame ultraviolet to far-infrared regimes, allow us to accurately characterize stellar mass-limited ($mathcal{M}_{*}$$>$$10^{10}$ $M_{odot}$) samples of star-forming cluster members (not)-detected in the mid- and/or far-infrared. We release the catalogues with the photometry, photometric redshifts, and physical properties of these samples. We also quantify the SF displayed by comparable field samples from the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey. We find that in intermediate-$z$ cluster cores, the SF activity is suppressed with respect the field in terms of both the fraction ($mathcal{F}$) of star-forming galaxies (SFG) and the rate at which they form stars ($mathcal{SFR}$ and $smathcal{SFR} = mathcal{SFR}/mathcal{M}_{*}$). On average, the $mathcal{F}$ of SFGs is a factor $sim$$2$ smaller in cluster cores than in the field. Furthermore, SFGs present average $mathcal{SFR}$ and $smathcal{SFR}$ typically $sim$0.3 dex smaller in the clusters than in the field along the whole redshift range probed. Our results favour long time-scale quenching physical processes as the main driver of SF suppression in the inner cores of clusters since $z$$sim$0.9, with shorter time-scale processes being very likely responsible for a fraction of the missing SFG population.
Galaxies at low-redshift typically possess negative gas-phase metallicity gradients (centres more metal-rich than their outskirts). Whereas, it is not uncommon to observe positive metallicity gradients in higher-redshift galaxies ($z gtrsim 0.6$). Bridging these epochs, we present gas-phase metallicity gradients of 84 star-forming galaxies between $0.08 < z < 0.84$. Using the galaxies with reliably determined metallicity gradients, we measure the median metallicity gradient to be negative ($-0.039^{+0.007}_{-0.009}$ dex/kpc). Underlying this, however, is significant scatter: $(8pm3)% [7]$ of galaxies have significantly positive metallicity gradients, $(38 pm 5)% [32]$ have significantly negative gradients, $(31pm5)% [26]$ have gradients consistent with being flat. (The remaining $(23pm5)% [19]$ have unreliable gradient estimates.) We notice a slight trend for a more negative metallicity gradient with both increasing stellar mass and increasing star formation rate (SFR). However, given the potential redshift and size selection effects, we do not consider these trends to be significant. Indeed, once we normalize the SFR relative to that of the main sequence, we do not observe any trend between the metallicity gradient and the normalized SFR. This is contrary to recent studies of galaxies at similar and higher redshifts. We do, however, identify a novel trend between the metallicity gradient of a galaxy and its size. Small galaxies ($r_d < 3$ kpc) present a large spread in observed metallicity gradients (both negative and positive gradients). In contrast, we find no large galaxies ($r_d > 3$ kpc) with positive metallicity gradients, and overall there is less scatter in the metallicity gradient amongst the large galaxies. These large (well-evolved) galaxies may be analogues of present-day galaxies, which also show a common negative metallicity gradient.
We present Lyman continuum (LyC) radiation escape fraction $f_{rm{esc}}$ measurements for 183 spectroscopically confirmed star-forming galaxies in the redshift range $3.11 < z < 3.53$ in the textit{Chandra} Deep Field South. We use ground-based imaging to measure $f_{rm{esc}}$, and use ground- and space-based photometry to derive galaxy physical properties using spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting. We additionally derive [O,textsc{iii}],+,H$beta$ equivalent widths (that fall in the observed $K$ band) by including nebular emission in the SED fitting. After removing foreground contaminants, we report the discovery of 11 new candidate LyC leakers, with absolute LyC escape fractions, $f_{rm{esc}}$ in the range $0.07-0.52$. Most galaxies in our sample ($approx94%$) do not show any LyC leakage, and we place $1sigma$ upper limits of $f_{rm{esc}} < 0.07$ through weighted averaging, where the Lyman-break selected galaxies have $f_{rm{esc}} < 0.07$ and `blindly discovered galaxies with no prior photometric selection have $f_{rm{esc}} < 0.10$. We additionally measure $f_{rm{esc}} < 0.09$ for extreme emission line galaxies in our sample with rest-frame [O,textsc{iii}],+,H$beta$ equivalent widths $>300$,AA. For the candidate LyC leakers, we do not find a strong dependence of $f_{rm{esc}}$ on their stellar masses and/or specific star-formation rates, and no correlation between $f_{rm{esc}}$ and EW$_0$([O,textsc{iii}],+,H$beta$). We suggest that this lack of correlations may be explained by viewing angle and/or non-coincident timescales of starburst activity and periods of high $f_{rm{esc}}$. Alternatively, escaping radiation may predominantly occur in highly localised star-forming regions, thereby obscuring any global trends with galaxy properties. Both hypotheses have important consequences for models of reionisation.
We present the discovery and spectrophotometric characterization of a large sample of 164 faint ($i_{AB}$ $sim$ $23$-$25$ mag) star-forming dwarf galaxies (SFDGs) at redshift $0.13$ $leq z leq$ $0.88$ selected by the presence of bright optical emission lines in the VIMOS Ultra Deep Survey (VUDS). We investigate their integrated physical properties and ionization conditions, which are used to discuss the low-mass end of the mass-metallicity relation (MZR) and other key scaling relations. We use optical VUDS spectra in the COSMOS, VVDS-02h, and ECDF-S fields, as well as deep multiwavelength photometry, to derive stellar masses, star formation rates (SFR) and gas-phase metallicities. The VUDS SFDGs are compact (median $r_{e}$ $sim$ $1.2$ kpc), low-mass ($M_{*}$ $sim$ $10^7-10^9$ $M_{odot}$) galaxies with a wide range of star formation rates (SFR($Halpha$) $sim 10^{-3}-10^{1}$ $M_{odot}/yr$) and morphologies. Overall, they show a broad range of subsolar metallicities (12+log(O/H)=$7.26$-$8.7$; $0.04$ $lesssim Z/Z_{odot} lesssim$ $1$). The MZR of SFDGs shows a flatter slope compared to previous studies of galaxies in the same mass range and redshift. We find the scatter of the MZR partly explained in the low mass range by varying specific SFRs and gas fractions amongst the galaxies in our sample. Compared with simple chemical evolution models we find that most SFDGs do not follow the predictions of a closed-box model, but those from a gas regulating model in which gas flows are considered. While strong stellar feedback may produce large-scale outflows favoring the cessation of vigorous star formation and promoting the removal of metals, younger and more metal-poor dwarfs may have recently accreted large amounts of fresh, very metal-poor gas, that is used to fuel current star formation.