No Arabic abstract
We combine IR, optical and X-ray data from the overlapping, 9.3 square degree NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey (NDWFS), AGN and Galaxy Evolution Survey (AGES), and XBootes Survey to measure the X-ray evolution of 6146 normal galaxies as a function of absolute optical luminosity, redshift, and spectral type over the largely unexplored redshift range 0.1 < z < 0.5. Because only the closest or brightest of the galaxies are individually detected in X-rays, we use a stacking analysis to determine the mean properties of the sample. Our results suggest that X-ray emission from spectroscopically late-type galaxies is dominated by star formation, while that from early-type galaxies is dominated by a combination of hot gas and AGN emission. We find that the mean star formation and supermassive black hole accretion rate densities evolve like (1+z)^3, in agreement with the trends found for samples of bright, individually detectable starburst galaxies and AGN. Our work also corroborates the results of many previous stacking analyses of faint source populations, with improved statistics.
We study dwarf galaxy formation at high redshift ($zge5$) using a suite of high- resolution, cosmological hydrodynamic simulations and a semi-analytic model (SAM). We focus on gas accretion, cooling and star formation in this work by isolating the relevant process from reionization and supernova feedback, which will be further discussed in a companion paper. We apply the SAM to halo merger trees constructed from a collisionless N-body simulation sharing identical initial conditions to the hydrodynamic suite, and calibrate the free parameters against the stellar mass function predicted by the hydrodynamic simulations at z = 5. By making comparisons of the star formation history and gas components calculated by the two modelling techniques, we find that semi-analytic prescriptions that are commonly adopted in the literature of low-redshift galaxy formation do not accurately represent dwarf galaxy properties in the hydrodynamic simulation at earlier times. We propose 3 modifications to SAMs that will provide more accurate high-redshift simulations. These include 1) the halo mass and baryon fraction which are overestimated by collisionless N-body simulations; 2) the star formation efficiency which follows a different cosmic evolutionary path from the hydrodynamic simulation; and 3) the cooling rate which is not well defined for dwarf galaxies at high redshift. Accurate semi-analytic modelling of dwarf galaxy formation informed by detailed hydrodynamical modelling will facilitate reliable semi-analytic predictions over the large volumes needed for the study of reionization.
Using the self-consistent modeling of the conditional stellar mass functions across cosmic time by Yang et al. (2012), we make model predictions for the star formation histories (SFHs) of {it central} galaxies in halos of different masses. The model requires the following two key ingredients: (i) mass assembly histories of central and satellite galaxies, and (ii) local observational constraints of the star formation rates of central galaxies as function of halo mass. We obtain a universal fitting formula that describes the (median) SFH of central galaxies as function of halo mass, galaxy stellar mass and redshift. We use this model to make predictions for various aspects of the star formation rates of central galaxies across cosmic time. Our main findings are the following. (1) The specific star formation rate (SSFR) at high $z$ increases rapidly with increasing redshift [$propto (1+z)^{2.5}$] for halos of a given mass and only slowly with halo mass ($propto M_h^{0.12}$) at a given $z$, in almost perfect agreement with the specific mass accretion rate of dark matter halos. (2) The ratio between the star formation rate (SFR) in the main-branch progenitor and the final stellar mass of a galaxy peaks roughly at a constant value, $sim 10^{-9.3} h^2 {rm yr}^{-1}$, independent of halo mass or the final stellar mass of the galaxy. However, the redshift at which the SFR peaks increases rapidly with halo mass. (3) More than half of the stars in the present-day Universe were formed in halos with $10^{11.1}msunh < M_h < 10^{12.3}msunh$ in the redshift range $0.4 < z < 1.9$. (4) ... [abridged]
We discuss the spectral energy distributions and physical properties of six galaxies whose photometric redshifts suggest they lie beyond a redshift $zsimeq$9. Each was selected on account of a prominent excess seen in the Spitzer/IRAC 4.5$mu$m band which, for a redshift above $z=9.0$, likely indicates the presence of a rest-frame Balmer break and a stellar component that formed earlier than a redshift $zsimeq10$. In addition to constraining the earlier star formation activity on the basis of fits using stellar population models with BAGPIPES, we have undertaken the necessary, but challenging, follow-up spectroscopy for each candidate using various combinations of Keck/MOSFIRE, VLT/X-shooter, Gemini/FLAMINGOS2 and ALMA. Based on either Lyman-$alpha$ or [OIII] 88 $mu$m emission, we determine a convincing redshift of $z$=8.78 for GN-z-10-3 and a likely redshift of $z$=9.28 for the lensed galaxy MACS0416-JD. For GN-z9-1, we conclude the case remains promising for a source beyond $zsimeq$9. Together with earlier spectroscopic data for MACS1149-JD1, our analysis of this enlarged sample provides further support for a cosmic star formation history extending beyond redshifts $zsimeq$10. We use our best-fit stellar population models to reconstruct the past rest-frame UV luminosities of our sources and discuss the implications for tracing earlier progenitors of such systems with the James Webb Space Telescope.
Distant galaxies show correlations between their current star-formation rates (SFRs) and stellar masses, implying that their star-formation histories (SFHs) are highly similar. Moreover, observations show that the UV luminosities and stellar masses grow from z=8 to 3, implying that the SFRs increase with time. We compare the cosmologically averaged evolution in galaxies at 3 < z < 8 at constant comoving number density, n = 2 x 10^-4 Mpc^-3. This allows us to study the evolution of stellar mass and star formation in the galaxy predecessors and descendants in ways not possible using galaxies selected at constant stellar mass or SFR, quantities that evolve strongly in time. We show that the average SFH of these galaxies increase smoothly from z=8 to 3 as SFR ~ t^alpha with alpha = 1.7 +/- 0.2. This conflicts with assumptions that the SFR is either constant or declines exponentially in time. We show that the stellar mass growth in these galaxies is consistent with this derived SFH. This provides evidence that the slope of the high-mass end of the IMF is approximately Salpeter unless the duty cycle of star formation is much less than unity. We argue that these relations follow from gas accretion (either through accretion or delivered by mergers) coupled with galaxy disk growth under the assumption that the SFR depends on the local gas surface density. This predicts that gas fractions decrease from z=8 to 3 on average as f_gas ~ (1+z)^0.9 for galaxies with this number density. The implied galaxy gas accretion rates at z > 4 are as fast and may even exceed the SFR: this is the gas accretion epoch. At z < 4 the SFR overtakes the implied gas accretion rate, indicating a period where galaxies consume gas faster than it is acquired. At z < 3, galaxies with this number density depart from these relations implying that star formation and gas accretion are slowed at later times.
A comparison is carried out among the star formation histories of early-type galaxies (ETG) in fossil groups, clusters and low density environments. Although they show similar evolutionary histories, a significant fraction of the fossils are younger than their counterparts, suggesting that fossils can be precursors of the isolated ETGs.