No Arabic abstract
We present results from deep Spitzer/Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) observations of 28 metal-poor, strongly star-forming galaxies selected from the DEEP2 Galaxy Survey. By modelling infrared and optical photometry, we derive stellar masses and other stellar properties. We determine that these metal-poor galaxies have low stellar masses, $M_{star}$ $approx10^{8.1}$-$10^{9.5}$ $M_{odot}$. Combined with the Balmer-derived star formation rates (SFRs), these galaxies have average inverse SFR/$M_{star}$ of $approx$100 Myr. The evolution of stellar mass-gas metallicity relation to $zapprox0.8$ is measured by combining the modelled masses with previously obtained spectroscopic measurements of metallicity from [O III] $lambda$4363 detections. Here, we include measurements for 79 galaxies from the Metal Abundances across Cosmic Time Survey. Our mass-metallicity relation is lower at a given stellar mass than at $z=0.1$ by 0.27 dex. This demonstrates a strong evolution in the mass-metallicity relation, $(1+z)^{-1.45^{+0.61}_{-0.76}}$. We find that the shape of the $zapprox0.8$ mass-metallicity relation, a steep rise in metallicity at low stellar masses, transitioning to a plateau at higher masses, is consistent with $zsim0.1$ studies. We also compare the evolution in metallicity between $zapprox0.8$ and $zsim0.1$ against recent strong-line diagnostic studies at intermediate redshifts and find good agreement. Specifically, we find that lower mass galaxies ($4times10^8$ $M_{odot}$) built up their metal content 1.6 times more rapidly than higher mass galaxies ($10^{10}$ $M_{odot}$). Finally, we examine whether the mass-metallicity relation has a secondary dependence on SFR, and statistically concluded that there is no strong secondary dependence for $zapprox0.8$ low-mass galaxies.
We measure the gas-phase oxygen abundances of ~3000 star-forming galaxies at z=0.05-0.75 using optical spectrophotometry from the AGN and Galaxy Evolution Survey (AGES), a spectroscopic survey of I_AB<20.45 galaxies over 7.9 deg^2 in the NOAO Deep Wide Field Survey (NDWFS) Bootes field. We use state-of-the-art techniques to measure the nebular emission lines and stellar masses, and explore and quantify several potential sources of systematic error, including the choice of metallicity diagnostic, aperture bias, and contamination from unidentified active galactic nuclei (AGN). Combining volume-limited AGES samples in six independent redshift bins and ~75,000 star-forming galaxies with r_AB<17.6 at z=0.05-0.2 selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) that we analyze in the identical manner, we measure the evolution of the stellar mass-metallicity (M-Z) between z=0.05 and z=0.75. We find that at fixed stellar mass galaxies at z~0.7 have just 30%-60% the metal content of galaxies at the present epoch, where the uncertainty is dominated by the strong-line method used to measure the metallicity. Moreover, we find no statistically significant evidence that the M-Z relation evolves in a mass-dependent way for M=10^9.8-10^11 Msun star-forming galaxies. Thus, for this range of redshifts and stellar masses the M-Z relation simply shifts toward lower metallicity with increasing redshift without changing its shape.
We measure the relationship between stellar mass and stellar metallicity, the stellar mass--metallicity relation (MZR), for 1336 star-forming galaxies at $1.6le zle3.0$ (<z>=2.2) using rest-frame far-ultraviolet spectra from the zCOSMOS-deep survey. High signal-to-noise composite spectra containing stellar absorption features are fit with population synthesis model spectra of a range of metallicity. We find stellar metallicities, which mostly reflect iron abundances, scaling as $(Z_{Fe,ast}/Z_{Fe,odot})=-(0.81pm0.01)+(0.32+0.03)log(M_ast/10^{10}M_odot)$ across the mass range of $10^9lesssim M_ast/M_odotlesssim10^{11}$, being $approx6times$ lower than seen locally at the same masses. The instantaneous oxygen-to-iron ratio ($alpha$-enhancement) inferred using the gas-phase oxygen MZRs, is on average found to be [O/Fe]$approx0.47$, being higher than the local [O/Fe]$approx0$. The observed changes in [O/Fe] and [Fe/H] are reproduced in simple flow-through gas-regulator models with steady star-formation histories (SFHs) that follow the evolving main sequence. Our models show that the [O/Fe] is determined almost entirely by the instantaneous specific star formation rate alone while being independent of the SFHs, mass, and the gas-regulation characteristics of the systems. We find that the locations of $sim10^{10}M_odot$ galaxies at z~2 in the [O/Fe]--metallicity planes are in remarkable agreement with the sequence of low-metallicity thick-disk stars in our Galaxy. This manifests a beautiful concordance between the results of Galactic archaeology and observations of high-redshift Milky Way progenitors. However, there remains a question of how and when the old metal-rich, low-$alpha$/Fe stars seen in the bulge had formed by z~2 because such a stellar population is not seen in our data and difficult to explain in the context of our models.
We reliably extend the stellar mass-size relation over $0.2leq z leq2$ to low stellar mass galaxies by combining the depth of Hubble Frontier Fields (HFF) with the large volume covered by CANDELS. Galaxies are simultaneously modelled in multiple bands using the tools developed by the MegaMorph project, allowing robust size (i.e., half-light radius) estimates even for small, faint, and high redshift galaxies. We show that above 10$^7$M$_odot$, star-forming galaxies are well represented by a single power law on the mass-size plane over our entire redshift range. Conversely, the stellar mass-size relation is steep for quiescent galaxies with stellar masses $geq 10^{10.3}$M$_odot$ and flattens at lower masses, regardless of whether quiescence is selected based on star-formation activity, rest-frame colours, or structural characteristics. This flattening occurs at sizes of $sim1$kpc at $zleq1$. As a result, a double power law is preferred for the stellar mass-size relation of quiescent galaxies, at least above 10$^7$M$_odot$. We find no strong redshift dependence in the slope of the relation of star-forming galaxies as well as of high mass quiescent galaxies. We also show that star-forming galaxies with stellar masses $geq$10$^{9.5}$M$_odot$ and quiescent galaxies with stellar masses $geq10^{10.3}$M$_odot$ have undergone significant size growth since $zsim2$, as expected; however, low mass galaxies have not. Finally, we supplement our data with predominantly quiescent dwarf galaxies from the core of the Fornax cluster, showing that the stellar mass-size relation is continuous below 10$^7$M$_odot$, but a more complicated functional form is necessary to describe the relation.
We report a Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) search for HI 21cm emission from a large sample of star-forming galaxies at $z approx 1.18 - 1.34$, lying in sub-fields of the DEEP2 Redshift Survey. The search was carried out by co-adding (stacking) the HI 21cm emission spectra of 857 galaxies, after shifting each galaxys HI 21cm spectrum to its rest frame. We obtain the $3sigma$ upper limit S$_{rm{HI}} < 2.5 mu$Jy on the average HI 21cm flux density of the 857 galaxies, at a velocity resolution of $approx 315$ km s$^{-1}$. This yields the $3sigma$ constraint M$_{rm{HI}} < 2.1 times 10^{10} times left[Delta {rm V}/315 rm{km/s} right]^{1/2} textrm{M}_odot$ on the average HI mass of the 857 stacked galaxies, the first direct constraint on the atomic gas mass of galaxies at $z > 1$. The implied limit on the average atomic gas mass fraction (relative to stars) is ${rm M}_{rm GAS}/{rm M}_* < 0.5$, comparable to the cold molecular gas mass fraction in similar star-forming galaxies at these redshifts. We find that the cosmological mass density of neutral atomic gas in massive star-forming galaxies at $z approx 1.3$ is $Omega_{rm GAS} < 3.7 times 10^{-4}$, significantly lower than $Omega_{rm GAS}$ estimates in both galaxies in the local Universe and damped Lyman-$alpha$ absorbers at $z geq 2.2$. Massive blue star-forming galaxies thus do not appear to dominate the neutral atomic gas content of the Universe at $z approx 1.3$.
We present the stellar mass-metallicity relation for 34 0.4<z<1 galaxies selected from CFRS and Marano fields, and compare it to those derived from three local samples of galaxies (NFGS, KISS and SDSS). Our metal abundance estimates account for extinction effects, as estimated from IR/optical ratios and Balmer line ratios. All three comparisons show that the intermediate mass galaxies at z~0.65 are more metal-deficient by 0.3 dex at a given M_K or stellar mass relative to z=0. We find no evidence that this discrepancy could be related to different methods used to derive mass and metallicity. Assuming a closed box model predicts a gas fraction converted into stars of 20-25% since z~0.65, if the gas fraction is 10-20% in present-day galaxies with intermediate masses. This result is in excellent agreement with previous findings that most of the decline of the cosmic star formation density is related to the population of intermediate mass galaxies, which is composed of 75% spirals today. We find no evidence for a change of the slope of the M_{star}-Z relation from z~0.65 to z=0 within the intermediate mass range (10.5<log(M_{star}) < 11.5).