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Register a new userPolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) luminous galaxies at z~1
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Using an AKARI multi-wavelength mid-infrared (IR) survey, we identify luminous starburst galaxies at z> 0.5 based on the PAH luminosity, and investigate the nature of these PAH-selected starbursts. An extragalactic survey with AKARI towards the north ecliptic pole (NEP), the NEP-Deep survey, is unique in terms of a comprehensive wavelength coverage from 2 to 24um using all 9 photometric bands of the InfraRed Camera (IRC). This survey allows us to photometrically identify galaxies whose mid-IR emission is clearly dominated by PAHs. We propose a single colour selection method to identify such galaxies, using two mid-IR flux ratios at 11-to-7um and 15-to-9um (PAH-to-continuum flux ratio in the rest-frame), which are useful to identify starburst galaxies at z~0.5 and 1, respectively. We perform a fitting of the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from optical to mid-IR wavelengths, using an evolutionary starburst model with a proper treatment of radiative transfer (SBURT), in order to investigate their nature. The SBURT model reproduces observed optical-to-mid-IR SEDs of more than a half of PAH-selected galaxies. Based on the 8um luminosity, we find ultra luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) among PAH-selected galaxies. Their PAH luminosity is higher than local ULIRGs with a similar luminosity, and the PAH-to-total IR luminosity ratio is consistent with that of less luminous starburst galaxies. They are a unique galaxy population at high redshifts and we call these PAH-selected ULIRGs PAH-luminous galaxies. Although they are not as massive as submillimetre galaxies at z~2, they have the stellar mass of >3x10^{10} Msun and therefore moderately massive.
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We have examined polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) excitation in a sample of 25 nearby face-on spiral galaxies using the ratio of mid-infrared PAH emission to dust mass. Within 11 of the galaxies, we found that the PAH excitation was straightforwardly linked to ultraviolet or mid-infrared star formation tracers, which, along with other results studying the relation of PAH emission to star formation, indicates that the PAHs are most strongly excited in dusty shells around the star forming regions. Within another 5 galaxies, the PAH emission is enhanced around star forming regions only at specific galactocentric radii. In 6 more galaxies, PAH excitation is more strongly correlated with the evolved stellar populations as traced by 3.6 micron emission. The results for the remaining 3 galaxies were ambiguous. The radial gradients of the PAH/dust ratios were generally not linked to log(O/H) gradients except when the log(O/H) gradients were relatively steep. Galaxies in which PAHs were excited by evolved stars had relatively high far-ultraviolet to mid-infrared ratios, indicating that variations in the link between PAH excitation and different stellar populations is linked to changes in dust attenuation within galaxies. Alternately, differences in morphology could make it more likely that PAHs are excited by evolved stars, as 5 of the 6 galaxies where this occurs are late-type flocculent spiral galaxies. These heterogeneous results demonstrate the complexity of describing PAH excitation and have broad implications for using PAH emission as a star formation tracer as well as for modelling dust emission and radiative transfer.
Context: PAHs appear to be an ubiquitous interstellar dust component but the effects of shocks waves upon them have never been fully investigated. Aims: To study the effects of energetic (~0.01-1 keV) ion (H, He and C) and electron collisions on PAHs in interstellar shock waves.Methods: We calculate the ion-PAH and electron-PAH nuclear and electronic interactions, above the threshold for carbon atom loss from a PAH, in 50-200 km/s shock waves in the warm intercloud medium. Results: Interstellar PAHs (Nc = 50) do not survive in shocks with velocities greater than 100 km/s and larger PAHs (Nc = 200) are destroyed for shocks with velocities greater/equal to 125 km/s. For shocks in the ~75 - 100 km/s range, where destruction is not complete, the PAH structure is likely to be severely denatured by the loss of an important fraction (20-40%) of the carbon atoms. We derive typical PAH lifetimes of the order of a few x10^8 yr for the Galaxy. These results are robust and independent of the uncertainties in some key parameters that have yet to be well-determined experimentally. Conclusions: The observation of PAH emission in shock regions implies that that emission either arises outside the shocked region or that those regions entrain denser clumps that, unless they are completely ablated and eroded in the shocked gas, allow dust and PAHs to survive in extreme environments.
Context: Cosmic rays are present in almost all phases of the ISM. PAHs and cosmic rays represent an abundant and ubiquitous component of the interstellar medium. However, the interaction between them has never before been fully investigated. Aims: To study the effects of cosmic ray ion (H, He, CNO and Fe-Co-Ni) and electron bombardment of PAHs in galactic and extragalactic environments. Methods: We calculate the nuclear and electronic interactions for collisions between PAHs and cosmic ray ions and electrons with energies between 5 MeV/nucleon and 10 GeV, above the threshold for carbon atom loss, in normal galaxies, starburst galaxies and cooling flow galaxy clusters. Results: The timescale for PAH destruction by cosmic ray ions depends on the electronic excitation energy Eo and on the amount of energy available for dissociation. Small PAHs are destroyed faster, with He and the CNO group being the more effective projectiles. For electron collisions, the lifetime is independent of the PAH size and varies with the threshold energy To. Conclusions: Cosmic rays process the PAHs in diffuse clouds, where the destruction due to interstellar shocks is less efficient. In the hot gas filling galactic halos, outflows of starburst galaxies and intra-cluster medium, PAH destruction is dominated by collisions with thermal ions and electrons, but this mechanism is ineffective if the molecules are in denser cloudlets and isolated from the hot gas. Cosmic rays can access the denser clouds and together with X-rays will set the lifetime of those protected PAHs. This limits the use of PAHs as a`dye for tracing the presence of cold entrained material.
We examine the annihilation of positrons on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules in interstellar medium conditions. We estimate the annihilation rates of positrons on PAHs by a semi-empirical approach. We show that PAHs can play a significant role in the overall galactic positron annihilation picture and use the annihilation rates and INTEGRAL galactic emission measurements to constrain the amount of PAHs present in the ISM. We find an upper limit of 4.6 x 10^-7 for the PAH abundance.
Context: PAHs are thought to be a ubiquitous and important dust component of the interstellar medium. However, the effects of their immersion in a hot (post-shock) gas have never before been fully investigated. Aims: We study the effects of energetic ion and electron collisions on PAHs in the hot post-shock gas behind interstellar shock waves. Methods: We calculate the ion-PAH and electron-PAH nuclear and electronic interactions, above the carbon atom loss threshold, in H II regions and in the hot post-shock gas, for temperatures ranging from 10^3 to 10^8 K. Results: PAH destruction is dominated by He collisions at low temperatures (T < 3x10^4 K), and by electron collisions at higher temperatures. Smaller PAHs are destroyed faster for T < 10^6 K, but the destruction rates are roughly the same for all PAHs at higher temperatures. The PAH lifetime in a tenuous hot gas (n_H ~ 0.01 cm^-3, T ~ 10^7 K), typical of the coronal gas in galactic outflows, is found to be about thousand years, orders of magnitude shorter than the typical lifetime of such objects. Conclusions: In a hot gas, PAHs are principally destroyed by electron collisions and not by the absorption of X-ray photons from the hot gas. The resulting erosion of PAHs occurs via C_2 loss from the periphery of the molecule, thus preserving the aromatic structure. The observation of PAH emission from a million degree, or more, gas is only possible if the emitting PAHs are ablated from dense, entrained clumps that have not yet been exposed to the full effect of the hot gas.
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