How mass assembly occurs in galaxies and which process(es) contribute to this activity are among the most highly debated questions in galaxy formation theories. This has motivated our survey MASSIV of 0.9<z<1.9 star-forming galaxies selected from the
purely flux-limited VVDS redshift survey. For the first time, we derive the relations between galaxy size, mass, and internal velocity, and the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation, from a statistically representative sample of star-forming galaxies. We find a dynamical mass that agrees with those of rotating galaxies containing a gas fraction of ~20%, perfectly consistent with the content derived using the Kennicutt-Schmidt formulation and the expected evolution. Non-rotating galaxies have more compact sizes for their stellar component, and are less massive than rotators, but do not have statistically different sizes for their gas-component. We measure a marginal evolution in the size-stellar mass and size-velocity relations in which discs become evenly smaller with cosmic time at fixed stellar mass or velocity, and are less massive at a given velocity than in the local Universe. The scatter in the Tully-Fisher relation is smaller when we introduce the S05 index, which we interpret as evidence of an increase in the contribution to galactic kinematics of turbulent motions with cosmic time. We report a persistently large scatter for rotators in our relations, that we suggest is intrinsic, and possibly caused by complex physical mechanism(s) at work in our stellar mass/luminosity regime and redshift range. Our results consistently point towards a mild, net evolution of these relations, comparable to those predicted by cosmological simulations of disc formation for at least 8Gyr and a dark halo strongly coupled with galactic spectrophotometric properties.
We present a carefully selected sub-sample of Swift Long Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs), that is complete in redshift. The sample is constructed by considering only bursts with favorable observing conditions for ground-based follow-up searches, that are bri
ght in the 15-150 keV Swift/BAT band, i.e. with 1-s peak photon fluxes in excess to 2.6 ph s^-1 cm^-2. The sample is composed by 58 bursts, 52 of them with redshift for a completeness level of 90%, while another two have a redshift constraint, reaching a completeness level of 95%. For only three bursts we have no constraint on the redshift. The high level of redshift completeness allows us for the first time to constrain the GRB luminosity function and its evolution with cosmic times in a unbiased way. We find that strong evolution in luminosity (d_l=2.3pm 0.6) or in density (d_d=1.7pm 0.5) is required in order to account for the observations. The derived redshift distribution in the two scenarios are consistent with each other, in spite of their different intrinsic redshift distribution. This calls for other indicators to distinguish among different evolution models. Complete samples are at the base of any population studies. In future works we will use this unique sample of Swift bright GRBs to study the properties of the population of long GRBs.
We perform a detailed study of the gamma-ray burst GRB091127/SN2009nz host galaxy at z=0.490 using the VLT/X-shooter spectrograph in slit and integral-field unit (IFU). From the analysis of the optical and X-ray afterglow data obtained from ground-ba
sed telescopes and Swift-XRT we confirm the presence of a bump associated with SN2009nz and find evidence of a possible jet break in the afterglow lightcurve. The X-shooter afterglow spectra reveal several emission lines from the underlying host, from which we derive its integrated properties. These are in agreement with those of previously studied GRB-SN hosts and, more generally, with those of the long GRB host population. We use the Hubble Space Telescope and ground based images of the host to determine its stellar mass (M_star). Our results extend to lower M_star values the M-Z plot derived for the sample of long GRB hosts at 0.3<z<1.0 adding new information to probe the faint end of the M-Z relation and the shift of the LGRB host M-Z relation from that found from emission line galaxy surveys. Thanks to the IFU spectroscopy we can build the 2D velocity, velocity dispersion and star formation rate (SFR) maps. They show that the host galaxy has a perturbed rotation kinematics with evidence of a SFR enhancement consistent with the afterglow position.
We review recent results on the high-redshift universe and the cosmic evolution obtained using Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) as tracers of high-redshift galaxies. Most of the results come from photometric and spectroscopic observations of GRB host galaxies
once the afterglow has faded away but also from the analysis of the GRB afterglow line of sight as revealed by absorptions in their optical spectrum.
The identities of the main processes triggering and quenching star-formation in galaxies remain unclear. A key stage in evolution, however, appears to be represented by post-starburst galaxies. To investigate their impact on galaxy evolution, we init
iated a multiwavelength study of galaxies with k+a spectral features in the COSMOS field. We examine a mass-selected sample of k+a galaxies at z=0.48-1.2 using the spectroscopic zCOSMOS sample. K+a galaxies occupy the brightest tail of the luminosity distribution. They are as massive as quiescent galaxies and populate the green valley in the colour versus luminosity (or stellar mass) distribution. A small percentage (<8%) of these galaxies have radio and/or X-ray counterparts (implying an upper limit to the SFR of ~8Msun/yr). Over the entire redshift range explored, the class of k+a galaxies is morphologically a heterogeneous population with a similar incidence of bulge-dominated and disky galaxies. This distribution does not vary with the strength of the Hdelta absorption line but instead with stellar mass in a way reminiscent of the well-known mass-morphology relation. Although k+a galaxies are also found in underdense regions, they appear to reside typically in a similarly rich environment as quiescent galaxies on a physical scale of ~2-8Mpc, and in groups they show a morphological early-to-late type ratio similar to the quiescent galaxy class. With the current data set, we do not find evidence of statistical significant evolution in either the number/mass density of k+a galaxies at intermediate redshift with respect to the local values, or the spectral properties. Those galaxies, which are affected by a sudden quenching of their star-formation activity, may increase the stellar mass of the red-sequence by up to a non-negligible level of ~10%.
We analyse the properties of MgII absorption systems detected along the sightlines toward GRBs using a sample of 10 GRB afterglow spectra obtained with VLT-UVES over the past six years. The S/N ratio is sufficiently high that we can extend previous s
tudies to smaller equivalent widths (typically Wr>0.3A). Over a pathlength of Delta(z)~14 the number of weak absorbers detected is similar along GRB and QSO lines of sight, while the number of strong systems is larger along GRB lines of sight with a 2-sigma significance. Using intermediate and low resolution observations reported in the literature, we increase the absorption length for strong systems to Delta(z)=31.5 (about twice the path length of previous studies) and find that the number density of strong MgII systems is a factor of 2.1+/-0.6 higher (about 3-sigma significance) toward GRBs as compared to QSOs, about twice smaller however than previously reported. We divide the sample in three redshift bins and we find that the number density of strong MgII is larger in the low redshift bins. We investigate in detail the properties of strong MgII systems observed with UVES. Both the estimated dust extinction in strong GRB MgII systems and the equivalent width distribution are consistent with what is observed for standard QSO systems. We find also that the number density of (sub)-DLAs per unit redshift in the UVES sample is probably twice larger than what is expected from QSO sightlines which confirms the peculiarity of GRB lines of sight. These results indicate that neither a dust extinction bias nor different beam sizes of the sources are viable explanations for the excess. It is still possible that the current sample of GRB lines of sight is biased by a subtle gravitational lensing effect. More data and larger samples are needed to test this hypothesis. (abridged)
Hierarchical models of galaxy formation predict that the properties of a dark matter halo depend on the large-scale environment surrounding the halo. As a result of this correlation, we expect massive haloes to be present in larger number in overdens
e regions than in underdense ones. Given that a correlation exists between a galaxy stellar mass and the hosting dark matter halo mass, the segregation in dark matter halo mass should then result in a segregation in the distribution of stellar mass in the galaxy population. In this work we study the distribution of galaxy stellar mass and rest-frame optical color as a function of the large-scale galaxy distribution using the VLT VIMOS Deep Survey sample, in order to verify the presence of segregation in the properties of the galaxy population. We use the VVDS redshift measurements and multi-band photometric data to derive estimates of the stellar mass, rest-frame optical color, and of the large-scale galaxy density, on a scale of approximately 8 Mpc, for a sample of 5619 galaxies in the redshift range 0.2<z<1.4. We observe a significant mass and optical color segregation over the whole redshift interval covered by our sample, such that the median value of the mass distribution is larger and the rest-frame optical color is redder in regions of high galaxy density. The amplitude of the mass segregation changes little with redshift, at least in the high stellar mass regime that we can uniformely sample over the 0.2<z<1.4 redshift interval. The color segregation, instead, decreases significantly for z>0.7. However, when we consider only galaxies in narrow bins of stellar mass, in order to exclude the effects of the stellar mass segregation on the galaxy properties, we do not observe any more any significant color segregation.
We intend to show that it is possible to derive the physical parameters of galaxies from their broad-band spectral energy distribution out to a redshift of 1.2. This method has the potential to yield the physical parameters of all galaxies in a singl
e field in a homogeneous way. We use an extensive dataset, assembled in the context of the VVDS survey, which reaches from the UV to the IR and covers a sample of 84073 galaxies over an area of 0.89 deg$^2$. We also use a library of 100000 model galaxies with a large variety of star formation histories (in particular including late bursts of star formation). We find that we can determine the physical parameters stellar mass, age and star formation rate with good confidence. We validate the star formation rate determinations in particular by comparing it to a sample of spectroscopically observed galaxies with an emission line measurement. We use our sample to build the number density function of galaxies as a function of stellar mass, specific star formation rate and redshift. We then study whether the stellar mass function at a later time can be predicted from the stellar mass function and star formation rate distribution at an earlier time. We find that the predicted growth in stellar mass from star formation agrees with the observed one. However, the predicted stellar mass density for massive galaxies is lower than observed, while the mass density of intermediate mass galaxies is overpredicted. When comparing with a direct measurement of the major merger rate from the VVDS survey we find that major mergers are sufficient to explain about a third of the mass build-up at the massive end, while the rest is likely contributed through minor mergers.
We selected a mass-limited sample of 4048 objects from the VIMOS VLT Deep Survey in the redshift interval 0.5<z<1.3. We used the amplitude of the 4000 Balmer break (Dn4000) to separate the galaxy population and the EW[OII]3727 line as proxy for the s
tar formation activity. We discuss to what extent stellar mass drives galaxy evolution, showing for the first time the interplay between stellar ages and stellar masses over the past 8Gyr. Low-mass galaxies have small Dn4000 and at increasing stellar mass, the galaxy distribution moves to higher Dn4000 values as observed in the local Universe. As cosmic time goes by, we witness an increasing abundance of massive spectroscopically ET systems at the expense of the LT systems. This spectral transformation is a process started at early epochs and continuing efficiently down to the local Universe. This is confirmed by the evolution of our type-dependent stellar mass function. The underlying stellar ages of LT galaxies apparently do not show evolution, likely as a result of a continuous formation of new stars. All star formation activity indicators consistently point towards a star formation history peaked in the past for massive galaxies, with little or no residual star formation taking place in the most recent epochs. The activity and efficiency of forming stars are mechanisms that depend on stellar mass, and the mass assembly becomes progressively less efficient in massive systems as time elapses. The concepts of star formation downsizing and mass assembly downsizing describe a single scenario that has a top-down evolutionary pattern. The role of (dry) merging events seems to be only marginal at z<1.3, as our estimated efficiency in stellar mass assembly can possibly account for the progressive accumulation of passively evolving galaxies.
