We present T-PHOT, a publicly available software aimed at extracting accurate photometry from low-resolution images of deep extragalactic fields, where the blending of sources can be a serious problem for the accurate and unbiased measurement of flux
es and colours. T-PHOT has been developed within the ASTRODEEP project and it can be considered as the next generation to TFIT, providing significant improvements above it and other similar codes. T-PHOT gathers data from a high-resolution image of a region of the sky, and uses it to obtain priors for the photometric analysis of a lower resolution image of the same field. It can handle different types of datasets as input priors: i) a list of objects that will be used to obtain cutouts from the real high-resolution image; ii) a set of analytical models; iii) a list of unresolved, point-like sources, useful e.g. for far-infrared wavelength domains. We show that T-PHOT yields accurate estimations of fluxes within the intrinsic uncertainties of the method, when systematic errors are taken into account (which can be done thanks to a flagging code given in the output). T-PHOT is many times faster than similar codes like TFIT and CONVPHOT (up to hundreds, depending on the problem and the method adopted), whilst at the same time being more robust and more versatile. This makes it an optimal choice for the analysis of large datasets. In addition we show how the use of different settings and methods significantly enhances the performance. Given its versatility and robustness, T-PHOT can be considered the preferred choice for combined photometric analysis of current and forthcoming extragalactic optical to far-infrared imaging surveys. [abridged]
Early-type galaxies obey a narrow relation traced by their stellar content between the mass and size (Mass- Radius relation). The wealth of recently acquired observational data essentially confirms the classical relations found by Burstein, Bender, F
aber, and Nolthenius, i.e. log(R_1/2) propto log(Ms)simeq 0.54 for high mass galaxies and log(R_1/2) propto log(Ms) simeq 0.3 for dwarf systems (shallower slope), where R_1/2 and Ms are the half-light radius and total mass in stars, respectively. Why do galaxies follow these characteristic trends? What can they tell us about the process of galaxy formation? We investigate the mechanisms which concur to shape the Mass-Radius relation, in order to cast light on the physical origin of its slope, its tightness, and its zero point. We perform a theoretical analysis, and couple it with the results of numerical hydrodynamical (NB-TSPH) simulations of galaxy formation, and with a simulation of the Mass-Radius plane itself. We propose a novel interpretation of the Mass-Radius relation, which we claim to be the result of two complementary mechanisms: on one hand, the result of local physical processes, which fixes the ratio between masses and radii of individual objects; on the other hand, the action of cosmological global, statistical principles, which shape the distribution of objects in the plane. We reproduce the Mass-Radius relation with a simple numerical technique based on this view.
We investigate the influence of the initial proto-galaxies over-densities and masses on their evolution, to understand whether the internal properties of the proto-galactic haloes are sufficient to account for the varied properties of the galactic po
pulations. By means of fully hydrodynamical N-body simulations performed with the code EvoL we produce twelve self-similar models of early-type galaxies of different initial masses and over-densities, following their evolution from z geq 20 down to z leq 1. The simulations include radiative cooling, star formation, stellar energy feedback, a reionizing photoheating background, and chemical enrichment of the ISM. We find a strong correlation between the initial properties of the proto-haloes and their star formation histories. Massive (10^13Modot) haloes experience a single, intense burst of star formation (with rates geq 10^3Modot/yr) at early epochs, consistently with observations, with a less pronounced dependence on the initial over-density; intermediate mass (10^11Modot) haloes histories strongly depend on their initial over-density, whereas small (10^9Modot) haloes always have fragmented histories, resulting in multiple stellar populations, due to the galactic breathing phenomenon. The galaxy models have morphological, structural and photometric properties comparable to real galaxies, often closely matching the observed data; even though some disagreement is still there, likely a consequence of some numerical choices. We conclude that internal properties are essentially sufficient to explain many of the observed features of early type galaxies, particularly the complicated and different star formation histories shown by haloes of very different mass. In this picture, nature seems to play the dominant role, whereas nurture has a secondary importance.
We present EvoL, the new release of the Padova N-body code for cosmological simulations of galaxy formation and evolution. In this paper, the basic Tree + SPH code is presented and analysed, together with an overview on the software architectures. Ev
oL is a flexible parallel Fortran95 code, specifically designed for simulations of cosmological structure formation on cluster, galactic and sub-galactic scales. EvoL is a fully Lagrangian self-adaptive code, based on the classical Oct-tree and on the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics algorithm. It includes special features such as adaptive softening lengths with correcting extra-terms, and modern formulations of SPH and artificial viscosity. It is designed to be run in parallel on multiple CPUs to optimize the performance and save computational time. We describe the code in detail, and present the results of a number of standard hydrodynamical tests.
