Galaxy formation and evolution

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A large sky survey with MeerKAT

Proceedings of Science (2016)

Authors:

MG Santos, P Bull, S Camera, S Chen, J Fonseca, I Heywood, M Hilton, M Jarvis, GIG Józsa, K Knowles, L Leeuw, R Maartens, E Malefahlo, K McAlpine, K Moodley, P Patel, A Pourtsidou, M Prescott, K Spekkens, R Taylor, A Witzemann, I Whittam

Abstract:

We discuss the ground-breaking science that will be possible with a wide area survey, using the MeerKAT telescope, known as MeerKLASS (MeerKAT Large Area Synoptic Survey). The current specifications of MeerKAT make it a great fit for cosmological applications, which require large volumes. In particular, a large survey over ∼ 4,000deg2 for ∼ 4,000 hours will potentially provide the first ever measurements of the baryon acoustic oscillations using the 21cm intensity mapping technique, with enough accuracy to impose constraints on the nature of dark energy. The combination with multi-wavelength data will give unique additional information, such as the first constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity using the multi-tracer technique, as well as a better handle on foregrounds and systematics. The survey will also produce a large continuum galaxy sample down to a depth of 5 µJy in L-band, unmatched by any other concurrent telescope, which will allow to study the large-scale structure of the Universe out to high redshifts. Finally, the same survey will supply unique information for a range of other science applications, including a large statistical investigation of galaxy clusters, and the discovery of rare high-redshift AGN that can be used to probe the epoch of reionization as well as produce a rotation measure map across a huge swathe of the sky. The MeerKLASS survey will be a crucial step on the road to using SKA1-MID for cosmological applications, as described in the top priority SKA key science projects.

LADUMA: looking at the distant universe with the MeerKAT array

Proceedings of Science Part F138095 (2016)

Authors:

SL Blyth, AJ Baker, BW Holwerda, BA Bassett, MA Bershady, A Bouchard, FH Briggs, B Catinella, L Chemin, SM Crawford, CM Cress, D Cunnama, JK Darling, R Davé, RP Deane, WJG de Blok, EC Elson, A Faltenbacher, S February, X Fernández, BS Frank, E Gawiser, PA Henning, KM Hess, I Heywood, JP Hughes, MJ Jarvis, SJ Kannappan, NS Katz, D Kereš, HR Klöckner, RC Kraan-Korteweg, P Lah, MD Lehnert, AK Leroy, M Lochner, N Maddox, S Makhathini, GR Meurer, MJ Meyer, K Moodley, R Morganti, D Obreschkow, SH Oh, TA Oosterloo, DJ Pisano, A Popping, G Popping, S Ravindranath, E Schinnerer, AC Schröder, K Sheth, R Skelton, OM Smirnov, M Smith, RS Somerville, R Srianand, L Staveley-Smith, IM Stewart, M Vaccari, P Väisänen, KJ van der Heyden, W van Driel, MAW Verheijen, F Walter, EM Wilcots, TB Williams, PA Woudt, JF Wu, MA Zwaan, JTL Zwart, S Rawlings

Abstract:

© Copyright owned by the author(s). The cosmic evolution of galaxies’ neutral atomic gas content is a major science driver for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), as well as for its South African (MeerKAT) and Australian (ASKAP) precursors. Among the H I large survey programs (LSPs) planned for ASKAP and MeerKAT, the deepest and narrowest tier of the “wedding cake” will be defined by the combined L-band+UHF-band Looking At the Distant Universe with the MeerKAT Array (LADUMA) survey, which will probe H I in emission within a single “cosmic vuvuzela” that extends to z = 1.4, when the universe was only a third of its present age. Through a combination of individual and stacked detections (the latter relying on extensive multi-wavelength studies of the survey’s target field), LADUMA will study the redshift evolution of the baryonic Tully–Fisher relation and the cosmic H I density, the variation of the H I mass function with redshift and environment, and the connection between H I content and galaxies’ stellar properties (mass, age, etc.). The survey will also build a sample of OH megamaser detections that can be used to trace the cosmic merger history. This proceedings contribution provides a brief introduction to the survey, its scientific aims, and its technical implementation, deferring a more complete discussion for a future article after the implications of a recent review of MeerKAT LSP project plans are fully worked out.

LADUMA: looking at the distant universe with the MeerKAT array

Proceedings of Science (2016)

Authors:

SL Blyth, AJ Baker, BW Holwerda, BA Bassett, MA Bershady, A Bouchard, FH Briggs, B Catinella, L Chemin, SM Crawford, CM Cress, D Cunnama, JK Darling, R Davé, RP Deane, WJG de Blok, EC Elson, A Faltenbacher, S February, X Fernández, BS Frank, E Gawiser, PA Henning, KM Hess, I Heywood, JP Hughes, MJ Jarvis, SJ Kannappan, NS Katz, D Kereš, HR Klöckner, RC Kraan-Korteweg, P Lah, MD Lehnert, AK Leroy, M Lochner, N Maddox, S Makhathini, GR Meurer, MJ Meyer, K Moodley, R Morganti, D Obreschkow, SH Oh, TA Oosterloo, DJ Pisano, A Popping, G Popping, S Ravindranath, E Schinnerer, AC Schröder, K Sheth, R Skelton, OM Smirnov, M Smith, RS Somerville, R Srianand, L Staveley-Smith, IM Stewart, M Vaccari, P Väisänen, KJ van der Heyden, W van Driel, MAW Verheijen, F Walter, EM Wilcots, TB Williams, PA Woudt, JF Wu, MA Zwaan, JTL Zwart, S Rawlings

Abstract:

© Copyright owned by the author(s). The cosmic evolution of galaxies’ neutral atomic gas content is a major science driver for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), as well as for its South African (MeerKAT) and Australian (ASKAP) precursors. Among the H I large survey programs (LSPs) planned for ASKAP and MeerKAT, the deepest and narrowest tier of the “wedding cake” will be defined by the combined L-band+UHF-band Looking At the Distant Universe with the MeerKAT Array (LADUMA) survey, which will probe H I in emission within a single “cosmic vuvuzela” that extends to z = 1.4, when the universe was only a third of its present age. Through a combination of individual and stacked detections (the latter relying on extensive multi-wavelength studies of the survey’s target field), LADUMA will study the redshift evolution of the baryonic Tully–Fisher relation and the cosmic H I density, the variation of the H I mass function with redshift and environment, and the connection between H I content and galaxies’ stellar properties (mass, age, etc.). The survey will also build a sample of OH megamaser detections that can be used to trace the cosmic merger history. This proceedings contribution provides a brief introduction to the survey, its scientific aims, and its technical implementation, deferring a more complete discussion for a future article after the implications of a recent review of MeerKAT LSP project plans are fully worked out.

LADUMA: looking at the distant universe with the MeerKAT array

Proceedings of Science (2016)

Authors:

SL Blyth, AJ Baker, BW Holwerda, BA Bassett, MA Bershady, A Bouchard, FH Briggs, B Catinella, L Chemin, SM Crawford, CM Cress, D Cunnama, JK Darling, R Davé, RP Deane, WJG de Blok, EC Elson, A Faltenbacher, S February, X Fernández, BS Frank, E Gawiser, PA Henning, KM Hess, I Heywood, JP Hughes, MJ Jarvis, SJ Kannappan, NS Katz, D Kereš, HR Klöckner, RC Kraan-Korteweg, P Lah, MD Lehnert, AK Leroy, M Lochner, N Maddox, S Makhathini, GR Meurer, MJ Meyer, K Moodley, R Morganti, D Obreschkow, SH Oh, TA Oosterloo, DJ Pisano, A Popping, G Popping, S Ravindranath, E Schinnerer, AC Schröder, K Sheth, R Skelton, OM Smirnov, M Smith, RS Somerville, R Srianand, L Staveley-Smith, IM Stewart, M Vaccari, P Väisänen, KJ van der Heyden, W van Driel, MAW Verheijen, F Walter, EM Wilcots, TB Williams, PA Woudt, JF Wu, MA Zwaan, JTL Zwart, S Rawlings

Abstract:

The cosmic evolution of galaxies’ neutral atomic gas content is a major science driver for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), as well as for its South African (MeerKAT) and Australian (ASKAP) precursors. Among the H I large survey programs (LSPs) planned for ASKAP and MeerKAT, the deepest and narrowest tier of the “wedding cake” will be defined by the combined L-band+UHF-band Looking At the Distant Universe with the MeerKAT Array (LADUMA) survey, which will probe H I in emission within a single “cosmic vuvuzela” that extends to z = 1.4, when the universe was only a third of its present age. Through a combination of individual and stacked detections (the latter relying on extensive multi-wavelength studies of the survey’s target field), LADUMA will study the redshift evolution of the baryonic Tully–Fisher relation and the cosmic H I density, the variation of the H I mass function with redshift and environment, and the connection between H I content and galaxies’ stellar properties (mass, age, etc.). The survey will also build a sample of OH megamaser detections that can be used to trace the cosmic merger history. This proceedings contribution provides a brief introduction to the survey, its scientific aims, and its technical implementation, deferring a more complete discussion for a future article after the implications of a recent review of MeerKAT LSP project plans are fully worked out.

The MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS)

Proceedings of Science Part F138095 (2016)

Authors:

N Gupta, R Srianand, W Baan, A Baker, R Beswick, S Bhatnagar, D Bhattacharya, A Bosma, C Carilli, M Cluver, F Combes, C Cress, R Dutta, J Fynbo, G Heald, M Hilton, T Hussain, M Jarvis, G Jozsa, P Kamphuis, A Kembhavi, J Kerp, HR Klöckner, J Krogager, V Kulkarni, C Ledoux, A Mahabal, T Mauch, K Moodley, E Momjian, R Morganti, P Noterdaeme, T Oosterloo, P Petitjean, A Schröder, P Serra, J Sievers, K Spekkens, P Väisänen, T van der Hulst, M Vivek, J Wang, OI Wong, AR Zungu

Abstract:

© Copyright owned by the author(s). Deep galaxy surveys have revealed that the global star formation rate (SFR) density in the universe peaks at 1≤ z ≤2 and sharply declines towards z = 0. But a clear picture of the underlying processes, in particular the evolution of cold atomic (∼100 K) and molecular gas phases, that drive such a strong evolution is yet to emerge. MALS is designed to use MeerKAT’s L- and UHF-band receivers to carry out the most sensitive (N(H I)>1019cm−2) dust-unbiased search of intervening H I 21-cm and OH 18-cm absorption lines at 0 < z < 2. This will provide reliable measurements of the evolution of cold atomic and molecular gas cross-sections of galaxies, and unravel the processes driving the steep evolution in the SFR density. The large sample of H I and OH absorbers obtained from the survey will (i) lead to tightest constraints on the fundamental constants of physics, and (ii) be ideally suited to probe the evolution of magnetic fields in disks of galaxies via Zeeman Splitting or Rotation Measure synthesis. The survey will also provide an unbiased census of H I and OH absorbers, i.e. cold gas associated with powerful AGNs (>1024W Hz−1) at 0 < z < 2, and will simultaneously deliver a blind H I and OH emission line survey, and radio continuum survey. Here, we describe the MALS survey design, observing plan and the science issues to be addressed under various science themes.