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Black Hole

Lensing of space time around a black hole. At Oxford we study black holes observationally and theoretically on all size and time scales - it is some of our core work.

Credit: ALAIN RIAZUELO, IAP/UPMC/CNRS. CLICK HERE TO VIEW MORE IMAGES.

Prof. Matt Jarvis

Professor of Astrophysics

Research theme

  • Astronomy and astrophysics

Sub department

  • Astrophysics

Research groups

  • Cosmology
  • Galaxy formation and evolution
  • Hintze Centre for Astrophysical Surveys
  • MeerKAT
  • Rubin-LSST
  • The Square Kilometre Array (SKA)
Matt.Jarvis@physics.ox.ac.uk
Telephone: 01865 (2)83654
Denys Wilkinson Building, room 703
  • About
  • Publications

Angular correlation functions of bright Lyman-break galaxies at 3 ≲ z ≲ 5

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Oxford University Press (OUP) (2025) staf1651

Authors:

Isabelle Ye, Philip Bull, Rebecca AA Bowler, Rachel K Cochrane, Nathan J Adams, Matt J Jarvis

Abstract:

Abstract We investigate the clustering of Lyman-break galaxies at redshifts of 3 ≲ z ≲ 5 within the COSMOS field by measuring the angular two-point correlation function. Our robust sample of ~60,000 bright (mUV ≲ 27) Lyman-break galaxies was selected based on spectral energy distribution fitting across 14 photometric bands spanning optical and near-infrared wavelengths. We constrained both the 1- and 2-halo terms at separations up to 300 arcsec, finding an excess in the correlation function at scales corresponding to <20 kpc, consistent with enhancement due to clumps in the same galaxy or interactions on this scale. We then performed Bayesian model fits on the correlation functions to infer the Halo Occupation Distribution parameters, star formation duty cycle, and galaxy bias in three redshift bins. We examined several cases where different combinations of parameters were varied, showing that our data can constrain the slope of the satellite occupation function, which previous studies have fixed. For an MUV-limited sub-sample, we found galaxy bias values of $b_g=3.18^{+0.14}_{-0.14}$ at z ≃ 3, $b_g=3.58^{+0.27}_{-0.29}$ at z ≃ 4, $b_g=4.27^{+0.25}_{-0.26}$ at z ≃ 5. The duty cycle values are $0.62^{+0.25}_{-0.26}$, $0.40^{+0.34}_{-0.22}$, and $0.39^{+0.31}_{-0.20}$,respectively. These results suggest that, as the redshift increases, there is a slight decrease in the host halo masses and a shorter timescale for star formation in bright galaxies, at a fixed rest-frame UV luminosity threshold.
More details from the publisher

The Clustering of Active Galactic Nuclei and Star Forming Galaxies in the LoTSS Deep Fields

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Oxford University Press (OUP) (2025) staf1626

Authors:

CL Hale, PN Best, KJ Duncan, R Kondapally, MJ Jarvis, M Magliocchetti, HJA Röttgering, DJ Schwarz, DJB Smith, J Zheng

Abstract:

Abstract Using deep observations across three of the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey Deep Fields, this work measures the angular clustering of star forming galaxies (SFGs) and low-excitation radio galaxies (LERGs) to z ≲1.5 for faint sources, S144 MHz ≥200 μJy. We measure the angular auto-correlation of LOFAR sources in redshift bins and their cross-correlation with multi-wavelength sources to measure the evolving galaxy bias for SFGs and LERGs. Our work shows the bias of the radio-selected SFGs increases from $b=0.90^{+0.11}_{-0.10}$ at z ∼0.2 to $b=2.94^{+0.36}_{-0.36}$ at z ∼1.2; faster than the assumed b($z$)∝1/D($z$) models adopted in previous LOFAR cosmology studies (at sensitivities where AGN dominate), but in broad agreement with previous work. We further study the luminosity dependence of bias for SFGs and find little evidence for any luminosity dependence at fixed redshift, although uncertainties remain large for the sample sizes available. The LERG population instead shows a weaker redshift evolution with $b=2.33^{+0.28}_{-0.27}$ at z ∼0.7 to $b=2.65^{+0.57}_{-0.55}$ at z ∼1.2, though it is also consistent with the assumed bias evolution model (b($z$)∝1/D($z$)) within the measured uncertainties. For those LERGs which reside in quiescent galaxies (QLERGs), there is weak evidence that they are more biased than the general LERG population and evolve from b=$2.62^{+0.33}_{-0.33}$ at z ∼0.7 to $b=3.08^{+0.85}_{-0.84}$ at z ∼1.2. This suggests the halo environment of radio sources may be related to their properties. These measurements can help constrain models for the bias evolution of these source populations, and can help inform multi-tracer analyses.
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The dependence of the Type Ia Supernova colour–luminosity relation on their host galaxy properties

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Oxford University Press (OUP) (2025) staf1570

Authors:

S Ramaiya, M Vincenzi, MJ Jarvis, P Wiseman, M Sullivan

Abstract:

Abstract Using the Dark Energy Survey 5-year sample, we determine the properties of type Ia supernova (SN Ia) host galaxies across a wide multi-wavelength range – from the optical to far-infrared – including data from the Herschel and Spitzer space telescopes. We categorise the SNe Ia into three distinct groups according to the distribution of their host galaxies on the star-formation rate (SFR) – stellar mass (M⋆) plane. Each region comprises host galaxies at distinct stages in their evolutionary pathways: Region 1 – low-mass hosts; Region 2 – high-mass, star-forming hosts and Region 3 – high-mass, passive hosts. We find SNe Ia in host galaxies located in Region 1 have the steepest slope (quantified by β) between their colours and luminosities, with $\beta _{\mathrm{R_1}} = 3.51 \pm 0.16$. This differs at the ∼6σ significance level to SNe Ia in Region 3, which have the shallowest colour–luminosity slope with $\beta _{\mathrm{R_3}} = 2.12 \pm 0.16$. After correcting SNe Ia in each subsample by their respective β, events in Region 3 (high-mass, passive hosts) are 0.07 − 0.12 mag (>3σ) brighter, post-standardisation. We conclude that future cosmological analyses should apply standardisation relations to SNe Ia based upon the region in which the SN host galaxy lies in the SFR–M⋆ plane. Alternatively, cosmological analyses should restrict the SN Ia sample to events whose host galaxies occupy a single region of this plane.
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Evidence for inverse Compton scattering in high-redshift Lyman-break galaxies

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2025) staf1505

Authors:

IH Whittam, MJ Jarvis, Eric J Murphy, NJ Adams, RAA Bowler, A Matthews, RG Varadaraj, CL Hale, I Heywood, K Knowles, L Marchetti, N Seymour, F Tabatabaei, AR Taylor, M Vaccari, A Verma

Abstract:

Radio continuum emission provides a unique opportunity to study star-formation unbiased by dust obscuration. However, if radio observations are to be used to accurately trace star-formation to high redshifts, it is crucial that the physical processes which affect the radio emission from star-forming galaxies are well understood. While inverse Compton (IC) losses from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) are negligible in the local universe, the rapid increase in the strength of the CMB energy density with redshift [∼(1 + z)4] means that this effect becomes increasingly important at z ≳ 3. Using a sample of ∼200, 000 high-redshift (3 < z < 5) Lyman-break galaxies selected in the rest-frame ultraviolet (UV), we have stacked radio observations from the MIGHTEE survey to estimate their 1.4-GHz flux densities. We find that for a given rest-frame UV magnitude, the 1.4-GHz flux density and luminosity decrease with redshift. We compare these results to the theoretical predicted effect of energy losses due to inverse Compton scattering off the CMB, and find that the observed decrease is consistent with this explanation. We discuss other possible causes for the observed decrease in radio flux density with redshift at a given UV magnitude, such as a top-heavy initial mass function at high redshift or an evolution of the dust properties, but suggest that inverse Compton scattering is the most compelling explanation.
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MIGHTEE-HI: the radial acceleration relation with resolved stellar mass measurements

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Oxford University Press 541:3 (2025) 2366-2392

Authors:

Andreea A Vărăşteanu, Matt J Jarvis, Anastasia A Ponomareva, Harry Desmond, Ian Heywood, Tariq Yasin, Natasha Maddox, Marcin Glowacki, Michalina Maksymowicz-Maciata, Pavel E Mancera Piña, Hengxing Pan

Abstract:

The radial acceleration relation (RAR) is a fundamental relation linking baryonic and dark matter in galaxies by relating the observed acceleration derived from dynamics to the one estimated from the baryonic mass. This relation exhibits small scatter, thus providing key constraints for models of galaxy formation and evolution – allowing us to map the distribution of dark matter in galaxies – as well as models of modified dynamics. However, it has only been extensively studied in the very local Universe with largely heterogeneous samples. We present a new measurement of the RAR, utilizing a homogeneous sample of 19 H i-selected galaxies out to . We introduce a novel approach of measuring resolved stellar masses using spectral energy distribution fitting across 10 photometric bands to determine the resolved mass-to-light ratio, which we show is essential for measuring the acceleration due to baryons in the low-acceleration regime. Our results reveal a tight RAR with a low-acceleration power-law slope of , consistent with previous studies. Adopting a spatially varying mass-to-light ratio yields the tightest RAR with an intrinsic scatter of only dex, highlighting the importance of resolved stellar mass measurements in accurately characterizing the gravitational contribution of the baryons in low-mass, gas-rich galaxies. We also find the first tentative evidence for redshift evolution in the acceleration scale, but more data will be required to confirm this. Adopting a more general MOND interpolating function, we find that our results ameliorate the tension between previous RAR analyses, the Solar System quadrupole, and wide-binary test.
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