Cosmology

Abstract:

We present a robust calibration of the 1.4 GHz radio continuum star formation rate (SFR) using a combination of the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey and the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-cm (FIRST) survey. We identify individually detected 1.4 GHz GAMA-FIRST sources and use a late-type, non-AGN, volume-limited sample from GAMA to produce stellar mass-selected samples. The latter are then combined to produce FIRST-stacked images. This extends the robust parametrisation of the 1.4 GHz-SFR relation to faint luminosities. For both the individually detected galaxies and our stacked samples, we compare 1.4 GHz luminosity to SFRs derived from GAMA to determine a new 1.4 GHz luminosity-to-SFR relation with well constrained slope and normalisation. For the first time, we produce the radio SFR-M⇤ relation over 2 decades in stellar mass, and find that our new calibration is robust, and produces a SFR-M⇤relation which is consistent with all other GAMA SFR methods. Finally, using our new 1.4 GHz luminosity-to-SFR calibration we make predictions for the number of star-forming GAMA sources which are likely to be detected in the upcoming ASKAP surveys, EMU and DINGO.

Abstract:

Observations using the 7 mm receiver system on the Australia Telescope Compact Array have revealed large reservoirs of molecular gas in two high-redshift radio galaxies: HATLAS J090426.9+015448 (zz = 2.37) and HATLAS J140930.4+003803 (zz = 2.04). Optically the targets are very faint, and spectroscopy classifies them as narrow-line radio galaxies. In addition to harbouring an active galactic nucleus the targets share many characteristics of sub-mm galaxies. Far-infrared data from Herschel-ATLAS suggest high levels of dust (>109 M⊙) and a correspondingly large amount of obscured star formation (∼1000 M⊙ / yr). The molecular gas is traced via the J = 1 → 0 transition of 12CO, its luminosity implying total H2 masses of (1.7 ± 0.3) × 1011 and (9.5 ± 2.4) × 1010 (αCO/0.8) M⊙ in HATLAS J090426.9+015448 and HATLAS J140930.4+003803 respectively. Both galaxies exhibit molecular line emission over a broad (∼1000 km/s) velocity range, and feature double-peaked profiles. We interpret this as evidence of either a large rotating disk or an on-going merger. Gas depletion timescales are ∼100 Myr. The 1.4 GHz radio luminosities of our targets place them close to the break in the luminosity function. As such they represent ‘typical’ zz > 2 radio sources, responsible for the bulk of the energy emitted at radio wavelengths from accretion-powered sources at high redshift, and yet they rank amongst the most massive systems in terms of molecular gas and dust content. We also detect 115 GHz rest-frame continuum emission, indicating a very steep high-radio-frequency spectrum, possibly classifying the targets as compact steep spectrum objects.

Abstract:

Using the Oxford ShortWavelength Integral Field specTrograph, we trace radial variations of initial mass function (IMF)-sensitive absorption features of three galaxies in the Coma cluster. We obtain resolved spectroscopy of the central 5 kpc for the two central brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) NGC4889, NGC4874, and the BCG in the south-west group NGC4839, as well as unresolved data for NGC4873 as a low-σ* control.We present radial measurements of the IMF-sensitive features: sodium Na I SDSS , calcium triplet CaT, and iron-hydride FeH0.99, along with the magnesium Mg I0.88 and titanium oxide TiO0.89 features. We employ two separate methods for both telluric correction and sky subtraction around the faint FeH feature to verify our analysis. Within NGC4889 we find strong gradients of Na I SDSS and CaT but a flat FeH profile, which, from comparing to stellar population synthesis models, suggests an old, α-enhanced population with a Chabrier, or even bottom-light IMF. The age and abundance are in line with previous studies but the normal IMF is in contrast to recent results suggesting an increased IMF slope with increased velocity dispersion.We measure flat Na I SDSS and FeH profiles within NGC4874, and determine an old, possibly slightly α-enhanced and Chabrier IMF population. We find an α-enhanced, Chabrier IMF population in NGC4873. Within NGC4839 we measure both strong Na I SDSS and strong FeH, although with a large systematic uncertainty, suggesting a possible heavier IMF. The IMFswe infer for these galaxies are supported by published dynamical modelling. We stress that IMF constraints should be corroborated by further spectral coverage and independent methods on a galaxy-by-galaxy basis.

Abstract:

A complete sample of 96 faint ($S > 0.5$ mJy) radio galaxies is selected from the Tenth Cambridge (10C) survey at 15.7~GHz. Optical spectra are used to classify 17 of the sources as high-excitation or low-excitation radio galaxies (HERGs and LERGs respectively), for the remaining sources three other methods are used; these are optical compactness, X-ray observations and mid-infrared colour--colour diagrams. 32 sources are HERGs and 35 are LERGs while the remaining 29 sources could not be classified. We find that the 10C HERGs tend to have higher 15.7-GHz flux densities, flatter spectra, smaller linear sizes and be found at higher redshifts than the LERGs. This suggests that the 10C HERGs are more core dominated than the LERGs. Lower-frequency radio images, linear sizes and spectral indices are used to classify the sources according to their radio morphology; 18 are Fanaroff and Riley type I or II sources, a further 13 show some extended emission, and the remaining 65 sources are compact and are referred to as FR0 sources. The FR0 sources are sub-divided into compact, steep-spectrum (CSS) sources (13 sources) or GHz-peaked spectrum (GPS) sources (10 sources) with the remaining 42 in an unclassified class. FR0 sources are more dominant in the subset of sources with 15.7-GHz flux densities $<$1 mJy, consistent with the previous result that the fainter 10C sources have flatter radio spectra. The properties of the 10C sources are compared to the higher-flux density Australia Telescope 20 GHz (AT20G) survey. The 10C sources are found at similar redshifts to the AT20G sources but have lower luminosities. The nature of the high-frequency selected objects change as flux density decreases; at high flux densities the objects are primarily quasars, while at low flux densities radio galaxies dominate.

Abstract:

Filaments of the cosmic web drive spin acquisition of disc galaxies. The point process of filament-type saddle represent best this environment and can be used to revisit the Tidal Torque Theory in the context of an anisotropic peak (saddle) background split. The constrained misalignment between the tidal tensor and the Hessian of the density field generated in the vicinity of filament saddle points simply explains the corresponding transverse and longitudinal point-reflection symmetric geometry of spin distribution. It predicts in particular an azimuthal orientation of the spins of more massive galaxies and spin alignment with the filament for less massive galaxies. Its scale dependence also allows us to relate the transition mass corresponding to the alignment of dark matter halos spin relative to the direction of their neighboring filament to this geometry, and to predict accordingly it s scaling with the mass of non linearity, as was measured in simulations.