Galaxy formation and evolution

Abstract:

ABSTRACT Atomic hydrogen constitutes the gas reservoir from which molecular gas and star formation in galaxies emerges. However, the weakness of the line means it has been difficult to directly detect in all but the very local Universe. Here, we present results from the first search using the MeerKAT International Tiered Extragalactic Exploration (MIGHTEE) Survey for high-redshift ($z>0.25$) H i emission from individual galaxies. By searching for 21-cm emission centred on the position and redshift of optically selected emission-line galaxies we overcome difficulties that hinder untargeted searches. We detect 11 galaxies at $z>0.25$, forming the first sample of $z>0.25$ detections with an interferometer, with the highest redshift detection at $z = 0.3841$. We find they have much larger H i masses than their low-redshift H i-selected counterparts for a given stellar mass. This can be explained by the much larger cosmological volume probed at these high redshifts, and does not require any evolution of the H i mass function. We make the first-ever measurement of the baryonic Tully–Fisher relation (bTFr) with H  i at $z>0.25$ and find consistency with the local bTFr, but with tentative evidence of a flattening in the relation at these redshifts for higher-mass objects. This may signify evolution, in line with predictions from hydrodynamic simulations, or that the molecular gas mass in these high-mass galaxies could be significant. This study paves the way for future studies of H i beyond the local Universe, using both searches targeted at known objects and via pure H i selection.

Abstract:

Abstract We re-analysed ALMA observations of the [O iii] λ88μm emission line in JADES-GS-z14-0, so one of the most distant spectroscopically confirmed galaxy at z=14.18. Our analysis shows a tentative detection of a velocity gradient of [O iii] λ88μm using three independent tests: (1) construction of moment maps; (2) extraction of integrated spectra from a grid of apertures; and (3) spectro-astrometry in both the image and uv planes, confirming the presence of the velocity gradient at 3σ significance. We performed kinematical fitting using the KinMS code and estimated a dynamical mass of log10(Mdyn/$\rm M_\odot$)= 9.4$^{+0.8}_{-0.4}$, with the bulk of the uncertainties due to the degeneracy between dynamical mass and inclination. We measure an upper limit on the velocity dispersion (σv) of <40 km s−1 which results in an estimate of Vrot/σ > 2.5. This result, if confirmed with higher-resolution observations, would imply that kinematically cold discs are already in place at z ∼ 14. Comparison with mock observations from the SERRA cosmological simulations confirms that even low-resolution observations are capable of detecting a velocity gradient in z > 10 galaxies as compact as JADES-GS-z14-0. This work shows that deeper ALMA or JWST/NIRSpec IFS observations with high spatial resolution will be able to estimate an accurate dynamical mass for JADES-GS-z14-0, providing an upper limit to the stellar mass of this over-luminous galaxy.

Abstract:

JWST has shed light on galaxy formation and metal enrichment within 300 Myr of the Big Bang. While luminous galaxies at z > 10 often show significant [O iii] λλ4959, 5007 emission lines, it remains unclear whether such features are prevalent among fainter, more typical galaxies due to observational limits. We present deep imaging and spectroscopy of JADES-GS-z14-1 at zspec=13.86−0.05+0.04 , currently the faintest spectroscopically confirmed galaxy at z ≈ 14. It serendipitously received 70.7 hr of MIRI/F770W imaging in the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES), the deepest MIRI exposure for any high-redshift galaxy to date. Nonetheless, we detect only tentative F770W emission of 7.9 ± 2.8 nJy at 2.8σ significance, constraining the total equivalent width of [O iii] λλ4959, 5007 + Hβ to 520−380+400 Å, weaker than most z > 10 galaxies with MIRI detections. This source is unresolved across 16 NIRCam bands, implying a physical radius ≲50 pc. NIRSpec/PRISM spectroscopy totaling 56 hr reveals no rest-frame ultraviolet emission lines above 3σ. Stellar population synthesis suggests a stellar mass ∼4 × 107 M⊙ and a star formation rate ∼2 M⊙ yr−1. The absence of strong metal emission lines despite intense star formation suggests a gas-phase metallicity below 10% solar and potentially a high escape fraction of ionizing photons. These deep observations provide rare constraints on faint, early galaxies, tracing the onset of chemical enrichment and ionization in the early Universe.

Abstract:

ABSTRACT We investigate the evolution of black holes on orbits with small inclinations ($i < 2^\circ$) to the gaseous discs of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We perform 3D adiabatic hydrodynamic simulations within a shearing frame, studying the damping of inclination by black hole-gas gravitation. We find that for objects with $i< 3H_0R_0^{-1}$, where $H_0R_0^{-1}$ is the disc aspect ratio, the inclination lost per mid-plane crossing is proportional to the inclination preceding the crossing, resulting in a net exponential decay in inclination. For objects with $i>3H_0R_0^{-1}$, damping efficiency decreases for higher inclinations. We consider a variety of different AGN environments, finding that damping is stronger for systems with a higher ambient Hill mass: the initial gas mass within the BH sphere of influence. We provide a fitting formula for the inclination changes as a function of Hill mass. We find reasonable agreement between the damping driven by gas gravity in the simulations and the damping driven by accretion under a Hill-limited Bondi–Hoyle–Lyttleton prescription. We find that gas dynamical friction consistently overestimates the strength of damping, especially for lower inclination systems, by at least an order of magnitude. For regions in the AGN disc where coplanar binary black hole formation by gas dissipation is efficient, we find that the simulated damping time-scales are especially short with $\tau _d < 10P_\mathrm{SMBH}$. We conclude that as the time-scales for inclination damping are shorter than the expected interaction time between isolated black holes, the vast majority of binaries formed from gas capture should form from components with negligible inclination to the AGN disc.