Galaxy formation and evolution

Abstract:

We present 7-180μm photometry of a sample of hyperluminous infrared galaxies (HyLIGs) obtained with the photometer and camera mounted on the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). We have used state-of-the-art' radiative transfer models of obscured starbursts and dusty tori to model their broadband spectral energy distributions (SEDs). We find that IRAS F00235+1024, IRAS F14218+3845 and IRAS F15307+3252 require a combination of starburst and AGN components to explain their mid to far-infrared emission, while for TXS0052+471 a dust torus model alone is sufficient. For IRAS F00235+1024 and IRAS F14218+3845 the starburst component is the predominant contributor whereas for IRAS F15307+3252 the dust torus component dominates. The implied star formation rates (SFR) estimated from the starburst infrared luminosities are dM*,all/dt > 1000M⊙yr^-1h50^-2 and are amongst the highest SFRs estimated to date. We also demonstrate that the well-known radio-FIR correlation observed for extragalactic sources extends into both higher radio and infrared power than previously investigated. The relation for HyLIGs has a mean q value of 1.94. The results of this study imply that better sampling of the IR SEDs of HyLIGs may reveal that both AGN and starburst components are required to explain their emission from the NIR to the sub-millimetre.

Abstract:

We describe a major study of radio source host galaxies being carried out with the HST and ground-based facilities. Our sample is selected from 4 complete samples with different radio flux-density limits, giving a range of three orders of magnitude in radio luminosity at a fixed epoch (z=0.5). High-resolution HST WFPC2 imaging shows that all 44 radio galaxies have flux distributions well fit by an r^1/4 law and lying on the Kormendy relation defined by lower redshift ellipticals with a shift in the zero-point to account for passive evolution. Spectroscopic follow-up enables stellar velocity dispersions to be determined and black hole masses estimated. The clustering environments of the radio galaxies are being probed via multi-colour wide-field imaging. Together, these data allow a detailed investigation of how factors such as clustering environment, close interactions and star-formation history affect the accretion rate, ionizing luminosity and jet production from supermassive black holes. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Abstract:

We present the results of deep VLT-ISAAC Ks-band imaging of four z∼1.5 flat-spectrum quasars selected from the Parkes half-Jansky flat spectrum sample. We find that the hosts of these flat-spectrum quasars are consistent with lying on the K-z Hubble relation for radio galaxies. This implies that the flat-spectrum quasar hosts fall in line with the expectations from orientation based unified schemes and also that they contain black holes of similar mass. Moreover, the width of the Hβ broad emission line in these objects tends to be narrower than in their misaligned (low-frequency selected quasar) counterparts, implying that the width of the Hβ broad emission line depends on source inclination, at least for radio-loud quasars, in line with previous studies. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.