MeerKAT

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 () 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 , forming the first sample of detections with an interferometer, with the highest redshift detection at . 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 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:

We investigate the clustering of Lyman-break galaxies at redshifts of 3 5 within the COSMOS field by measuring the angular two-point correlation function. Our robust sample of 60 000 bright () 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 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 -limited sub-sample, we found galaxy bias values of at , at , at . The duty cycle values are , , and , respectively. These results suggest that, as the redshift increases, there is a slight decrease in the host halo masses and a shorter time-scale for star formation in bright galaxies, at a fixed rest-frame UV luminosity threshold.

Abstract:

Abstract This study investigates the estimation of the neutral hydrogen (H i) mass function (HiMF) using a Bayesian stacking approach with simulated data for the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) H i intensity mapping (HiIM) drift-scan surveys. Using data from the IllustrisTNG simulation, we construct H i sky cubes at redshift z ∼ 0.1 and the corresponding optical galaxy catalogs, simulating FAST observations under various survey strategies, including pilot, deep-field, and ultradeep-field surveys. The HiMF is measured for distinct galaxy populations—classified by optical properties into red, blue, and bluer galaxies—and injected with systematic effects such as observational noise and flux confusion caused by the FAST beam. The results show that Bayesian stacking significantly enhances HiMF measurements. For red and blue galaxies, the HiMF can be well constrained with pilot surveys, while deeper surveys are required for the bluer galaxy population. Our analysis also reveals that sample variance dominates over observational noise, emphasizing the importance of wide-field surveys to improve constraints. Furthermore, flux confusion shifts the HiMF toward higher masses, which we address using a transfer function for correction. Finally, we explore the effects of intrinsic sample incompleteness and propose a framework to quantify its impact. This work lays the groundwork for future HiMF studies with FAST HiIM, addressing key challenges and enabling robust analyses of H i content across galaxy populations.

Abstract:

Stars in galactic centres are occasionally scattered so close to the central supermassive black hole that they are completely disrupted by tidal forces, initiating a transient accretion event. The aftermath of such a tidal disruption event (TDE) produces a bright-and-blue accretion flow that is known to persist for at least a decade (observationally) and can in principle produce ionizing radiation for hundreds of years. TDEs are known (observationally) to be overrepresented in galaxies that show extended emission-line regions (EELRs), with no pre-TDE classical active galactic nucleus activity, and to produce transient ‘coronal lines’, such as [Fe x] and [Fe xiv]. Using coupled cloudy-TDE disc simulations we show that TDE discs produce a sufficient ionizing radiation flux over their lifetimes to power both EELR of radial extents of light years, and coronal lines. EELRs are produced when the ionizing radiation interacts with low-density () clouds on galactic scales, while coronal lines are produced by high-density () clouds near the galactic centre. High-density gas in galactic centres will also result in the rapid switching on of narrow-line features in post-TDE galaxies, and also various high-ionization lines, which may be observed throughout the infrared with James Webb Space Telescope. Galaxies with a higher intrinsic rate of TDEs will be more likely to show macroscopic EELRs, which can be traced to originate from the previous TDE in that galaxy.

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 1.5 for faint sources, 200 Jy. We measure the angular auto-correlation of LOFAR sources in redshift bins and their cross-correlation with multiwavelength sources to measure the evolving galaxy bias for SFGs and LERGs. Our work shows the bias of the radio-selected SFGs increases from = at 0.2 to = at 1.2; faster than the assumed models adopted in previous LOFAR cosmology studies (at sensitivities where active galactic nuclei 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 = at 0.7 to = at 1.2, though it is also consistent with the assumed bias evolution model () within the measured uncertainties. For those LERGs that reside in quiescent galaxies, there is weak evidence that they are more biased than the general LERG population and evolve from = at 0.7 to = at 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.