Empirical constraints for the magnitude and composition of galactic winds

Galactic winds are a key physical mechanism for understanding galaxy formation and evolution, yet empirical and theoretical constraints for the character of winds are limited and discrepant. Recent empirical models find that local star-forming galaxies have a deficit of oxygen that scales with galaxy stellar mass. The oxygen deficit provides unique empirical constraints on the magnitude of mass loss, composition of outflowing material and metal reaccretion onto galaxies. We formulate the oxygen deficit constraints so they may be easily implemented into theoretical models of galaxy evolution. We parameterize an effective metal loading factor which combines the uncertainties of metal outflows and metal reaccretion into a single function of galaxy virial velocity. We determine the effective metal loading factor by forward-fitting the oxygen deficit. The effective metal loading factor we derive has important implications for the implementation of mass loss in models of galaxy evolution.     

The effect of dwarf galaxy disruption in semi-analytic models

We present results for a galaxy formation model that includes a simple treatment for the disruption of dwarf galaxies by gravitational forces and galaxy encounters within galaxy clusters. This is implemented a posteriori in a semi-analytic model by considering the stability of cluster dark matter subhaloes at   z = 0  . We assume that a galaxy whose dark matter substructure has been disrupted will itself disperse, while its stars become part of the population of intracluster stars responsible for the observed intracluster light. Despite the simplicity of this assumption, our results show a substantial improvement over previous models and indicate that the inclusion of galaxy disruption is indeed a necessary ingredient of galaxy formation models. We find that galaxy disruption suppresses the number density of dwarf galaxies by about a factor of 2. This makes the slope of the faint end of the galaxy luminosity function shallower, in agreement with observations. In particular, the abundance of faint, red galaxies is strongly suppressed. As a result, the luminosity function of red galaxies and the distinction between the red and the blue galaxy populations in colour–magnitude relationships are correctly predicted. Finally, we estimate a fraction of intracluster light comparable to that found in clusters of galaxies.     

Dark matter haloes in interacting isolated galaxy pairs: The Importance of the Hα rotation curve

We present Hα scanning Fabry-Perot observations of the interacting galaxy pair NGC 3893/96 (Kar 302), an M51-type galaxy pair. The velocity field and rotation curve of the main galaxy (NGC 3893) were derived. These show the galaxy follows a rather axisymmetric behaviour. Together with HI observations, several mass models were adjusted in order to study the nature of the dark halo as well as the mass-to-light ratio of the galaxy. We find that in order to constrain these models, it is important to have a high resolution Hα rotation curve for the inner parts of the galaxy. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Tidal alignments as a contaminant of redshift space distortions

We investigate the effect of orientation-dependent selection effects on galaxy clustering in redshift space. It is found that if galaxies are aligned by large-scale tidal fields, then these selection effects give rise to a dependence of the observed galaxy density on the local tidal field, in addition to the well-known dependences on the matter density and radial velocity gradient. This alters the galaxy power spectrum in a way that is different for Fourier modes parallel to and perpendicular to the line of sight. These tidal galaxy alignments can thus mimic redshift space distortions (RSD), and thus result in a bias in the measurement of the velocity power spectrum. If galaxy orientations are affected only by the local tidal field, then the tidal alignment effect has exactly the same scale and angular dependence as the RSDs in the linear regime, so it cannot be projected out or removed by masking small scales in the analysis. We consider several toy models of tidal alignments and orientation-dependent selection, normalize their free parameter (an amplitude) to recent observations, and find that they could bias the velocity amplitude   f ( z ) G ( z )  by 5–10 per cent in some models, although most models give much smaller contamination. We conclude that tidal alignments may be a significant systematic error in RSD measurements that aim to test general relativity via the growth of large-scale structure. We briefly discuss possible mitigation strategies.     

Testing model predictions of the cold dark matter cosmology for the sizes, colours, morphologies and luminosities of galaxies with the SDSS

The huge size and uniformity of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) make possible an exacting test of current models of galaxy formation. We compare the predictions of the galform semi-analytical galaxy formation model for the luminosities, morphologies, colours and scalelengths of local galaxies. galform models the luminosity and size of the disc and bulge components of a galaxy, and so we can compute quantities which can be compared directly with SDSS observations, such as the Petrosian magnitude and the Sérsic index. We test the predictions of two published models set in the cold dark matter cosmology: the Baugh et al. model, which assumes a top-heavy initial mass function (IMF) in starbursts and superwind feedback, and the Bower et al. model, which uses active galactic nucleus feedback and a standard IMF. The Bower et al. model better reproduces the overall shape of the luminosity function, the morphology–luminosity relation and the colour bimodality observed in the SDSS data, but gives a poor match to the size–luminosity relation. The Baugh et al. model successfully predicts the size–luminosity relation for late-type galaxies. Both models fail to reproduce the sizes of bright early-type galaxies. These problems highlight the need to understand better both the role of feedback processes in determining galaxy sizes, in particular the treatment of the angular momentum of gas reheated by supernovae, and the sizes of the stellar spheroids formed by galaxy mergers and disc instabilities.     

The growth and assembly of a massive galaxy at z∼ 2

We study the stellar mass assembly of the Spiderweb galaxy  (MRC 1138−262)  , a massive   z = 2.2  radio galaxy in a protocluster and the probable progenitor of a brightest cluster galaxy. Nearby protocluster galaxies are identified and their properties are determined by fitting stellar population models to their rest-frame ultraviolet to optical spectral energy distributions. We find that within 150 kpc of the radio galaxy the stellar mass is centrally concentrated in the radio galaxy, yet most of the dust-uncorrected, instantaneous star formation occurs in the surrounding low-mass satellite galaxies. We predict that most of the galaxies within 150 kpc of the radio galaxy will merge with the central radio galaxy by   z = 0  , increasing its stellar mass by up to a factor of ≃2. However, it will take several hundred Myr for the first mergers to occur, by which time the large star formation rates are likely to have exhausted the gas reservoirs in the satellite galaxies. The tidal radii of the satellite galaxies are small, suggesting that stars and gas are being stripped and deposited at distances of tens of kpc from the central radio galaxy. These stripped stars may become intracluster stars or form an extended stellar halo around the radio galaxy, such as those observed around cD galaxies in cluster cores.     

Tracing the nature of dark energy with galaxy distribution

Dynamical dark energy (DE) is a viable alternative to the cosmological constant. Constructing tests to discriminate between Λ and dynamical DE models is difficult, however, because the differences are not large. In this paper we explore tests based on the galaxy mass function, the void probability function (VPF), and the number of galaxy clusters. At high z , the number density of clusters shows large differences between DE models, but geometrical factors reduce the differences substantially. We find that detecting a model dependence in the cluster redshift distribution is a significant challenge. We show that the galaxy redshift distribution is potentially a more sensitive characteristic. We do this by populating dark matter haloes in N -body simulations with galaxies using well-tested halo occupation distributions. We also estimate the VPF and find that samples with the same angular surface density of galaxies, in different models, exhibition almost model-independent VPF which therefore cannot be used as a test for DE. Once again, geometry and cosmic evolution compensate each other. By comparing VPFs for samples with fixed galaxy mass limits, we find measurable differences.     

The stellar populations of spiral galaxies

We have used a large sample of low-inclination spiral galaxies with radially resolved optical and near-infrared photometry to investigate trends in star formation history with radius as a function of galaxy structural parameters. A maximum-likelihood method was used to match all the available photometry of our sample to the colours predicted by stellar population synthesis models. The use of simplistic star formation histories, uncertainties in the stellar population models and considering the importance of dust all compromise the absolute ages and metallicities derived in this work; however, our conclusions are robust in a relative sense. We find that most spiral galaxies have stellar population gradients, in the sense that their inner regions are older and more metal rich than their outer regions. Our main conclusion is that the surface density of a galaxy drives its star formation history, perhaps through a local density dependence in the star formation law. The mass of a galaxy is a less important parameter; the age of a galaxy is relatively unaffected by its mass; however, the metallicity of galaxies depends on both surface density and mass. This suggests that galaxy‐mass-dependent feedback is an important process in the chemical evolution of galaxies. In addition, there is significant cosmic scatter suggesting that mass and density may not be the only parameters affecting the star formation history of a galaxy.     

Galaxy density profiles and shapes – II. Selection biases in strong lensing surveys

Many current and future astronomical surveys will rely on samples of strong gravitational lens systems to draw conclusions about galaxy mass distributions. We use a new strong lensing pipeline (presented in Paper I of this series) to explore selection biases that may cause the population of strong lensing systems to differ from the general galaxy population. Our focus is on point-source lensing by early-type galaxies with two mass components (stellar and dark matter) that have a variety of density profiles and shapes motivated by observational and theoretical studies of galaxy properties. We seek not only to quantify but also to understand the physics behind selection biases related to: galaxy mass, orientation and shape; dark matter profile parameters such as inner slope and concentration; and adiabatic contraction. We study how all of these properties affect the lensing Einstein radius, total cross-section, quad/double ratio and image separation distribution, with a flexible treatment of magnification bias to mimic different survey strategies. We present our results for two families of density profiles: cusped and deprojected Sérsic models. While we use fixed lens and source redshifts for most of the analysis, we show that the results are applicable to other redshift combinations, and we also explore the physics of how our results change for very different redshifts. We find significant (factors of several) selection biases with mass; orientation, for a given galaxy shape at fixed mass; cusped dark matter profile inner slope and concentration; concentration of the stellar and dark matter deprojected Sérsic models. Interestingly, the intrinsic shape of a galaxy does not strongly influence its lensing cross-section when we average over viewing angles. Our results are an important first step towards understanding how strong lens systems relate to the general galaxy population.     

Numerical simulations of interacting gas-rich barred galaxies: vertical impact of small companions

We investigate the dynamical effects of an interaction between an initially barred galaxy and a small spherical companion using an N -body/smoothed-particle-hydrodynamics algorithm. In the models described here the small companion passes through the disc of the larger galaxy nearly perpendicular to its plane. The impact positions and times are varied with respect to the phase of the bar and the dynamical evolution of the disc.
The interactions produce expanding ring structures, offset bars, spokes and other asymmetries in the stars and gas. These characteristic signatures of the interaction are present in the disc for about 1 Gyr. We find that in some cases it is possible to destroy the bar while keeping the disc structure. In general, the central impacts cause larger damage to the bar and the disc than the peripheral ones. The interaction tends to accelerate the transition from a strongly-barred galaxy to a weakly- or non-barred galaxy. The final disc morphology is determined more by the impact position relative to the bar rather than the impact time.     

基于SE-Inception-v3的星系形态分类模型

随着天文探测技术的快速发展, 海量的星系图像数据不断产生, 能够及时高效地对星系图像进行形态分类对研究星系的形成与演化至关重要. 针对传统的星系形态分类模型特征选择困难、分类速度慢、准确率受限等难题, 提出一种以Inception-v3神经网络为主干结构, 融合压缩激励(Squeeze and Excitation Network, SE)通道注意力机制的星系形态分类模型. 该模型在斯隆数字巡天(Sloan Digital Sky Survey, SDSS)样本的测试集准确率高达99.37%. 旋涡星系、圆形星系、中间星系、雪茄状星系与侧向星系的F1值分别为99.33%、99.58%、99.33%、99.41%与99.16%. 该模型与Inception-v3、MobileNet (Mobile Neural Network)和ResNet (Residual Neural Network)网络模型相比, SE-Inception-v3宽度和深度优势表现出更强的特征提取能力, 可以高效识别不同形态的星系, 为未来大型巡天计划的大规模星系形态分类问题提供了一种新方法.     

Radial orbital anisotropy and the Fundamental Plane of elliptical galaxies

The existence of the Fundamental Plane imposes strong constraints on the structure and dynamics of elliptical galaxies, and thus contains important information on the processes of their formation and evolution. Here we focus on the relations between the Fundamental Plane thinness and tilt and the amount of radial orbital anisotropy: in fact, the problem of the compatibility between the observed thinness of the Fundamental Plane and the wide spread of orbital anisotropy admitted by galaxy models has often been raised. By using N -body simulations of galaxy models characterized by observationally motivated density profiles, and also allowing for the presence of live, massive dark matter haloes, we explore the impact of radial orbital anisotropy and instability on the Fundamental Plane properties. The numerical results confirm a previous semi-analytical finding (based on a different class of one-component galaxy models): the requirement of stability matches almost exactly the thinness of the Fundamental Plane. In other words, galaxy models that are radially anisotropic enough to be found outside the observed Fundamental Plane (with their isotropic parent models lying on the Fundamental Plane) are unstable, and their end-products fall back on the Fundamental Plane itself. We also find that a systematic increase of radial orbit anisotropy with galaxy luminosity cannot explain by itself the whole tilt of the Fundamental Plane, the galaxy models becoming unstable at moderately high luminosities: at variance with the previous case, their end-products are found well outside the Fundamental Plane itself. Some physical implications of these findings are discussed in detail.     

Evolutionary synthesis models for galaxy transformation in clusters

The galaxy population in rich local galaxy clusters shows a ratio of one quarter elliptical galaxies, two quarters S0 galaxies, and one quarter spiral galaxies. Observations of clusters at redshift 0.5 show a perspicuously different ratio, the dominant galaxy type are spiral galaxies with a fraction of two quarters while the number of S0 galaxies decreases to a fraction of one quarter (Dressler et al. 1997). This shows an evolution of the galaxy population in clusters since redshift 0.5 and it has been suspected that galaxy transformation processes during the infall into a cluster are responsible for this change. These could be merging, starburst or ram-pressure stripping. We use our evolutionary synthesis models to describe various possible effects of those interactions on the star formation of spiral galaxies infalling into clusters. We study the effects of starbursts of various strengths as well as of the truncation of star formation at various epochs on the color and luminosity evolution of model galaxies of various spectral types. As a first application we present the comparison of our models with observed properties of the local S0 galaxy population to constrain possible S0 formation mechanisms in clusters. Application to other types of galaxies is planned for the future. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Chemo-spectrophotometric evolution of spiral galaxies – V. Properties of galactic discs at high redshift

We explore the implications for the high-redshift universe of 'state-of-the-art' models for the chemical and spectrophotometric evolution of spiral galaxies. The models are based on simple 'scaling relations' for discs, obtained in the framework of cold dark matter models for galaxy formation, and were 'calibrated' so as to reproduce the properties of the Milky Way and of nearby discs (at redshift z ∼0) . In this paper, we compare the predictions of our 'hybrid' approach to galaxy evolution to observations at moderate and high redshift. We find that the models are in fairly good agreement with observations up to z ∼1 , while some problems appear at higher redshift (provided there is no selection bias in the data); these discrepancies may suggest that galaxy mergers (not considered in this work) played a non-negligible role at z >1 . We also predict the existence of a 'universal' correlation between abundance gradients and disc scalelengths, independent of redshift.     

Constraints on σ8 from galaxy clustering in N-body simulations and semi-analytic models

We generate mock galaxy catalogues for a grid of different cosmologies, using rescaled N -body simulations in tandem with a semi-analytic model run using consistent parameters. Because we predict the galaxy bias, rather than fitting it as a nuisance parameter, we obtain an almost pure constraint on σ₈ by comparing the projected two-point correlation function we obtain to that from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). A systematic error arises because different semi-analytic modelling assumptions allow us to fit the r -band luminosity function equally well. Combining our estimate of the error from this source with the statistical error, we find  σ₈= 0.97 ± 0.06  . We obtain consistent results if we use galaxy samples with a different magnitude threshold, or if we select galaxies by b _J-band rather than r -band luminosity and compare to data from the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS). Our estimate for σ₈ is higher than that obtained for other analyses of galaxy data alone, and we attempt to find the source of this difference. We note that in any case, galaxy clustering data provide a very stringent constraint on galaxy formation models.     

Supermassive black holes, star formation and downsizing of elliptical galaxies

The overabundance of Mg relative to Fe, observed in the nuclei of bright ellipticals, and its increase with galactic mass, poses a serious problem for all current models of galaxy formation. Here, we improve on the one-zone chemical evolution models for elliptical galaxies by taking into account positive feedback produced in the early stages of supermassive central black hole growth. We can account for both the observed correlation and the scatter if the observed anti-hierarchical behaviour of the AGN population couples to galaxy assembly and results in an enhancement of the star formation efficiency which is proportional to galactic mass. At low and intermediate galactic masses, however, a slower mode for star formation suffices to account for the observational properties.     

Chemically Consistent Evolutionary Models With Dust

As a tool for interpreting nearby and high-redshift galaxy data from the optical to K-band we present our chemically consistent spectrophotometric evolutionary synthesis models. These models take into account the increasing initial metallicity of successive stellar generations using recently published metallicity-dependent stellar evolutionary tracks, stellar yields and model atmosphere spectra. The influence of the metallicity is analysed. Dust absorption is included on the basis of gas content and abundance as it varies with time and galaxy type. We compare our models with IUE template spectra and are able to predict UV fluxes for different spectral types. Combining our models with a cosmological model we obtain evolutionary and k corrections for various galaxy types and show the differences from models using only solar metallicity input physics as a function of redshift, wavelength band and galaxy type. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.