GALICS: capturing the panchromaticity of galaxies

This contribution describes results obtained with the GALICS model (for Galaxies In Cosmological Simulations), which is a hybrid model for hierarchical galaxy formation studies, combining the outputs of large cosmological N-body simulations with simple, semi-analytic recipes to describe the fate of the baryons within dark matter halos. Designed to predict the overall statistical properties of galaxies, with special emphasis on the panchromatic spectral energy distribution emitted by galaxies in the UV/optical and IR/submm wavelength ranges, such an approach can be used to predict the galaxy luminosity function evolution from the ultraviolet to far infrared, along with individual galaxies star formation histories. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Millimetric properties of gamma-ray burst host galaxies

We present millimetre (mm) and submillimetre (submm) photometry of a sample of five host galaxies of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), obtained using the Max Planck Millimetre Bolometer (MAMBO2) array and Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array (SCUBA). These observations were obtained as part of an ongoing project to investigate the status of GRBs as indicators of star formation. Our targets include two of the most unusual GRB host galaxies, selected as likely candidate submm galaxies: the extremely red  ( R − K ≈ 5)  host of GRB 030115, and the extremely faint  ( R > 29.5)  host of GRB 020124. Neither of these galaxies is detected, but the deep upper limits for GRB 030115 impose constraints on its spectral energy distribution, requiring a warmer dust temperature than is commonly adopted for submillimetre galaxies (SMGs).
As a framework for interpreting these data, and for predicting the results of forthcoming submm surveys of Swift -derived host samples, we model the expected flux and redshift distributions based on luminosity functions of both submm galaxies and GRBs, assuming a direct proportionality between the GRB rate density and the global star formation rate density. We derive the effects of possible sources of uncertainty in these assumptions, including (1) introducing an anticorrelation between GRB rate and the global average metallicity, and (2) varying the dust temperature.     

The observed structure of extremely distant galaxies

We have identified 22 galaxies with photometric redshifts z_ph=5–7 in the northern and southern Hubble Space Telescope deep fields. An analysis of the images of these objects shows that they are asymmetric and very compact (～1 kpc) structures with high surface brightness and absolute magnitudes of M_B≈?20^m. The average spectral energy distribution for these galaxies agrees with the distributions for galaxies with active star formation. The star formation rate in galaxies with z_ph=5–7 was estimated from their luminosity at λ=1500 Å to be ~30 M_⊙yr^?1. The spatial density of these objects is close to the current spatial density of bright galaxies. All the above properties of the distant galaxies considered are very similar to those of the so-called Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) with z ～ 3–4. The similarity between the objects considered and LBGs suggests that at z ～6, we observe the progenitors of present-day galaxies that form duringmergers of protogalactic objects and that undergo intense starbursts.     

高红移亚毫米星系中星际介质的物理状态

<正>随着亚毫米波望远镜的发展,利用这些新的探测设备,人们在亚毫米波段发现了一类高红移且富含尘埃的星系,将其称为亚毫米星系.这类星系的发现革新了我们对星系的演化以及极端条件下的恒星形成过程的认知.这些亚毫米星系是宇宙中最强的星暴星系,其中的恒星形成过程产生的能量接近爱丁顿极限.人们普遍认为这类星系正是近邻宇宙中那些大质量星系的前身天体.但是,很难解释其在高红移为何具有较高的数密度.它们其中非常少的一部分会被处于视线方向上的大质量星系通过引     

The structure and evolution of M 51-type galaxies

We discuss the integrated kinematic parameters of 20 M 51-type binary galaxies. A comparison of the orbital masses of the galaxies with the sum of the individual masses suggests that moderately massive dark halos surround bright spiral galaxies. The relative velocities of the galaxies in binary systems were found to decrease with increasing relative luminosity of the satellite. We obtained evidence that the Tully-Fisher relation for binary members could be flatter than that for local field galaxies. An enhanced star formation rate in the binary members may be responsible for this effect. In most binary systems, the direction of the orbital motion of the satellite coincides with the direction of the rotation of the main galaxy. Seven candidates for distant M 51-type objects were found in the Northern and Southern Hubble Deep Fields. A comparison of this number with the statistics of nearby galaxies provides evidence for the rapid evolution of the space density of M 51-type galaxies with redshift z. We assume that M 51-type binary systems could be formed through the capture of a satellite by a massive spiral galaxy. It is also possible that the main galaxy and its satellite in some of the systems have a common cosmological origin.     

Centers of activity in dust clouds

Recent submm observations of dust emission from star forming regions are presented and combined with NIR and IRAS data. The spectra cover the range 0.3 to 1300 m and origin from ZAMS stars, compact Hii regions, low-luminosity objects in dark clouds and external galaxies. The dust emission spectra are interpreted in terms of density and temperature distributions around central heating sources. In addition, general properties like IR luminosity, optical depth, wavelength dependence of dust opacity and, in the case of galaxies, star formation efficiency are discussed.Paper presented at a Workshop on The Role of Dust in Dense Regions of Interstellar Matter, held at Georgenthal, G.D.R., in March 1986.     

New photometric models of galactic evolution applied to the HDF

We summarize our modelling of galaxy photometric evolution (the GRASIL code). By including the effects of dust grains and PAH molecules in a two-phase clumpy medium, where clumps are associated with star-forming regions, we reproduce the observed UV to radio SEDs of galaxies with star formation rates from zero to several hundred M _⊙ yr^-1.GRASIL is a powerful tool for investigating star formation, the initial mass function and the supernova rate in nearby starbursts and normal galaxies, as well as for predicting the evolution of luminosity functions of different types of galaxies at wavelengths covering six decades. It may be interfaced with any device to provide the star formation and metallicity histories of a galaxy. As an application, we have investigated the properties of early-type galaxies in the HDF, tracking the contribution of this population to the cosmic star formation history, which has a broad peak between z = 1.5 and 4.To explain the absence of objects at z ≳ 1.3, we suggest a sequence of dust-enshrouded merger-driven starbursts in the first few Gyr of galaxy lifetimes. We are at present working on a complementary sample of late-type objects selected in a similar way. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The properties of Lyα emitting galaxies in hierarchical galaxy formation models

We present detailed predictions for the properties of Lyα-emitting galaxies in the framework of the Λ cold dark matter cosmology, calculated using the semi-analytical galaxy formation model galform . We explore a model that assumes a top-heavy initial mass function in starbursts and that has previously been shown to explain the sub-millimetre number counts and the luminosity function of Lyman-break galaxies at high redshift. We show that this model, with the simple assumption that a fixed fraction of Lyα photons escape from each galaxy, is remarkably successful at explaining the observed luminosity function of Lyα emitters (LAEs) over the redshift range  3 < z < 6.6  . We also examine the distribution of Lyα equivalent widths and the broad-band continuum magnitudes of emitters, which are in good agreement with the available observations. We look more deeply into the nature of LAEs, presenting predictions for fundamental properties such as the stellar mass and radius of the emitting galaxy and the mass of the host dark matter halo. The model predicts that the clustering of LAEs at high redshifts should be strongly biased relative to the dark matter, in agreement with observational estimates. We also present predictions for the luminosity function of LAEs at   z > 7  , a redshift range that is starting to be be probed by near-infrared surveys and using new instruments such as the Dark Ages Z Lyman Explorer (DAzLE).     

Giant Low Surface Brightness Galaxies: Evolution in Isolation

Giant Low Surface Brightness (GLSB) galaxies are amongst the most massive spiral galaxies that we know of in our Universe. Although they fall in the class of late type spiral galaxies, their properties are far more extreme. They have very faint stellar disks that are extremely rich in neutral hydrogen gas but low in star formation and hence low in surface brightness. They often have bright bulges that are similar to those found in early type galaxies. The bulges can host low luminosity Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) that have relatively low mass black holes. GLSB galaxies are usually isolated systems and are rarely found to be interacting with other galaxies. In fact many GLSB galaxies are found under dense regions close to the edges of voids. These galaxies have very massive dark matter halos that also contribute to their stability and lack of evolution. In this paper we briefly review the properties of this unique class of galaxies and conclude that both their isolation and their massive dark matter halos have led to the low star formation rates and the slower rate of evolution in these galaxies.     

Joint formation of QSOs and spheroids: QSOs as clocks of star formation in spheroids

Direct and indirect observational evidence leads to the conclusion that high-redshift QSOs did shine in the core of early-type protogalaxies during their main episode of star formation. Exploiting this fact, we derive the rate of formation of this kind of stellar system at high redshift by using the QSO luminosity function. The elemental proportions in elliptical galaxies, the descendants of the QSO hosts, suggest that the star formation was more rapid in more massive objects. We show that this is expected to occur in dark matter haloes, when the processes of cooling and heating are considered. This is also confirmed by comparing the observed submm counts with those derived by coupling the formation rate and the star formation rate of the spheroidal galaxies with a detailed model for their SED evolution. In this scenario SCUBA galaxies and Lyman-break galaxies are early-type protogalaxies forming the bulk of their stars before the onset of QSO activity.     

A Comparison of Star Formation Rate Indicators for Galaxies

With the multi-wavelength data from UV to sub-millimeter in the region of H-ATLAS (Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey) Science Demonstration Phase (SDP), in combination with the population synthesis model and dust model, the total infrared luminosities of the galaxies were calculated. On this basis, for respectively the strong and weak star-forming galaxies, we studied the differences in the star formation rates calculated by the UV luminosity, infrared luminosity and H_α line, as well as the intrinsic physical origin of such differences. It was found that for the galaxies of strong star-formation activity, the 3 kinds of star formation rate indicators give the basically consistent results with a small dispersion. But at the end of high star formation rate, the star formation rate calculated by the UV luminosity is slightly smaller than that calculated by the H_α-line flux; at the end of low star formation rate, the UV indicator tends to be greater than the H_α indicator; and at both ends, the infrared indicator and H_α indicator have no significant difference. For the weak star-forming galaxies, significant differences exist among the 3 kinds of indicators, and there is a rather large dispersion. The dispersions and systematic difference of the star formation rates calculated by the UV luminosity and H_α line increase with the galactic age and mass. The main cause for the increased systematic difference is that when the extinction of an weak star-forming galaxy is calibrated by its UV continuum spectral slope β, the UV extinction of the galaxy is overestimated, it makes the UV luminosity tends to be large after the extinction correction. In addition, the star formation rates (Hα) of weak starforming galaxies in the MPA/JHU (Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics/Johns Hopkins University) database are generally less than the real values.     

Starbursts at space ultraviolet wavelengths

Starbursts are systems with very high star formation rate per unit area. They are the preferred place where massive stars form; the main source of thermal and mechanical heating in the interstellar medium, and the factory where the heavy elements form. Thus, starbursts play an important role in the origin and evolution of galaxies. The similarities between the physical properties of local starbursts and high-z star-forming galaxies, highlight the cosmological relevance of starbursts. On the other hand, nearby starbursts are laboratories where to study violent star formation processes and their interaction with the interstellar and intergalactic media, in detail and deeply. Starbursts are bright at ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths, as they are in the far-infrared, due to the ‘picket-fence’ interstellar dust distribution. After the pioneering IUE program, high spatial and spectral resolution UV observations of local starburst galaxies, mainly taken with HST and FUSE, have made relevant contributions to the following issues:

The determination of the initial mass function (IMF) in violent star forming systems in low and high metallicity environments, and in dense (e.g. in stellar clusters) and diffuse environments: A Salpeter IMF with high-mass stars constrains well the UV properties.

The modes of star formation: Starburst clusters are an important mode of star formation. Super-stellar clusters have properties similar to globular clusters.

The role of starbursts in AGN: Nuclear starbursts can dominate the UV light in Seyfert 2 galaxies, having bolometric luminosities similar to the estimated bolometric luminosities of the obscured AGN.

The interaction between massive stars and the interstellar and intergalactic media: Outflows in cold, warm and coronal phases leave their imprints on the UV interstellar lines. Outflows of a few hundred km s^?1 are ubiquitous phenomena in starbursts. These metal-rich outflows and the ionizing radiation can travel to the halo of galaxies and reach the intergalactic medium.

The contribution of starbursts to the reionization of the universe: In the local universe, the fraction of ionizing photons that escape from galaxies and reach the intergalactic medium is of a few percent. However, in high-z star-forming galaxies, the results are more controversial.

Despite the very significant progress over the past two decades in our understanding of the starburst phenomenon through the study of the physical processes revealed at satellite UV wavelengths, there are important problems that still need to be solved. High-spatial resolution UV observations of nearby starbursts are crucial to further progress in understanding the violent star formation processes in galaxies, the interaction between the stellar clusters and the interstellar medium, and the variation of the IMF. High-spatial resolution spectra are also needed to isolate the light from the center to the disk in UV luminous galaxies at z = 0.1–0.3 found by GALEX. Thus, a new UV mission furnished with an intermediate spectral resolution long-slit spectrograph with high spatial resolution and high UV sensitivity is required to further progress in the study of starburst galaxies and their impact on the evolution of galaxies.     

Normal galaxies in the all-sky survey by the eROSITA X-ray telescope of the Spectrum-X-Gamma observatory

We analyze the statistical properties of normal galaxies to be detected in the all-sky survey by the eROSITA X-ray telescope of the Spectrum-X-Gamma observatory. With the current configuration and parameters of the eROSITA telescope, the sensitivity of a 4-year-long all-sky survey will be ≈10^?14 erg s^?1 in the 0.5–2 keV band. This will allow ～(1.5–2) × 10⁴ normal galaxies with approximately the same contribution of star-forming and elliptical galaxies to be detected. All galaxies of the X-ray survey are expected to enter into the existing far-infrared (IRAS) or near-infrared (2MASS) catalogs; the sample of star-forming galaxies will be approximately equivalent in sensitivity to the sample of star-forming galaxies in the IRAS catalog of infrared sources. Thus, a large homogeneous sample of normal galaxies with measured X-ray, near-infrared, and far-infrared fluxes will be formed. About 90% of the galaxies in the survey are located within ～200–400 Mpc. A typical (most probable) galaxy will have a luminosity log L _X ～ 40.5–41.0, will be located at a distance of ～70–90 Mpc, and will be either a star-forming galaxy with a star formation rate of ～20M _⊙ yr^?1 whose X-ray emission is produced by ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) or an elliptical galaxy with amass log M _* ～ 11.3 emitting through to a hot interstellar gas. The galaxies within 35 Mpc will collectively contain ～10² ULXs with luminosities log L _X > 40, ～80% of whichwill be the only luminous source in the galaxy. Thus, although the angular resolution of the eROSITA telescope is too low for the luminosity function of compact sources in galaxies to be studied in detail, the survey data will allow one to investigate its bright end and, possibly, to impose constraints on the maximum luminosity of ULXs.     

Star formation in nearby isolated galaxies

We use the FUV fluxes measured with the GALEX to study the star formation properties of galaxies collected in the “Local Orphan Galaxies” catalog (LOG). Among 517 LOG galaxies having radial velocities V _LG < 3500 km/s and Galactic latitudes |b| > 15°, 428 objects have been detected in FUV. We briefly discuss some scaling relations between the specific star formation rate (SSFR) and stellar mass, HI-mass, morphology, and surface brightness of galaxies situated in extremely low density regions of the Local Supercluster. Our sample is populated with predominantly late-type, gas-rich objects with the median morphological type of Sdm. Only 5% of LOG galaxies are classified as early types: E, S0, S0/a, however, they systematically differ from normal E and S0 galaxies by lower luminosity and presence of gas and dust. We find that almost all galaxies in our sample have their SSFR below 0.4 [Gyr^?1]. This limit is also true even for a sample of 270 active star-burst Markarian galaxies situated in the same volume. The existence of such a quasi-Eddington limit for galaxies seems to be a key factor which characterizes the transformation of gas into stars at the current epoch.     

Modelling Dust in Galactic SEDs: Application to Semi-Analytical Galaxy Formation Models

We present the basic features and preliminary results of the interface between our spectrophotometric model GRASIL (which calculates galactic SEDs from the UV to the submm with a detailed computation of dust extinction and thermal reemission) with the semi-analytical galaxy formation model GALFORM (which computes galaxy formation and evolution in the hierarchical scenario, providing the star formation history as an input to our model). With these two models we are able to synthesize simulated samples of a few thousand galaxies for statistical studies of galaxy properties to investigate galaxy formation and evolution. There is good agreement with the available SED and luminosity function data. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Redshift distribution of the submillimeter extragalactic background light

The submillimeter (submm) extragalactic background light (EBL) traces the integrated star formation history throughout the cosmic time. Deep blank-field 850 μm and 1.4 GHz surveys and optical follow-up have been only able to determine the redshift of ∼20% of the submm EBL. The majority (80%) of the submm EBL is still below the confusion and sensitivity limits of current submm and radio instruments. We break through these limits with stacking analyses on our deep 850 μm image in the GOODS-N and find that the submm EBL mostly comes from galaxies at redshifts around 1.0. This redshift is much lower than the redshift of z=2–3 previously implied from radio identified submm sources. This result significantly decreases the number of high redshift galaxies that may be seen by ALMA.     

The Basic Building Blocks of Galaxies

Current cold dark matter models of structure formation make a clear prediction for cosmic structures in the Dark Ages. We discuss the formation and nature of the first collapsed and first luminous objects in the universe arising in these theories. The first virialized objects are dark matter halos at the free streaming length which depends on the mass and nature of the assumed weakly interacting massive particle. The first objects that also contain significant fractions of gas have masses of the cosmological Jeans scale ∼ 10^4M _⊙ at the redshifts of interest (z ∼ 30). The first pre-galactic objects that host stars have masses of 10⁶ M _⊙. This mass scale is given by the requirement of a sufficiently high virial temperature to enable the chemical reactions necessary to form molecular hydrogen which subsequently allows the gas to dissipate its gravitational energy and to collapse to form a star. An individual massive star is formed per such object and explodes in a supernova within a few Myrs. All these stages of the formation of the first objects are illustrated by fully resolved three dimensional cosmological hydrodynamic simulations. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A submillimetre survey of the star formation history of radio galaxies

We present the results of the first major systematic submillimetre survey of radio galaxies spanning the redshift range 1< z <5. The primary aim of this work is to elucidate the star formation history of this sub class of elliptical galaxies by tracing the cosmological evolution of dust mass. Using SCUBA on the JCMT, we have obtained 850-μm photometry of 47 radio galaxies to a consistent rms depth of 1 mJy, and have detected dust emission in 14 cases. The radio galaxy targets have been selected from a series of low-frequency radio surveys of increasing depth (3CRR, 6CE, etc.), in order to allow us to separate the effects of increasing redshift and increasing radio power on submillimetre luminosity. Although the dynamic range of our study is inevitably small, we find clear evidence that the typical submillimetre luminosity (and hence dust mass) of a powerful radio galaxy is a strongly increasing function of redshift; the detection rate rises from ≃15 per cent at z <2.5 to ≳75 per cent at z >2.5, and the average submillimetre luminosity rises at a rate ∝(1+ z )³ out to z ≃4. Moreover, our extensive sample allows us to argue that this behaviour is not driven by underlying correlations with other radio galaxy properties such as radio power, radio spectral index, or radio source size/age. Although radio selection may introduce other more subtle biases, the redshift distribution of our detected objects is in fact consistent with the most recent estimates of the redshift distribution of comparably bright submillimetre sources discovered in blank field surveys. The evolution of submillimetre luminosity found here for radio galaxies may thus be representative of massive ellipticals in general.     

Dust attenuation in starburst galaxies determined by measuring the dependence of the optical color indices on galaxy inclination

We use optical color indices (colors) from the SDSS database to study the effect of dust in starburst galaxies by mea‐suring the dependence of colors on galaxy inclination. Starburst galaxies with ongoing star formation, are rich with metals/dust and are, therefore, an excellent objects for studying the effect of dust in galaxies. They are selected using the [O III ]λ 5007/Hα vs. [N II ]λ 6584/Hβ diagram, that is, the BPT‐diagram. We use Kauffmann's empirical demarcation line in the BPT‐diagram to exclude galaxies with active galactic nuclei (AGN) from the sample because they have different physical and dust properties from normal galaxies. The sample is divided into bins according to galaxy stellar mass and 4000 Å break (which is a coarse measure of a galaxy star formation history; SFH) and the reddening with inclination is studied as a function of these two physical parameters. Assuming that the dust effect is negligible in the SDSS z ‐band, we derive the attenuation curves for these galaxies. We fit the attenuation curves with a simple power law and use power law index to interpret the relative distribution of dust and stars in the starburst galaxies (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)