Cosmic Star Formation Rate Density Research Articles

ALMA twenty-six arcmin2 survey of GOODS-S at one millimeter (ASAGAO): Source catalog and number counts

Abstract We present the survey design, data reduction, construction of images, and source catalog of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) twenty-six arcmin2 survey of GOODS-S at one millimeter (ASAGAO). ASAGAO is a deep (1 σ depth ∼ 61 μJy beam−1 for a 250 kλ-tapered map with a synthesized beam size of 0${^{\prime\prime}_{.}}$51 × 0${^{\prime\prime}_{.}}$45) and wide area (26 arcmin2) survey on a contiguous field at 1.2 mm. By combining with ALMA archival data in the GOODS-South field, we obtained a deeper map in the same region (1 σ depth ∼ 30 μJy beam−1 for a deep region with a 250 kλ-taper, and a synthesized beam size of 0${^{\prime\prime}_{.}}$59 × 0${^{\prime\prime}_{.}}$53), providing the largest sample of sources (25 sources at ≥5.0 σ, 45 sources at ≥4.5 σ) among ALMA blank-field surveys to date. The number counts show that $52^{+11}_{-8}$% of the extragalactic background light at 1.2 mm is resolved into discrete sources at S1.2 mm > 135 μJy. We create infrared (IR) luminosity functions (LFs) in the redshift range of $z$ = 1–3 from the ASAGAO sources with Ks-band counterparts, and constrain the faintest luminosity of the LF at 2.0 < $z$ < 3.0. The LFs are consistent with previous results based on other ALMA and SCUBA-2 observations, which suggest a positive luminosity evolution and negative density evolution with increasing redshift. We find that obscured star-formation of sources with IR luminosities of log (LIR/L⊙) ≳ 11.8 account for ≈60%–90% of the $z$ ∼ 2 cosmic star-formation rate density.

A consistent estimate for gravitational wave and electromagnetic transient rates

Gravitational wave transients, resulting from the merger of two stellar remnants, are now detectable. The properties and rates of these directly relates to the stellar population which gave rise to their progenitors, and thus to other, electromagnetic transients which result from stellar death. We aim to estimate simultaneously the event rates and delay time distribution of gravitational wave-driven compact object mergers together with the rates of core collapse and thermonuclear supernovae within a single consistent stellar population synthesis paradigm. We combine event delay-time distributions at different metallicities from the Binary Population and Spectral Synthesis (BPASS) models with an analytic model of the volume-averaged cosmic star formation rate density and chemical evolution to determine the volume-averaged rates of each event rate at the current time. We estimate rates in excellent agreement with extant observational constraints on core-collapse supernovae, thermonuclear supernovae and long GRBs. We predict rates for gravitational wave mergers based on the same stellar populations, and find rates consistent with current LIGO estimates. We note that tighter constraints on the rates of these events will be required before it is possible to determine their redshift evolution, progenitor metallicity dependence or constrain uncertain aspects of stellar evolution.

SDSS-IV MaNGA – an archaeological view of the cosmic star formation history

We present the results of the archaeological analysis of the stellar populations of a sample of ~4,000 galaxies observed by the SDSS-IV-MaNGA survey using Pipe3D. Based on this analysis we extract a sample of ~150,000 SFRs and stellar masses that mimic a single cosmological survey covering the redshift range between z~0 to z~7. We confirm that the Star-Forming Main Sequence holds as a tight relation in this range of redshifts, and evolves strongly in both the zero-point and slope. This evolution is different for the population of local star-forming (SFGs) and retired (RGs) galaxies, with the latter presenting a stronger evolution in the zero-point and a weaker evolution in the slope. The fraction of RGs decreases rapidly with z, particularly for those classified as RGs at z~0. Contrary to previous studies we detect RGs well above z>1, although not all of them are progenitors of local RGs. Finally, adopting the required corrections to make the survey complete in mass in a limited volume, we recover the cosmic star-formation rate (SFR), stellar mass density, and average specific SFR histories of the Universe in this wide range of look-back times, with a remarkable agreement with the values reported by various cosmological surveys. We demonstrate that the progenitors of local RGs were more actively forming stars in the past, contributing to most of the cosmic SFR density at z>0.5, and to most of the cosmic stellar mass density at any redshift. They suffer a general quenching in the SFR at z~0.35. Below this redshift the progenitors of local SFGs dominate the SFR density of the Universe.

The second-closest gamma-ray burst: sub-luminous GRB 111005A with no supernova in a super-solar metallicity environment

We report the detection of the radio afterglow of a long gamma-ray burst (GRB) 111005A at 5-345 GHz, including very long baseline interferometry observations with a positional error of 0.2 mas. The afterglow position is coincident with the disc of a galaxy ESO 58049 at z = 0.01326 (∼1″ from its centre), which makes GRB 111005A the second-closest GRB known to date, after GRB 980425. The radio afterglow of GRB 111005A was an order of magnitude less luminous than those of local low-luminosity GRBs, and obviously less luminous than those of cosmological GRBs. The radio flux was approximately constant and then experienced an unusually rapid decay a month after the GRB explosion. Similarly to only two other GRBs, we did not find the associated supernovae (SNe), despite deep near- and mid-infrared observations 1-9 days after the GRB explosion, reaching ∼20 times fainter than other SNe associated with GRBs. Moreover, we measured a twice-solar metallicity for the GRB location. The low y-ray and radio luminosities, rapid decay, lack of a SN, and super-solar metallicity suggest that GRB 111005A represents a rare class of GRB that is different from typical core-collapse events. We modelled the spectral energy distribution of the GRB 111005A host finding that it is a moderately star-forming dwarf galaxy, similar to the host of GRB 980425. The existence of two local GRBs in such galaxies is still consistent with the hypothesis that the GRB rate is proportional to the cosmic star formation rate (SFR) density, but suggests that the GRB rate is biased towards low SFRs. Using the far-infrared detection of ESO 580-49, we conclude that the hosts of both GRBs 111005A and 980425 exhibit lower dust content than what would be expected from their stellar masses and optical colors.

Observational constraints on key-parameters of cosmic reionisation history

We discuss constraints on cosmic reionisation and their implications on a cosmic star formation rate (SFR) density ρSFR model; we study the influence of key-parameters such as the clumping factor of ionised hydrogen in the intergalactic medium (IGM) CH II and the fraction of ionising photons escaping star-forming galaxies to reionise the IGM fesc. Our analysis has used SFR history data from luminosity functions, assuming that star-forming galaxies were sufficient to lead the reionisation process at high redshift. We have added two other sets of constraints: measurements of the IGM ionised fraction and the most recent result from Planck Satellite about the integrated Thomson optical depth of the cosmic microwave background τPlanck. Our analysis shows that a reionisation beginning as early as z ≥ 14 and persisting until z ~ 6 is a likely scenario. We also considered various possibilities for the evolution of fesc and CH II with redshift, and confront them with observational data cited above. We conclude that, if the model of a constant clumping factor is chosen, the fiducial value of three is consistent with observations; even if a redshift-dependent model is considered, the resulting optical depth is strongly correlated with CH II mean value at z > 7, an additional argument in favour of the use of a constant clumping factor. Similarly, a constant value of the escape fraction is favoured over a redshift-dependent model. When added as a fit parameter, we find fesc = 0.19 ± 0.04. However, this result strongly depends on the choice of magnitude limit in the derivation of ρSFR. Our fiducial analysis considers faint galaxies (Mlim = −13) and the result is a well constrained escape fraction of about 0.2, but when Mlim = −17, the number of galaxies available to reionise the IGM is not sufficient to match the observations, so that much higher values of fesc, approaching 70%, are needed.

Stellar mass dependence of the 21-cm signal around the first star and its impact on the global signal

The 21-cm signal in the vicinity of the first stars is expected to reflect properties of the first stars. In this study we pay special attention to tracing the time evolution of the ionizing photons' escape fraction, which affects the distribution of neutral hydrogen, by performing radiation hydrodynamics (RHD) simulations resolving dense gas in a halo. We find that the radial profile of 21-cm differential brightness temperature is quite sensitive to the stellar and halo masses, which reflects the time evolution of the escape fraction. In the case of a less massive star, ionizing photons hardly escape from its host halo due to the absorption by dense halo gas, thus an deep 21-cm absorption feature at just outside the halo lasts a long time. Whereas photons from a massive star well working to heat the ambient intergalactic medium turn out to cause a spatially extended 21-cm emission signature. Although individual signals are found to be undetectable with the Square Kilometre Array, our analysis using the results from the RHD simulations indicates that the properties of the first stars are imprinted on the 21-cm global signal: its amplitude depends not only on the cosmic star formation rate density, but also on the typical mass of the first stars due to the stellar-mass-dependent heating rate. Thus, we suggest that the initial mass function of the first stars is an essential factor in understanding the global signal.

Star formation history from the cosmic infrared background anisotropies

We present a linear clustering model of cosmic infrared background (CIB) anisotropies at large scales that is used to measure the cosmic star formation rate density up to redshift 6, the effective bias of the CIB, and the mass of dark matter halos hosting dusty star-forming galaxies. This is achieved using the Planck CIB auto- and cross-power spectra (between different frequencies) and CIB × CMB (cosmic microwave background) lensing cross-spectra measurements, as well as external constraints (e.g. on the CIB mean brightness). We recovered an obscured star formation history which agrees well with the values derived from infrared deep surveys and we confirm that the obscured star formation dominates the unobscured formation up to at least z = 4. The obscured and unobscured star formation rate densities are compatible at 1σ at z = 5. We also determined the evolution of the effective bias of the galaxies emitting the CIB and found a rapid increase from ~0.8 at z = 0 to ~8 at z = 4. At 2 < z < 4, this effective bias is similar to that of galaxies at the knee of the mass functions and submillimetre galaxies. This effective bias is the weighted average of the true bias with the corresponding emissivity of the galaxies. The halo mass corresponding to this bias is thus not exactly the mass contributing the most to the star formation density. Correcting for this, we obtained a value of log(Mh/M⊙) = 12.77−0.125+0.128 for the mass of the typical dark matter halo contributing to the CIB at z = 2. Finally, using a Fisher matrix analysis we also computed how the uncertainties on the cosmological parameters affect the recovered CIB model parameters, and find that the effect is negligible.

The Dearth of z ∼ 10 Galaxies in All HST Legacy Fields—The Rapid Evolution of the Galaxy Population in the First 500 Myr*

Abstract We present an analysis of all prime HST legacy fields spanning >800 arcmin2 in the search for z ∼ 10 galaxy candidates and the study of their UV luminosity function (LF). In particular, we present new z ∼ 10 candidates selected from the full Hubble Frontier Field (HFF) data set. Despite the addition of these new fields, we find a low abundance of z ∼ 10 candidates with only nine reliable sources identified in all prime HST data sets that include the HUDF09/12, the HUDF/XDF, all of the CANDELS fields, and now the HFF survey. Based on this comprehensive search, we find that the UV luminosity function decreases by one order of magnitude from z ∼ 8 to z ∼ 10 over a four-magnitude range. This also implies a decrease of the cosmic star formation rate density by an order of magnitude within 170 Myr from z ∼ 8 to z ∼ 10. We show that this accelerated evolution compared to lower redshift can entirely be explained by the fast build up of the dark matter halo mass function at z > 8. Consequently, the predicted UV LFs from several models of galaxy formation are in good agreement with this observed trend, even though the measured UV LF lies at the low end of model predictions. The difference is generally still consistent within the Poisson and cosmic variance uncertainties. We discuss the implications of these results in light of the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope mission, which is poised to find much larger samples of z ∼ 10 galaxies as well as their progenitors at less than 400 Myr after the big bang.

“Super-deblended” Dust Emission in Galaxies. I. The GOODS-North Catalog and the Cosmic Star Formation Rate Density out to Redshift 6

Abstract We present a new technique to measure multi-wavelength “super-deblended” photometry from highly confused images, which we apply to Herschel and ground-based far-infrared (FIR) and (sub-)millimeter (mm) data in the northern field of the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey. There are two key novelties. First, starting with a large database of deep Spitzer 24 μm and VLA 20 cm detections that are used to define prior positions for fitting the FIR/submm data, we perform an active selection of useful priors independently at each frequency band, moving from less to more confused bands. Exploiting knowledge of redshift and all available photometry, we identify hopelessly faint priors that we remove from the fitting pool. This approach significantly reduces blending degeneracies and allows reliable photometry to be obtained for galaxies in FIR+mm bands. Second, we obtain well-behaved, nearly Gaussian flux density uncertainties, individually tailored to all fitted priors for each band. This is done by exploiting extensive simulations that allow us to calibrate the conversion of formal fitting uncertainties to realistic uncertainties, depending on directly measurable quantities. We achieve deeper detection limits with high fidelity measurements and uncertainties at FIR+mm bands. As an illustration of the utility of these measurements, we identify 70 galaxies with and reliable FIR+mm detections. We present new constraints on the cosmic star formation rate density at , finding a significant contribution from dusty galaxies that are missed by optical-to-near-infrared color selection. Photometric measurements for 3306 priors, including more than 1000 FIR+mm detections, are released publicly with our catalog.

Spatially unresolved SED fitting can underestimate galaxy masses: a solution to the missing mass problem

We perform spatially-resolved, pixel-by-pixel SED fitting on galaxies up to $z\sim2.5$ in the Hubble Extreme Deep Field (XDF). Comparing stellar mass estimates from spatially resolved and spatially unresolved photometry we find that unresolved masses can be systematically underestimated by factors of up to 5. The ratio of the unresolved to resolved mass measurement depends on the galaxy's specific star formation rate (sSFR): at low sSFRs the bias is small, but above sSFR$\ \sim 10^{-9.5}$ yr$^{-1}$ the discrepancy increases rapidly such that galaxies with sSFRs$\ \sim 10^{-8}$ yr$^{-1}$ have unresolved mass estimates of only one half to one fifth of the resolved value. This result indicates that stellar masses estimated from spatially-unresolved datasets need to be systematically corrected, in some cases by large amounts, and we provide an analytic prescription for applying this correction. We show that correcting stellar mass measurements for this bias changes the normalization and slope of the star-forming main sequence and reduces its intrinsic width; most dramatically, correcting for the mass bias increases the stellar mass density of the Universe at high redshift and can resolve the long-standing discrepancy between the directly-measured cosmic star formation rate density at $z\gtrsim1$ and that inferred from stellar mass densities ("the missing mass problem").

Cosmic Star Formation: A Simple Model of the SFRD(z)

Abstract We investigate the evolution of the cosmic star formation rate density (SFRD) from redshift z = 20 to z = 0 and compare it with the observational one by Madau and Dickinson derived from recent compilations of ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) data. The theoretical SFRD(z) and its evolution are obtained using a simple model that folds together the star formation histories of prototype galaxies that are designed to represent real objects of different morphological type along the Hubble sequence and the hierarchical growing of structures under the action of gravity from small perturbations to large-scale objects in Λ-CDM cosmogony, i.e., the number density of dark matter halos . Although the overall model is very simple and easy to set up, it provides results that mimic results obtained from highly complex large-scale N-body simulations well. The simplicity of our approach allows us to test different assumptions for the star formation law in galaxies, the effects of energy feedback from stars to interstellar gas, the efficiency of galactic winds, and also the effect of . The result of our analysis is that in the framework of the hierarchical assembly of galaxies, the so-called time-delayed star formation under plain assumptions mainly for the energy feedback and galactic winds can reproduce the observational SFRD(z).

Bulgeless galaxies in the COSMOS field: environment and star formation evolution at z < 1

Combining the catalogue of galaxy morphologies in the COSMOS field and the sample of H$\alpha$ emitters at redshifts $z=0.4$ and $z=0.84$ of the HiZELS survey, we selected $\sim$ 220 star-forming bulgeless systems (S\'ersic index $n \leq 1.5$) at both epochs. We present their star formation properties and we investigate their contribution to the star formation rate function (SFRF) and global star formation rate density (SFRD) at $z < 1$. For comparison, we also analyse H$\alpha$ emitters with more structurally evolved morphologies that we split into two classes according to their S\'ersic index $n$: intermediate ($ 1.5 < n \leq 3 $) and bulge-dominated ($n > 3$). At both redshifts the SFRF is dominated by the contribution of bulgeless galaxies and we show that they account for more than 60% of the cosmic SFRD at $z < 1$. The decrease of the SFRD with redshift is common to the three morphological types but it is stronger for bulge-dominated systems. Star-forming bulgeless systems are mostly located in regions of low to intermediate galaxy densities ($\Sigma \sim 1 - 4$ Mpc$^{-2}$) typical of field-like and filament-like environments and their specific star formation rates (sSFRs) do not appear to vary strongly with local galaxy density. Only few bulgeless galaxies in our sample have high (sSFR $>$ 10$^{-9}$ yr$^{-1}$) and these are mainly low-mass systems. Above $M_* \sim 10^{10}$ M$_{\odot}$ bulgeless are evolving at a "normal" rate (10$^{-9}$ yr$^{-1} <$ sSFR $<$10$^{-10}$ yr$^{-1}$) and in the absence of an external trigger (i.e. mergers/strong interactions) they might not be able to develop a central classical bulge.

GOLDRUSH. II. Clustering of galaxies at z ∼ 4–6 revealed with the half-million dropouts over the 100 deg2 area corresponding to 1 Gpc3

Abstract We present clustering properties from 579492 Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) at z ∼ 4–6 over the 100 deg2 sky (corresponding to a 1.4 Gpc3 volume) identified in early data of the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) Subaru Strategic Program survey. We derive angular correlation functions (ACFs) for the HSC LBGs with unprecedentedly high statistical accuracies at z ∼ 4–6, and compare them with the halo occupation distribution (HOD) models. We clearly identify significant ACF excesses in 10″ &amp;lt; θ &amp;lt; 90″, the transition scale between one- and two-halo terms, suggestive of the existence of the non-linear halo bias effect. Combining the HOD models and previous clustering measurements of faint LBGs at z ∼ 4–7, we investigate the dark matter halo mass (Mh) of the z ∼ 4–7 LBGs and its correlation with various physical properties including the star formation rate (SFR), the stellar-to-halo mass ratio (SHMR), and the dark matter accretion rate ($\skew4\dot{M}_{\,\rm h}$) over a wide mass range of Mh/M⊙ = 4 × 1010–4 × 1012. We find that the SHMR increases from z ∼ 4 to 7 by a factor of ∼4 at Mh ≃ 1 × 1011 M⊙ , while the SHMR shows no strong evolution in the similar redshift range at Mh ≃ 1 × 1012 M⊙ . Interestingly, we identify a tight relation of SFR$/\skew4\dot{M}_{\,\rm h}$–Mh showing no significant evolution beyond 0.15 dex in this wide mass range over z ∼ 4–7. This weak evolution suggests that the SFR$/\skew4\dot{M}_{\,\rm h}$–Mh relation is a fundamental relation in high-redshift galaxy formation whose star formation activities are regulated by the dark matter mass assembly. Assuming this fundamental relation, we calculate the cosmic star formation rate densities (SFRDs) over z = 0–10 (a.k.a. the Madau–Lilly plot). The cosmic SFRD evolution based on the fundamental relation agrees with the one obtained by observations, suggesting that the cosmic SFRD increase from z ∼ 10 to 4 − 2 (decrease from z ∼ 4–2 to 0) is mainly driven by the increase of the halo abundance (the decrease of the accretion rate).

Star Formation in Galaxies at z ∼ 4–5 from the SMUVS Survey: A Clear Starburst/Main-sequence Bimodality for Hα Emitters on the SFR–M* Plane

Abstract We study a large galaxy sample from the Spitzer Matching Survey of the UltraVISTA ultra-deep Stripes (SMUVS) to search for sources with enhanced 3.6 μ m fluxes indicative of strong Hα emission at z = 3.9 – 4.9 . We find that the percentage of “Hα excess” sources reaches 37%–40% for galaxies with stellar masses log 10 ( M * / M ⊙ ) ≈ 9 – 10 and decreases to &lt; 20 % at log 10 ( M * / M ⊙ ) ∼ 10.7 . At higher stellar masses, however, the trend reverses, although this is likely due to active galactic nucleus contamination. We derive star formation rates (SFR) and specific SFR (sSFR) from the inferred Hα equivalent widths of our “Hα excess” galaxies. We show, for the first time, that the “Hα excess” galaxies clearly have a bimodal distribution on the SFR–M* plane: they lie on the main sequence of star formation (with log 10 ( sSFR / yr − 1 ) &lt; − 8.05 ) or in a starburst cloud (with log 10 ( sSFR / yr − 1 ) &gt; − 7.60 ). The latter contains ∼ 15 % of all the objects in our sample and accounts for &gt; 50 % of the cosmic SFR density at z = 3.9 – 4.9 , for which we derive a robust lower limit of 0.066 M ⊙ yr − 1 Mpc − 3 . Finally, we identify an unusual &gt; 50 σ overdensity of z = 3.9 – 4.9 galaxies within a 0.20 × 0.20 arcmin2 region. We conclude that the SMUVS unique combination of area and depth at mid-IR wavelengths provides an unprecedented level of statistics and dynamic range that are fundamental to revealing new aspects of galaxy evolution in the young universe.

The evolution of the star formation rate function in the EAGLE simulations: a comparison with UV, IR and Hα observations from z ∼ 8 to z ∼ 0

We investigate the evolution of the galaxy Star Formation Rate Function (SFRF) and Cosmic Star Formation Rate Density (CSFRD) of $z\sim 0-8 $ galaxies in the Evolution and Assembly of GaLaxies and their Environments (EAGLE) simulations. In addition, we present a compilation of UV, IR and H$\alpha$ SFRFs and compare these with the predictions from the EAGLE suite of cosmological hydrodynamic simulations. We find that the constraints implied by different indicators are inconsistent with each other for the highest star-forming objects at z < 2, a problem that is possibly related to selection biases and the uncertainties of dust attenuation effects. EAGLE's feedback parameters were calibrated to reproduce realistic galaxy sizes and stellar masses at z = 0.1. In this work we test if and why those choices yield realistic Star Formation Rates (SFRs) for $z \sim 0-8$ as well. We demonstrate that SNe feedback plays a major role at setting the abundance of galaxies at all star-forming regimes, especially at high redshifts. On the contrary, Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) feedback becomes more prominent at lower redshifts and is a major mechanism that affects only the highest star-forming systems. Furthermore, we find that galaxies with SFR $\sim 1-10 \, {\rm M_{\odot} \, yr^{-1}}$ dominate the CSFRD at redshifts z < 5, while rare high star-forming galaxies (SFR $\sim 10-100 \,{\rm M_{\odot} \, yr^{-1}}$) contribute significantly only briefly around the peak era ($z \sim 2$) and then are quenched by AGN feedback. In the absence of this prescription objects with SFR $\sim 10-100 \,{\rm M_{\odot} \, yr^{-1}}$ would dominate the CSFRD, while the cosmic budget of star formation would be extremely high. Finally, we demonstrate that the majority of the cosmic star formation occurs in relatively rare high mass halos ($ {\rm M_{Halo}} \sim 10^{11-13} \, {\rm M_{\odot}}$) even at the earliest epochs.

Galaxy Protoclusters as Drivers of Cosmic Star Formation History in the First 2 Gyr

Abstract Present-day clusters are massive halos containing mostly quiescent galaxies, while distant protoclusters are extended structures containing numerous star-forming galaxies. We investigate the implications of this fundamental change in a cosmological context using a set of N-body simulations and semi-analytic models. We find that the fraction of the cosmic volume occupied by all (proto)clusters increases by nearly three orders of magnitude from z = 0 to z = 7. We show that (proto)cluster galaxies are an important and even dominant population at high redshift, as their expected contribution to the cosmic star formation rate density rises (from 1% at z = 0) to 20% at z = 2 and 50% at z = 10. Protoclusters thus provide a significant fraction of the cosmic ionizing photons, and may have been crucial in driving the timing and topology of cosmic reionization. Internally, the average history of cluster formation can be described by three distinct phases: at z ∼ 10–5, galaxy growth in protoclusters proceeded in an inside-out manner, with centrally dominant halos that are among the most active regions in the universe; at z ∼ 5–1.5, rapid star formation occurred within the entire 10–20 Mpc structures, forming most of their present-day stellar mass; at z ≲ 1.5, violent gravitational collapse drove these stellar contents into single cluster halos, largely erasing the details of cluster galaxy formation due to relaxation and virialization. Our results motivate observations of distant protoclusters in order to understand the rapid, extended stellar growth during cosmic noon, and their connection to reionization during cosmic dawn.

The new semi-analytic code GalICS 2.0 – reproducing the galaxy stellar mass function and the Tully–Fisher relation simultaneously

GalICS 2.0 is a new semianalytic code to model the formation and evolution of galaxies in a cosmological context. N-body simulations based on a Planck cosmology are used to construct halo merger trees, track subhaloes, compute spins and measure concentrations. The accretion of gas onto galaxies and the morphological evolution of galaxies are modelled with prescriptions derived from hydrodynamic simulations. Star formation and stellar feedback are described with phenomenological models (as in other semianalytic codes). GalICS 2.0 computes rotation speeds from the gravitational potential of the dark matter, the disc and the central bulge. As the rotation speed depends not only on the virial velocity but also on the ratio of baryons to dark matter within a galaxy, our calculation predicts a different Tully-Fisher relation from models in which the rotation speed is proportional to the virial velocity. This is why GalICS 2.0 is able to reproduce the galaxy stellar mass function and the Tully-Fisher relation simultaneously. Our results are also in agreement with halo masses from weak lensing and satellite kinematics, gas fractions, the relation between star formation rate (SFR) and stellar mass, the evolution of the cosmic SFR density, bulge-to-disc ratios, disc sizes and the Faber-Jackson relation.

A complete distribution of redshifts for submillimetre galaxies in the SCUBA-2 Cosmology Legacy Survey UDS field

Sub-milllimetre galaxies (SMGs) are some of the most luminous star-forming galaxies in the Universe, however their properties remain hard to determine due to the difficulty of identifying their optical\slash near-infrared counterparts. One of the key steps to determining the nature of SMGs is measuring a redshift distribution representative of the whole population. We do this by applying statistical techniques to a sample of 761 850$\mu$m sources from the SCUBA-2 Cosmology Legacy Survey observations of the UKIDSS Ultra-Deep Survey (UDS) Field. We detect excess galaxies around $> 98.4$ per cent of the 850$\mu$m positions in the deep UDS catalogue, giving us the first 850$\mu$m selected sample to have virtually complete optical\slash near-infrared redshift information. Under the reasonable assumption that the redshifts of the excess galaxies are representative of the SMGs themselves, we derive a median SMG redshift of $z = 2.05 \pm 0.03$, with 68 per cent of SMGs residing between $1.07 < z < 3.06$. We find an average of $1.52\pm 0.09$ excess $K$-band galaxies within 12 arc sec of an 850$\mu$m position, with an average stellar mass of $2.2\pm 0.1 \times 10^{10}$ M$_\odot$. While the vast majority of excess galaxies are star-forming, $8.0 \pm 2.1$ per cent have passive rest-frame colours, and are therefore unlikely to be detected at sub-millimetre wavelengths even in deep interferometry. We show that brighter SMGs lie at higher redshifts, and use our SMG redshift distribution -- along with the assumption of a universal far-infrared SED -- to estimate that SMGs contribute around 30 per cent of the cosmic star formation rate density between $0.5 < z < 5.0$.

Strong Stellar-driven Outflows Shape the Evolution of Galaxies at Cosmic Dawn

Abstract We study galaxy mass assembly and cosmic star formation rate (SFR) at high redshift (z ≳ 4), by comparing data from multiwavelength surveys with predictions from the GAlaxy Evolution and Assembly (gaea) model. gaea implements a stellar feedback scheme partially based on cosmological hydrodynamical simulations, which features strong stellar-driven outflows and mass-dependent timescales for the re-accretion of ejected gas. In previous work, we have shown that this scheme is able to correctly reproduce the evolution of the galaxy stellar mass function (GSMF) up to z ∼ 3. We contrast model predictions with both rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) and optical luminosity functions (LFs), which are mostly sensitive to the SFR and stellar mass, respectively. We show that gaea is able to reproduce the shape and redshift evolution of both sets of LFs. We study the impact of dust on the predicted LFs, and we find that the required level of dust attenuation is in qualitative agreement with recent estimates based on the UV continuum slope. The consistency between data and model predictions holds for the redshift evolution of the physical quantities well beyond the redshift range considered for the calibration of the original model. In particular, we show that gaea is able to recover the evolution of the GSMF up to z ∼ 7 and the cosmic SFR density up to z ∼ 10.

The VLA-COSMOS 3 GHz Large Project: Cosmic star formation history sincez~ 5

We make use of the deep Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) COSMOS radio observations at 3 GHz to infer radio luminosity functions of star-forming galaxies up to redshifts of z~5 based on approximately 6000 detections with reliable optical counterparts. This is currently the largest radio-selected sample available out to z~5 across an area of 2 square degrees with a sensitivity of rms=2.3 ujy/beam. By fixing the faint and bright end shape of the radio luminosity function to the local values, we find a strong redshift trend that can be fitted with a pure luminosity evolution L~(1+z)^{(3.16 +- 0.2)-(0.32 +- 0.07) z}. We estimate star formation rates (SFRs) from our radio luminosities using an infrared (IR)-radio correlation that is redshift dependent. By integrating the parametric fits of the evolved luminosity function we calculate the cosmic SFR density (SFRD) history since z~5. Our data suggest that the SFRD history peaks between 2<z<3 and that the ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs; 100 Msol/yr<SFR<1000 Msol/yr) contribute up to ~25% to the total SFRD in the same redshift range. Hyperluminous infrared galaxies (HyLIRGs; SFR>1000 Msol/yr) contribute an additional <2% in the entire observed redshift range. We find evidence of a potential underestimation of SFRD based on ultraviolet (UV) rest-frame observations of Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at high redshifts (z>4) on the order of 15-20%, owing to appreciable star formation in highly dust-obscured galaxies, which might remain undetected in such UV observations.