Distribution Of Star-forming Galaxies Research Articles

Lyα-EMITTING GALAXIES AT REDSHIFTz∼ 4.5 IN THE LALA CETUS FIELD

We present a large sample of Lyα-emitting galaxies (LAEs) spectroscopically confirmed at redshift z ≈ 4.5, based on Inamori-Magellan Areal Camera and Spectrograph spectroscopic observations of candidate z≈ 4.5 Lyα-emitting galaxies in the large area Lyman alpha (LALA) narrowband imaging survey Cetus field. We identify 110 of them as z ≈ 4.5 Lyα emitters based on single-line detections with no continuum emission blueward of the line. Six foreground galaxies are identified, either based on multiple lines or blueward continuum emission. The Lyα confirmation rate varies from <50% to 76% for candidates selected in different narrowband filters at slightly different redshifts. We find a drop in the LAE density at redshift 4.50 ± 0.03 from redshift 4.39 to 4.47 by a factor of 66%, which could be a large-scale void in the distribution of star-forming galaxies (~18 Mpc along the line of sight and ~80 Mpc across). The sample includes many objects with equivalent widths (EWs) 200 A. These large EW candidates are spectroscopically confirmed at the same rate as candidates with more modest EWs. A composite spectrum of all 110 confirmed LAEs shows the characteristic asymmetry of the Lyα line. It also places new and stringent upper limits on the C IV 1549 A/Lyα and He II 1640 A/Lyα line ratios, providing a new upper limit on the fraction of active galactic nuclei in Lyα selected galaxy samples, and on the contribution of Pop III populations. Finally, we calculate the Lyα luminosity function for our z ≈ 4.5 sample, which is consistent with those at other redshifts, showing that there is no evolution in Lyα luminosity function from z = 3.1 to 6.6.

Reconciling the Metallicity Distributions of Gamma‐Ray Burst, Damped Lyα, and Lyman Break Galaxies atz≈ 3

We test the hypothesis that the host galaxies of long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) as well as quasar-selected damped Lyα (DLA) systems are drawn from the population of UV-selected star-forming, high-z galaxies (generally referred to as Lyman break galaxies). Specifically, we compare the metallicity distributions of the GRB and DLA populations against simple models where these galaxies are drawn randomly from the distribution of star-forming galaxies according to their star formation rate and H I cross section, respectively. We find that it is possible to match both observational distributions assuming very simple and constrained relations between luminosity, metallicity, and H I sizes. The simple model can be tested by observing the luminosity distribution of GRB host galaxies and by measuring the luminosity and impact parameters of DLA-selected galaxies as a function of metallicity. Our results support the expectation that GRB and DLA samples, in contrast with magnitude-limited surveys, provide an almost complete census of -->z ≈ 3 star-forming galaxies that are not heavily obscured.

Reconciling the Metallicity Distributions of Gamma-ray Burst, Damped Lyman-α, and Lyman-break Galaxies atz≈ 3

AbstractWe test the hypothesis that the host galaxies of long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) as well as quasar-selected damped Lyman-α (DLA) systems are drawn from the population of UV-selected star-forming, highzgalaxies (generally referred to as Lyman-break galaxies). Specifically, we compare the metallicity distributions of the GRB and DLA populations against simple disk models where these galaxies are drawn randomly from the distribution of star-forming galaxies according to their star-formation rate and HI cross-section respectively. We find that it is possible to match both observational distributions assuming very simple and constrained relations between luminosity, metallicity, metallicity gradients and HI sizes. The simple model can be tested by observing the luminosity distribution of GRB host galaxies and by measuring the luminosity and impact parameters of DLA selected galaxies as a function of metallicity. Our results support the expectation that GRB and DLA samples, in contrast with magnitude limited surveys, provide an almost complete census of star-forming galaxies atz≈ 3.

The halo distribution of 2dF galaxies

We use the clustering results obtained by Madgwick et al. (2003) for a sample of 96,791 2dF galaxies with redshift 0.01 \lt z \lt 0.15 to study the distribution of late-type and early-type galaxies within dark matter haloes of different mass. Within the framework of our models, galaxies of both classes are found to be as spatially concentrated as the dark matter within haloes even though, while the distribution of star-forming galaxies can also allow for some steeper profiles, this is drastically ruled out in the case of early-type galaxies. We also find evidence for morphological segregation, as late-type galaxies appear to be distributed within haloes of mass scales corresponding to groups and clusters up to about two virial radii, while passive objects show a preference to reside closer to the halo centre. If we assume a broken power-law of the form =(m/m_0)^{alpha_1} for m_{cut}\le m =(m/m_0)^{alpha_2} at higher masses to describe the dependence of the average number of galaxies within haloes on the halo mass, fits to the data show that star-forming galaxies start appearing in haloes of masses m_{cut}~10^{11}m_{sun}, much smaller than what is obtained for early-type galaxies (m_{cut}~10^{12.6}m_{sun}). In the high-mass regime m\ge m_0, $ increases with halo mass more slowly (alpha_2~0.7) in the case of late-type galaxies than for passive objects which present alpha_2~1.1. We stress that there is no degeneracy in the determination of the best functional forms for rho(r) and , as they affect the behaviour of the galaxy-galaxy correlation function on different scales.

A Large Structure of Galaxies at Redshiftz∼ 3 and Its Cosmological Implications

We report the discovery of a highly significant concentration of galaxies at a redshift of =3.090. The structure is evident in a redshift histogram of photometrically selected ``Lyman break'' objects in a 9' by 18' field in which we have obtained 78 spectroscopic redshifts in the range 2.0 ~6 for \Omega_M=1. In a Cold Dark Matter scenario the large bias values suggest that individual Lyman-break galaxies are associated with dark halos of mass M~10^{12} M_{\sun}, reinforcing the interpretation of these objects as the progenitors of massive galaxies at the present epoch. Preliminary results of spectroscopy in additional fields suggest that such large structures are common at z~3, with about one similar structure per survey field. The implied space density is consistent with the possibility that we are observing moderately rich clusters of galaxies in their early non-linear evolution. Finally, the spectrum of one of the QSOs discovered in our survey (z_{em} = 3.356) exhibits metal line absorption systems within the 3 redshift bins having the largest number of galaxies in field, z = 2.93, 3.09, and 3.28. These results are the first from an ongoing ``targeted'' redshift survey designed to explore the nature and distribution of star-forming galaxies in the redshift range 2.7 <~ z <~ 3.4.