Enhanced Star Formation Research Articles

Peculiar Black Hole Accretion Rates in AGN with Highest Star Formation Rates in the Universe

Pouliasis et al. explored star formation rates, black hole accretion rates, and stellar mass of active galaxies at redshift above 3.5, uncovering a leveling off of the star formation rate at high stellar mass, which they consider to be evidence of AGN feedback. Their data shows that as AGN approach the flattening of the curve in the star formation rate—stellar mass plane, the accretion rates begin to drop. We describe the nature of the AGN feedback responsible for this in terms of powerful FRII jets enhancing star formation rates but eventually also triggering a shift in accretion from near-Eddington rates to advection dominated. These systems are on the cusp of a dramatic transition where the active galaxy goes from strong enhancement to large suppression of star formation in a way that produces the steeper slope for radio AGN at low redshift compared to radio AGN at higher redshift and to jetless AGN. We argue, therefore, that the data of Pouliasis et al. constitute the high redshift objects predicted by Singh et al. that connect to the low redshift behavior of radio AGN shown in Comerford et al.

The ALMaQUEST Survey X: what powers merger induced star formation?

ABSTRACT Galaxy mergers are known to trigger both extended and central star formation. However, what remains to be understood is whether this triggered star formation is facilitated by enhanced star formation efficiencies (SFEs), or an abundance of molecular gas fuel. This work presents spatially resolved measurements of CO emission collected with the Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA) for 20 merging galaxies (either pairs or post-mergers) selected from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey. Eleven additional merging galaxies are selected from the ALMA MaNGA QUEnching and STar formation (ALMaQUEST) survey, resulting in a set of 31 mergers at various stages of interaction and covering a broad range of star formation rates (SFRs). We investigate galaxy-to-galaxy variations in the resolved Kennicutt–Schmidt relation, (rKS: $\Sigma _{\textrm {H}_2}$ versus ΣSFR), the resolved molecular gas main sequence (rMGMS: Σ⋆ versus $\Sigma _{\textrm {H}_2}$), and the resolved star-forming main sequence (rSFMS: Σ⋆ versus ΣSFR). We quantify offsets from these resolved relations to determine if SFR, molecular gas fraction, or/and SFE is/are enhanced in different regions of an individual galaxy. By comparing offsets in all three parameters, we can discern whether gas fraction or SFE powers an enhanced ΣSFR. We find that merger-induced star formation can be driven by a variety of mechanisms, both within a galaxy and between different mergers, regardless of interaction stage.

Analytic models of dust temperature in high-redshift galaxies

ABSTRACT We investigate physical reasons for high-dust temperatures (Tdust ≳ 40K) observed in some high-redshift ($z$ > 5) galaxies using analytic models. We consider two models that can be treated analytically: the radiative transfer (RT) model, where a broad distribution of values for Tdust is considered, and the one-tempearture (one-T) model, which assumes uniform Tdust. These two extremes serve to bracket the most realistic scenario. We adopt the Kennicutt–Schmidt (KS) law to relate stellar radiation field to gas surface density, and vary the dust-to-gas ratio. As a consequence, our model is capable of predicting the relation between the surface density of star formation rate (ΣSFR) or dust mass (Σdust) and Tdust. We show that the high Tdust observed at $z$ ≳ 5 favour low dust-to-gas ratios (≲ 10−3). An enhanced star formation compared with the KS law gives an alternative explanation for the high Tdust. The dust temperatures are similar between the two (RT and one-T) models as long as we use ALMA Bands 6–8. We also examine the relation among ΣSFR, Σdust, and Tdust without assuming the KS law, and confirm the consistency with the actual observational data at $z$ > 5. In the one-T model, we also examine a clumpy dust distribution, which predicts lower Tdust because of the leakage of stellar radiation. This enhances the requirement of low-dust abundance or high-star formation efficiency to explain the observed high Tdust.

Central star formation in double-peak, gas-rich radio galaxies

The respective contributions of gas accretion, galaxy interactions, and mergers to the mass assembly of galaxies, as well as the evolution of their molecular gas and star-formation activity are still not fully understood. In a recent work, a large sample of double-peak (DP) emission-line galaxies have been identified from the SDSS. While the two peaks could represent two kinematic components, they may be linked to the large bulges that their host galaxies tend to have. Star-forming DP galaxies display a central star-formation enhancement and have been discussed as compatible with a sequence of recent minor mergers. In order to probe merger-induced star-formation mechanisms, we conducted observations of the molecular-gas content of 35 star-forming DP galaxies in the upper part of the main sequence (MS) of star formation (SF) with the IRAM 30 m telescope. Including similar galaxies 0.3 dex above the MS and with existing molecular-gas observations from the literature, we finally obtained a sample of 52 such galaxies. We succeeded in fitting the same kinematic parameters to the optical ionised- and molecular-gas emission lines for ten (19%) galaxies. We find a central star-formation enhancement resulting most likely from a galaxy merger or galaxy interaction, which is indicated by an excess of gas extinction found in the centre. This SF is traced by radio continuum emissions at 150 MHz, 1.4 GHz, and 3 GHz, all three of which are linearly correlated in log with the CO luminosity with the same slope. The 52 DP galaxies are found to have a significantly larger amount of molecular gas and longer depletion times, and hence a lower star-formation efficiency, than the expected values at their distance of the MS. The large bulges in these galaxies might be stabilising the gas, hence reducing the SF efficiency. This is consistent with a scenario of minor mergers increasing the mass of bulges and driving gas to the centre. We also excluded the inwards-directed gas migration and central star-formation enhancement as the origin of a bar morphology. Hence, these 52 DP galaxies could be the result of recent minor mergers that funnelled molecular gas towards their centre, triggering SF, but with moderate efficiency.

Close Major-merger Pairs at z = 0: Bulge-to-total Ratio and Star Formation Enhancement

We present a study of the bulge-to-total ratio (B/T) of a Ks-band-selected sample of 88 close major-merger pairs of galaxies (H-KPAIR), based on two-dimensional decompositions of SDSS r-band images with galfit. We investigate the dependence of the interaction-induced specific star formation rate enhancement (sSFRenh) on the B/T ratio, and the effects of this dependence on the differences between star-forming galaxies (SFGs) in spiral+spiral (S+S) and spiral+elliptical (S+E) pairs. Of all the 132 spiral galaxies in H-KPAIR, the 44 in S+E pairs show higher B/T than those in the 44 S+S pairs, with means of B/T = 0.35 ± 0.05 and B/T = 0.26 ± 0.03, respectively. There is a strong negative dependence of sSFRenh on the B/T ratio, and only paired SFGs with B/T < 0.3 show significant (>5σ) enhancement. Paired SFGs in S+S pairs show a similar trend, and many disky SFGs (B/T < 0.1) in S+S pairs have strong sSFR enhancements (sSFRenh > 0.7 dex). For SFGs in S+E pairs, the sSFR has no clear B/T dependence, nor any significant enhancement in any B/T bin. Disky SFGs in S+S pairs show significant (>4σ) enhancement in molecular gas content (), while SFGs in S+E pairs have no such enhancement in any B/T bin. No significant enhancement of the total gas content (M gas/M star) is found in any B/T bin for paired galaxies. The star formation efficiency of either the total gas (SFEgas = SFR/M gas) or molecular gas () does not depend on the B/T ratio. The only significant (> 4σ) SFE enhancement found for paired SFGs is the SFEgas for disky SFGs in S+S pairs.

The impact of filaments on dwarf galaxy properties in the Auriga simulations

ABSTRACT With a hydrodynamical simulation using a simple galaxy formation model without taking into account feedback, our previous work has shown that dense and massive filaments at high redshift can provide potential wells to trap and compress gas, and hence affect galaxy formation in their resident low-mass haloes. In this paper, we make use of the Auriga simulations, a suite of high-resolution zoom-in hydrodynamical simulations of Milky Way-like galaxies, to study whether the conclusion still holds in the simulations with a sophisticated galaxy formation model. In agreement with the results of our previous work, we find that, compared to their counterparts with similar halo masses in the field, dwarf galaxies residing in filaments tend to have higher baryonic and stellar fractions. At the fixed parent halo mass, the filament dwarfs tend to have slightly higher star formation rates than those of field ones. But overall we do not find a clear difference in galaxy g − r colours between the filament and field populations. We also show that at high redshifts, the gas components in dwarf galaxies tend to have their spins aligned with the filaments in which they reside. Our results support a picture in which massive filaments at high redshift assist gas accretion and enhance star formation in their resident dwarf-sized dark matter haloes.

Enhanced Star Formation Activity of Extreme Jellyfish Galaxies in Massive Clusters and the Role of Ram Pressure Stripping

Jellyfish galaxies are an excellent tool to investigate the short-term effects of ram pressure stripping (RPS) on star formation in cluster environments. It has been thought that the star formation activity of jellyfish galaxies may depend on the host-cluster properties, but previous studies have not yet found a clear correlation. In this study, we estimate the Hα-based star formation rates (SFRs) of five jellyfish galaxies in massive clusters (σ v,cl ≳ 1000 km s−1) at z ∼ 0.3−0.4 using Gemini GMOS/IFU observations to explore the relationship. Combining our results with those in the literature, we find that the star formation activity of jellyfish galaxies shows a positive correlation with their host-cluster velocity dispersion as a proxy of cluster mass and dynamical states. We divide the jellyfish galaxy sample into two groups with strong and weak RPS signatures using a morphological class. In the phase-space diagram, the jellyfish galaxies with strong RPS features show a higher SFR and a stronger central concentration than those with weak RPS features. We estimate their SFR excess relative to the star formation main sequence (starburstiness; R SB = SFR/SFRMS(z)) and the density of the surrounding intracluster medium (ICM) using scaling relations with the cluster velocity dispersion. As a result, the starburstiness of jellyfish galaxies with strong RPS signatures clearly exhibits positive correlations with cluster velocity dispersion, ICM density, and strength of ram pressure. This shows that the relation between RPS and star formation activity of jellyfish galaxies depends on the host-cluster properties and strength of the ram pressure.

Centrally Concentrated H i Distribution Enhances Star Formation in Galaxies

We use a sample of 13,511 nearby galaxies from the ALFALFA and Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectroscopic surveys to study the relation between the spatial distribution of H i 21 cm emission and star formation rate (SFR). We introduce a new nonparametric quantity K, measured from the curve of growth of the line, to describe the shape of the integrated H i profile. The value of K increases from double-horned to single-peaked profiles, depending on projection effects and the spatial and velocity distribution of the gas. Using carefully chosen samples to control for the competing factors that influence the integrated line profile, we argue that useful inferences can be made on the spatial distribution of the gas. We find that galaxies with a high value of K tend to have more centrally concentrated H i distribution within the optical disk of the galaxy at fixed conditions, and that larger values of K are associated with higher levels of total and central SFR. The results suggest that the global concentration of H i plays an important role in facilitating the conversion of neutral atomic hydrogen to molecular hydrogen gas, which, in turn, affects the star formation activity throughout the optical disk. Our sample is biased against quiescent galaxies, and thus the conclusions may not hold for galaxies with low SFR or low H i content.

LEGA-C: Analysis of Dynamical Masses from Ionized Gas and Stellar Kinematics at z ∼ 0.8

Abstract We compare dynamical mass estimates based on spatially extended stellar and ionized gas kinematics (M dyn,* and M dyn,eml, respectively) of 157 star-forming galaxies at 0.6 ≤ z &lt; 1. Compared with z ∼ 0, these galaxies have enhanced star formation rates, with stellar feedback likely affecting the dynamics of the gas. We use LEGA-C DR3, the highest-redshift data set that provides sufficiently deep measurements of a K s -band limited sample. For M dyn,*, we use Jeans anisotropic multi-Gaussian expansion models. For M dyn,eml, we first fit a custom model of a rotating exponential disk with uniform dispersion, whose light is projected through a slit and corrected for beam smearing. We then apply an asymmetric drift correction based on assumptions common in the literature to the fitted kinematic components to obtain the circular velocity, assuming hydrostatic equilibrium. Within the half-light radius, M dyn,eml is on average lower than M dyn,*, with a mean offset of –0.15 ± 0.016 dex and galaxy-to-galaxy scatter of 0.19 dex, reflecting the combined random uncertainty. While data of higher spatial resolution are needed to understand this small offset, it supports the assumption that the galaxy-wide ionized gas kinematics do not predominantly originate from disruptive events such as star formation–driven outflows. However, a similar agreement can be obtained without modeling from the integrated emission line dispersions for axis ratios q &lt; 0.8. This suggests that our current understanding of gas kinematics is not sufficient to efficiently apply asymmetric drift corrections to improve dynamical mass estimates compared with observations lacking the signal-to-noise ratio required for spatially extended dynamics.

The synchronized dance of the magellanic clouds’ star formation history

ABSTRACT We use the SMASH survey to obtain unprecedented deep photometry reaching down to the oldest main-sequence turn-offs in the colour–magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) and quantitatively derive its star formation history (SFH) using CMD fitting techniques. We identify five distinctive peaks of star formation in the last 3.5 Gyr, at ∼3, ∼2, ∼1.1, ∼0.45 Gyr ago, and one presently. We compare these to the SFH of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), finding unequivocal synchronicity, with both galaxies displaying similar periods of enhanced star formation over the past ∼3.5 Gyr. The parallelism between their SFHs indicates that tidal interactions between the MCs have recurrently played an important role in their evolution for at least the last ∼3.5 Gyr, tidally truncating the SMC and shaping the LMC’s spiral arm. We show, for the first time, an SMC–LMC correlated SFH at recent times in which enhancements of star formation are localized in the northern spiral arm of the LMC, and globally across the SMC. These novel findings should be used to constrain not only the orbital history of the MCs but also how star formation should be treated in simulations.

Submillimetre galaxies in two massive protoclusters at z = 2.24: witnessing the enrichment of extreme starbursts in the outskirts of HAE density peaks

ABSTRACT Submillimetre galaxies represent a rapid growth phase of both star formation and massive galaxies. Mapping SMGs in galaxy protoclusters provides key insights into where and how these extreme starbursts take place in connections with the assembly of the large-scale structure in the early Universe. We search for SMGs at 850 $\rm{\mu m}$ using JCMT/SCUBA-2 in two massive protoclusters at z = 2.24, BOSS1244 and BOSS1542, and detect 43 and 54 sources with S850 &amp;gt; 4 mJy at the 4σ level within an effective area of 264 arcmin2, respectively. We construct the intrinsic number counts and find that the abundance of SMGs is 2.0 ± 0.3 and 2.1 ± 0.2 times that of the general fields, confirming that BOSS1244 and BOSS1542 contain a higher fraction of dusty galaxies with strongly enhanced star formation. The volume densities of the SMGs are estimated to be ∼15–30 times the average, significantly higher than the overdensity factor (∼6) traced by H α emission-line galaxies (HAEs). More importantly, we discover a prominent offset between the spatial distributions of the two populations in these two protoclusters – SMGs are mostly located around the high-density regions of HAEs, and few are seen inside these regions. This finding may have revealed for the first time the occurrence of violent star formation enhancement in the outskirts of the HAE density peaks, likely driven by the boosting of gas supplies and/or starburst triggering events. Meanwhile, the lack of SMGs inside the most overdense regions at z ∼ 2 implies a transition to the environment disfavouring extreme starbursts.

Stress-testing cosmic ray physics: the impact of cosmic rays on the surviving disc of ram-pressure-stripped galaxies

ABSTRACTCluster spiral galaxies suffer catastrophic losses of the cool, neutral gas component of their interstellar medium due to ram pressure stripping, contributing to the observed quenching of star formation in the disc compared to galaxies in lower density environments. However, the short-term effects of ram pressure on the star formation rate and active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity of galaxies undergoing stripping remain unclear. Numerical studies have recently demonstrated cosmic rays can dramatically influence galaxy evolution for isolated galaxies, yet their influence on ram pressure stripping remains poorly constrained. We perform the first cosmic ray magnetohydrodynamic simulations of an L* galaxy undergoing ram pressure stripping, including radiative cooling, self-gravity of the gas, star formation, and stellar feedback. We find the microscopic transport of cosmic rays plays a key role in modulating the star formation enhancement experienced by spirals at the outskirts of clusters compared to isolated spirals. Moreover, we find that galaxies undergoing ram pressure stripping exhibit enhanced gas accretion on to their centres, which may explain the prevalence of AGNs in these objects. In agreement with observations, we find cosmic rays significantly boost the global radio emission of cluster spirals. Although the gas removal rate is relatively insensitive to cosmic ray physics, we find that cosmic rays significantly modify the phase distribution of the remaining gas disc. These results suggest observations of galaxies undergoing ram pressure stripping may place novel constraints on cosmic ray calorimetry and transport.

The Westerbork Coma Survey

We present the blind Westerbork Coma Survey probing the H I content of the Coma galaxy cluster with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope. The survey covers the inner ∼1 Mpc around the cluster centre, extending out to 1.5 Mpc towards the south-western NGC 4839 group. The survey probes the atomic gas in the entire Coma volume down to a sensitivity of ∼1019 cm−2 and 108 M⊙. Combining automated source finding with source extraction at optical redshifts and visual verification, we obtained 40 H I detections of which 24 are new. Over half of the sample displays perturbed H I morphologies indicative of an ongoing interaction with the cluster environment. With the use of ancillary UV and mid-IR, data we measured their stellar masses and star formation rates and compared the H I properties to a set of field galaxies spanning a similar stellar mass and star formation rate range. We find that ∼75% of H I-selected Coma galaxies have simultaneously enhanced star formation rates (by ∼0.2 dex) and are H I deficient (by ∼0.5 dex) compared to field galaxies of the same stellar mass. According to our toy model, the simultaneous H I deficiency and enhanced star formation activity can be attributed to either H I stripping of already highly star forming galaxies on a very short timescale, while their H2 content remains largely unaffected, or to H I stripping coupled to a temporary boost of the H I-to-H2 conversion, causing a brief starburst phase triggered by ram pressure before eventually quenching the galaxy.

Spatially resolved evidence of the impact of quasar-driven outflows on recent star formation: the case of Mrk 34

ABSTRACT We present the results of our spatially resolved investigation into the interplay between the ages of the stellar populations and the kinematics of the warm ionized outflows in the well-studied type II quasar Markarian 34 (Mrk 34). Utilizing integral field spectroscopy data, we determine the spatial distribution of the young stellar population (YSP; tYSP &amp;lt; 100 Myr) using spectral synthesis modelling. We also employ the [O iii] λ5007 emission line as a tracer of the warm ionized gas kinematics. We demonstrate a spatial correlation between the outer edges of the blue side of the outflow and an enhancement in the proportion of the YSP flux, suggesting that the outflow is responsible for triggering star formation in this region. In regions with more highly disrupted gas kinematics, we find that the proportion of YSP flux is consistent with that found outside the outflow region, suggesting that the increased disruption is preventing a similar enhancement in star formation from occurring. Our analysis suggests that Mrk 34 is an example of quasar-driven outflows simultaneously producing both ‘positive’ and ‘preventive’ feedback, further demonstrating the complex nature of the relationship between quasars and their host galaxies.

FGC 1287 and its enigmatic 250 kpc long HI tail in the outskirts of Abell 1367

ABSTRACT We present H i and radio continuum, narrow-band Hα imaging, IFU spectroscopy, and X-ray observations of the FGC 1287 triplet projected ∼1.8 Mpc west of the galaxy cluster Abell 1367. One triplet member, FGC 1287, displays an exceptionally long, 250 kpc H i tail and an unperturbed stellar disc which are the typical signatures of ram pressure stripping (RPS). To generate detectable RPS signatures the presence of an Intracluster medium ICM or intragroup medium IGM with sufficient density to produce RPS at a realistic velocity relative to the ICM or IGM is a prerequisite. However, XMM–Newton observations were not able to detect X-ray emission from the triplet, implying that if a hot ICM/IGM is present, its density, ne, is less than 2.6 × 10−5 cm−3. Higher resolution VLA H i data presented here show FGC 1287’s H i disc is truncated and significantly warped, whereas the H i tail is clumpy. TNG Hα imaging identified three star-forming clumps projected within 20 kpc of FGC 1287’s disc, with VIMOS–IFU data confirming two of these are counterparts to H i clumps in the tail. The triplet’s H i kinematics, together with Hα and radio continuum imaging suggests an interaction may have enhanced star formation in FGC 1287’s disc, but cannot readily account for the origin of the long H i tail. We consider several scenarios which might reconcile RPS with the non-detection of ICM or IGM X-ray emission but none of these unambiguously explains the origin of the long H i tail.

The Relation between Morphological Asymmetry and Nuclear Activity in Low-redshift Galaxies

Abstract The morphology of galaxies reflects their assembly history and ongoing dynamical perturbations from the environment. Analyzing stacked i-band images from the Pan-STARRS1 3π Steradian Survey, we study the optical morphological asymmetry of the host galaxies of a large, well-defined sample of nearby active galactic nuclei (AGNs) to investigate the role of mergers and interactions in triggering nuclear activity. The AGNs, comprising 245 type 1 and 4514 type 2 objects, are compared with 4537 star-forming galaxies (SFGs) matched in redshift (0.04 &lt; z &lt; 0.15) and stellar mass (M * &gt; 1010 M ⊙). We develop a comprehensive masking strategy to isolate the emission of the target from foreground stars and other contaminating nearby sources, all the while retaining projected companions of comparable brightness that may be major mergers. Among three variants of nonparametric indices, both the popular CAS asymmetry parameter (A CAS) and the outer asymmetry parameter (A outer) yield robust measures of morphological distortion for SFGs and type 2 AGNs, while only A outer is effective for type 1 AGNs. The shape asymmetry (A shape), by comparison, is affected more adversely by background noise. Asymmetry indices ≳0.4 effectively trace systems that are candidate ongoing mergers. Contrary to theoretical expectations, galaxy interactions and mergers are not the main drivers of nuclear activity, at least not in our sample of low-redshift, relatively low luminosity AGNs, whose host galaxies are actually significantly less asymmetric than the control sample of SFGs. Moreover, type 2 AGNs are morphologically indistinguishable from their type 1 counterparts. The level of AGN activity does not correlate with asymmetry, not even among the major merger candidates. As a by-product, we find, consistent with previous studies, that the average asymmetry of SFGs increases above the main sequence, although not all major mergers exhibit enhanced star formation.

The evolution of the oxygen abundance gradients in star-forming galaxies in the eagle simulations

ABSTRACT We analyse the evolution of the oxygen abundance gradient of star-forming galaxies with stellar mass ${\rm M_{\ast }}\ge 10^{9}\rm M_{\odot }$ in the eagle simulation over the redshift range z = [0, 2.5]. We find that the median metallicity gradient of the simulated galaxies is close to zero at all z, whereas the scatter around the median increases with z. The metallicity gradients of individual galaxies can evolve from strong to weak and vice versa, since mostly low-metallicity gas accretes on to the galaxy, resulting in enhanced star formation and ejection of metal-enriched gas by energy feedback. Such episodes of enhanced accretion, mainly dominated by major mergers, are more common at higher z and hence contribute to increasing the diversity of gradients. For galaxies with negative metallicity gradients, we find a redshift evolution of $\rm \sim -0.03~dex~kpc^{-1}/\delta z$. A positive mass dependence is found at z ≤ 0.5, which becomes slightly stronger for higher redshifts and, mainly, for ${\rm M_{\ast }}\lt 10^{9.5} \rm M_{\odot }$. Only galaxies with negative metallicity gradients define a correlation with galaxy size, consistent with an inside-out formation scenario. Our findings suggest that major mergers and/or significant gas accretion can drive strong negative or positive metallicity gradients. The first ones are preferentially associated with disc-dominated galaxies, and the second ones with dispersion-dominated systems. The comparison with forthcoming observations at high redshift will allow a better understanding of the potential role of metallicity gradients as a chemical probe of galaxy formation.

The emergence of dark matter-deficient ultra-diffuse galaxies driven by scatter in the stellar mass–halo mass relation and feedback from globular clusters

ABSTRACT In addition to their low stellar densities, ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) have a broad variety of dynamical mass-to-light ratios, ranging from dark matter (DM) dominated systems to objects nearly devoid of DM. To investigate the origin of this diversity, we develop a simple, semi-empirical model that predicts the structural evolution of galaxies, driven by feedback from massive star clusters, as a function of their departure from the mean SMHM relation. The model predicts that a galaxy located ≳ 0.5 dex above the mean relation at Mhalo = 1010 M⊙ will host a factor of ∼10–100 larger globular cluster (GC) populations, and that feedback from these GCs drives a significant expansion of the stellar component and loss of DM compared to galaxies on the SMHM relation. This effect is stronger in haloes that collapse earlier and have enhanced star formation rates at $z\gtrsim 2$, which leads to increased gas pressures, stellar clustering, and mean cluster masses, and significantly enhances the energy loading of galactic winds and its impact on the DM and stellar orbits. The impact on galaxy size and DM content can be large enough to explain observed galaxies that contain nearly the universal baryon fraction, as well as NGC 1052-DF2 and DF4 and other isolated UDGs that contain almost no DM. The trend of increasing galaxy size with GC specific frequency observed in galaxy clusters also emerges naturally in the model. Our predictions can be tested with large and deep surveys of the stellar and GC populations in dwarfs and UDGs. Because stellar clustering drives the efficiency of galactic winds, it may be a dominant factor in the structural evolution of galaxies and should be included as an essential ingredient in galaxy formation models.

The fast radio burst FRB 20201124A in a star-forming region: Constraints to the progenitor and multiwavelength counterparts

We present the results of a multiwavelength campaign targeting FRB 20201124A, the third closest repeating fast radio burst (FRB), which was recently localized in a nearby (z = 0.0978) galaxy. Deep VLA observations led to the detection of quiescent radio emission, which was also marginally visible in X-rays with Chandra. Imaging at 22 GHz allowed us to resolve the source on a scale of ≳1″ and locate it at the position of the FRB, within an error of 0.2″. The EVN and e-MERLIN observations sampled small angular scales, from 2 to 100 mas, providing tight upper limits on the presence of a compact source and evidence for diffuse radio emission. We argue that this emission is associated with enhanced star formation activity in the proximity of the FRB, corresponding to a star formation rate (SFR) of ≈10 M⊙ yr−1. The surface SFR at the location of FRB 20201124A is two orders of magnitude larger than what is typically observed in other precisely localized FRBs. Such a high SFR is indicative of this FRB source being a newborn magnetar produced from a supernova explosion of a massive star progenitor. Upper limits to the X-ray counterparts of 49 radio bursts observed in our simultaneous FAST, SRT, and Chandra campaign are consistent with a magnetar scenario.

A Catalog of 204 Offset and Dual Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs): Increased AGN Activation in Major Mergers and Separations under 4 kpc

Abstract During galaxy mergers, gas and dust are driven toward the centers of merging galaxies, triggering enhanced star formation and supermassive black hole (SMBH) growth. Theory predicts that this heightened activity peaks at SMBH separations &lt;20 kpc; if sufficient material accretes onto one or both of the SMBHs for them to become observable as active galactic nuclei (AGNs) during this phase, they are known as offset and dual AGNs, respectively. To better study these systems, we have built the ACS-AGN Merger Catalog, a large catalog (N = 204) of uniformly selected offset and dual AGN observed by the Hubble Space Telescope at 0.2 &lt; z &lt; 2.5 with separations &lt;20 kpc. Using this catalog, we answer many questions regarding SMBH−galaxy coevolution during mergers. First, we confirm predictions that the AGN fraction peaks at SMBH pair separations &lt;10 kpc; specifically, we find that the fraction increases significantly at pair separations of &lt;4 kpc. Second, we find that AGNs in mergers are preferentially found in major mergers and that the fraction of AGNs found in mergers follows a logarithmic relation, decreasing as merger mass ratio increases. Third, we do not find that mergers (nor the major or minor merger subpopulations) trigger the most luminous AGNs. Finally, we find that nuclear column density, AGN luminosity, and host galaxy star formation rate have no dependence on SMBH pair separation or merger mass ratio in these systems, nor do the distributions of these values differ significantly from that of the overall AGN population.