Properties Of Gas In Galaxies Research Articles

WALLABY Pilot Survey: H i gas kinematics of galaxy pairs in cluster environment

ABSTRACT We examine the H i gas kinematics of galaxy pairs in two clusters and a group using Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) WALLABY pilot survey observations. We compare the H i properties of galaxy pair candidates in the Hydra I and Norma clusters, and the NGC 4636 group, with those of non-paired control galaxies selected in the same fields. We perform H i profile decomposition of the sample galaxies using a tool, baygaud, which allows us to deblend a line-of-sight velocity profile with an optimal number of Gaussian components. We construct H i superprofiles of the sample galaxies via stacking of their line profiles after aligning the central velocities. We fit a double Gaussian model to the superprofiles and classify them as kinematically narrow and broad components with respect to their velocity dispersions. Additionally, we investigate the gravitational instability of H i gas discs of the sample galaxies using Toomre Q parameters and H i morphological disturbances. We investigate the effect of the cluster environment on the H i properties of galaxy pairs by dividing the cluster environment into three subcluster regions (i.e. outskirts, infalling, and central regions). We find that the denser cluster environment (i.e. infalling and central regions) is likely to impact the H i gas properties of galaxies in a way of decreasing the amplitude of the kinematically narrow H i gas ($M_{\rm {narrow}}^{\rm {H\, \small {\rm I}}}$/$M_{\rm {total}}^{\rm {H\, \small {\rm I}}}$), and increasing the Toomre Q values of the infalling and central galaxies. This tendency is likely to be more enhanced for galaxy pairs in the cluster environment.

A general framework to test gravity using galaxy clusters – VI. Realistic galaxy formation simulations to study clusters in modified gravity

ABSTRACT We present a retuning of the IllustrisTNG baryonic physics model which can be used to run large-box realistic cosmological simulations with a lower resolution. This new model employs a lowered gas density threshold for star formation and reduced energy releases by stellar and black hole feedback. These changes ensure that our simulations can produce sufficient star formation to closely match the observed stellar and gas properties of galaxies and galaxy clusters, despite having ∼160 times lower mass resolution than the simulations used to tune the fiducial IllustrisTNG model. Using the retuned model, we have simulated Hu–Sawicki f(R) gravity within a 301.75 h−1 Mpc box. This is, to date, the largest simulation that incorporates both screened modified gravity and full baryonic physics, offering a large sample (∼500) of galaxy clusters and ∼8000 galaxy groups. We have reanalysed the effects of the f(R) fifth force on the scaling relations between the cluster mass and four observable proxies: the mass-weighted gas temperature, the Compton Y-parameter of the thermal Sunyaev–Zel’dovich effect, the X-ray analogue of the Y-parameter, and the X-ray luminosity. We show that a set of mappings between the f(R) scaling relations and their Lambda cold dark matter counterpart, which have been tested in a previous work using a much smaller cosmological volume, are accurate to within a few per cent for the Y-parameters and $\lesssim 7{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ for the gas temperature for cluster-sized haloes ($10^{14}\, {\rm M}_{\odot }\lesssim M_{500}\lesssim 10^{15}\, {\rm M}_{\odot }$). These mappings will be important for unbiased constraints of gravity using the data from ongoing and upcoming cluster surveys.

The Environmental Dependence of Gas Properties in Dense Cores of a Protocluster at z ∼ 2.5 Revealed with ALMA

Abstract In a protocluster USS1558-003 at z = 2.53, galaxies in the dense cores show systematically elevated star-forming activity compared to those in less dense regions. To understand its origin, we look into the gas properties of the galaxies in the dense cores by conducting deep 1.1 mm observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. We detect interstellar dust continuum emission from 12 member galaxies and estimate their molecular gas masses. Comparing these gas masses with our previous measurements from the CO(3–2) line, we infer that the latter might be overestimated. We find that the gas to stellar mass ratios of the galaxies in the dense cores tend to be higher (at M * ∼ 1010 M ⊙ where we see the enhanced star-forming activity), suggesting that such large gas masses can sustain their high star-forming activity. However, if we compare the gas properties of these protocluster galaxies with the gas scaling relations constructed for field galaxies at a similar cosmic epoch, we find no significant environmental difference at the same stellar mass and star formation rate. Although both gas mass ratios and star-forming activity are enhanced in the majority of member galaxies, they appear to follow the same scaling relation as field galaxies. Our results are consistent with the scenario in which the cold gas is efficiently supplied to protocluster cores and to galaxies therein along surrounding filamentary structures, which leads to the high gas mass fractions and thus the elevated star formation activity, but without changing the star formation law.

On the relationship between gas content, star formation, and global H i asymmetry of galaxies on the star-forming main-sequence

ABSTRACT Observations have revealed that disturbances in the cold neutral atomic hydrogen (H i) in galaxies are ubiquitous, but the reasons for these disturbances remain unclear. While some studies suggest that asymmetries in integrated H i spectra (global H i asymmetry) are higher in H i-rich systems, others claim that they are preferentially found in H i-poor galaxies. In this work, we utilize the Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA (ALFALFA) and extended GALEX Arecibo SDSS Survey (xGASS) surveys, plus a sample of post-merger galaxies, to clarify the link between global H i asymmetry and the gas properties of galaxies. Focusing on star-forming galaxies in ALFALFA, we find that elevated global H i asymmetry is not associated with a change in the H i content of a galaxy, and that only the galaxies with the highest global H i asymmetry show a small increase in specific star formation rate (sSFR). However, we show that the lack of a trend with H i content is because ALFALFA misses the ‘gas-poor’ tail of the star-forming main-sequence. Using xGASS to obtain a sample of star-forming galaxies that is representative in both sSFR and H i content, we find that global H i asymmetric galaxies are typically more gas-poor than symmetric ones at fixed stellar mass, with no change in sSFR. Our results highlight the complexity of the connection between galaxy properties and global H i asymmetry. This is further confirmed by the fact that even post-merger galaxies show both symmetric and asymmetric H i spectra, demonstrating that merger activity does not always lead to an asymmetric global H i spectrum.

Measuring the Heating and Cooling of the Interstellar Medium at High Redshift: PAH and [C ii] Observations of the Same Star-forming Galaxies at z ∼ 2

Abstract Star formation depends critically on cooling mechanisms in the interstellar medium (ISM); however, thermal properties of gas in galaxies at the peak epoch of star formation (z ∼ 2) remain poorly understood. A limiting factor in understanding the multiphase ISM is the lack of multiple tracers detected in the same galaxies, such as Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) emission, a tracer of a critical photoelectric heating mechanism in interstellar gas, and [C ii] 158 μm fine-structure emission, a principal coolant. We present ALMA Band 9 observations targeting [C ii] in six z ∼ 2 star-forming galaxies with strong Spitzer IRS detections of PAH emission. All six galaxies are detected in dust continuum and marginally resolved. We compare the properties of PAH and [C ii] emission, and constrain their relationship as a function of total infrared luminosity (L IR) and IR surface density. [C ii] emission is detected in one galaxy at high signal-to-noise (34σ), and we place a secure upper limit on a second source. The rest of our sample are not detected in [C ii] likely due to redshift uncertainties and narrow ALMA bandpass windows. Our results are consistent with the deficit in [C ii]/L IR and PAH/L IR observed in the literature. However, the ratio of [C ii] to PAH emission at z ∼ 2 is possibly much lower than what is observed in nearby dusty star-forming galaxies. This could be the result of enhanced cooling via [O i] at high-z, hotter gas and dust temperatures, and/or a reduction in the photoelectric efficiency, in which the coupling between interstellar radiation and gas heating is diminished.

Cold neutral hydrogen gas in galaxies

This review summarizes recent studies of the cold neutral hydrogen gas associated with galaxies probed via the HI 21-cm absorption line. HI 21-cm absorption against background radio-loud quasars is a powerful tool to study the neutral gas distribution and kinematics in foreground galaxies from kilo-parsec to parsec scales. At low redshifts (z<0.4), it has been used to characterize the distribution of high column density neutral gas around galaxies and study the connection of this gas with the galaxy's optical properties. The neutral gas around galaxies has been found to be patchy in distribution, with variations in optical depth observed at both kilo-parsec and parsec scales. At high redshifts (z>0.5), HI 21-cm absorption has been used to study the neutral gas in metal or Lyman-alpha absorption-selected galaxies. It has been found to be closely linked with the metal and dust content of the gas. Trends of various properties like incidence, spin temperature and velocity width of HI 21-cm absorption with redshift have been studied, which imply evolution of cold gas properties in galaxies with cosmic time. Upcoming large blind surveys of HI 21-cm absorption with next generation radio telescopes are expected to determine accurately the redshift evolution of the number density of HI 21-cm absorbers per unit redshift and hence understand what drives the global star formation rate density evolution.

A Universal Correlation between Star Formation Activity and Molecular Gas Properties Across Environments

Abstract We present the molecular gas mass fraction ( ) and star formation efficiency (SFE) of local galaxies on the basis of our new CO( ) observations with the Nobeyama 45 m radio telescope, combined with the COLDGASS galaxy catalog, as a function of galaxy environment defined as the local number density of galaxies measured with SDSS DR7 spectroscopic data. Our sample covers a wide range in the stellar mass and star formation rate (SFR), and also covers a wide environmental range over two orders of magnitude. This allows us to conduct the first systematic study of environmental dependence of molecular gas properties in galaxies from the lowest- to the highest-density environments in the local universe. We confirm that both and SFE have strong positive correlations with the SFR offset from the star-forming main sequence (ΔMS) and, most importantly, we find that these correlations are universal across all environments. Our result demonstrates that star formation activity within individual galaxies is primarily controlled by their molecular gas content, regardless of their global environment. Therefore, we claim that one always needs to be careful about the ΔMS distribution of the sample when investigating the environmental effects on the H2 gas content in galaxies.

LZIFU: an emission-line fitting toolkit for integral field spectroscopy data

We present LZIFU (LaZy-IFU), an IDL toolkit for fitting multiple emission lines simultaneously in integral field spectroscopy (IFS) data. LZIFU is useful for the investigation of the dynamical, physical and chemical properties of gas in galaxies. LZIFU has already been applied to many world-class IFS instruments and large IFS surveys, including the Wide Field Spectrograph, the new Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE), the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) survey, the Sydney-Australian-astronomical-observatory Multi-object Integral-field spectrograph (SAMI) Galaxy Survey. Here we describe in detail the structure of the toolkit, and how the line fluxes and flux uncertainties are determined, including the possibility of having multiple distinct kinematic components. We quantify the performance of LZIFU, demonstrating its accuracy and robustness. We also show examples of applying LZIFU to CALIFA and SAMI data to construct emission line and kinematic maps, and investigate complex, skewed line profiles presented in IFS data. The code is made available to the astronomy community through github. LZIFU will be further developed over time to other IFS instruments, and to provide even more accurate line and uncertainty estimates.

Evolution of the atomic and molecular gas content of galaxies in dark matter haloes

We present a semi-empirical model to infer the atomic and molecular hydrogen content of galaxies as a function of halo mass and time. Our model combines the SFR-halo mass-redshift relation (constrained by galaxy abundances) with inverted SFR-surface density relations to infer galaxy H I and H2 masses. We present gas scaling relations, gas fractions, and mass functions from z = 0 to z = 3 and the gas properties of galaxies as a function of their host halo masses. Predictions of our work include: 1) there is a ~ 0.2 dex decrease in the H I mass of galaxies as a function of their stellar mass since z = 1.5, whereas the H2 mass of galaxies decreases by > 1 dex over the same period. 2) galaxy cold gas fractions and H2 fractions decrease with increasing stellar mass and time. Galaxies with M* > 10^10 Msun are dominated by their stellar content at z < 1, whereas less-massive galaxies only reach these gas fractions at z = 0. We find the strongest evolution in relative gas content at z < 1.5. 3) the SFR to gas mass ratio decreases by an order of magnitude from z = 3 to z = 0. This is consistent with lower H2 fractions; these lower fractions in combination with smaller gas reservoirs correspond to decreased present-day galaxy SFRs. 4) an H2-based star- formation relation can simultaneously fuel the evolution of the cosmic star-formation and reproduce the observed weak evolution in the cosmic HI density. 5) galaxies residing in haloes with masses near 10^12 Msun are most efficient at obtaining large gas reservoirs and forming H2 at all redshifts. These two effects lie at the origin of the high star-formation efficiencies in haloes with the same mass.

The effect of gas fraction on the morphology and time-scales of disc galaxy mergers

Gas-rich galaxy mergers are more easily identified by their disturbed morphologies than mergers with less gas. Because the typical gas fraction of galaxy mergers is expected to increase with redshift, the under-counting of low gas-fraction mergers may bias morphological estimates of the evolution of galaxy merger rate. To understand the magnitude of this bias, we explore the effect of gas fraction on the morphologies of a series of simulated disc galaxy mergers. With the resulting g-band images, we determine how the time-scale for identifying major and minor galaxy mergers via close projected pairs and quantitative morphology (the Gini coefficient G, the second-order moment of the brightest 20 per cent of the light M20 and asymmetry A) depends on baryonic gas fraction fgas. Strong asymmetries last significantly longer in high gas-fraction mergers of all mass ratios, with time-scales ranging from ≤300 Myr for fgas∼ 20 per cent to ≥1 Gyr for fgas∼ 50 per cent. Therefore, the strong evolution with redshift observed in the fraction of asymmetric galaxies may reflect evolution in the gas properties of galaxies rather than the global galaxy merger rate. On the other hand, the time-scale for identifying a galaxy merger via G–M20 is weakly dependent on gas fraction (∼200–400 Myr), consistent with the weak evolution observed for G–M20 mergers.

The Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect in elliptical galaxies

The history of the discovery of hot gas in galaxies is briefly reviewed, and the main properties of this gas described, emphasizing the need to refine these properties, in particular, the mass of the gas. It is proposed to do this via observations of the Sunyaev-Zel’dovich (SZ) effect due to hot gas in the coronas of elliptical galaxies. The absolute and relative perturbations of the spectrum of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation due to scattering of the CMB photons by electrons with a Maxwellian energy distribution are calculated. The possibility of observing the SZ effect is demonstrated using three elliptical galaxies as examples. The kinematic SZ effect arising due to the peculiar motions and rotations of the galaxies is also accessible to observations. Together with X-ray data, such observations would enable refinement of the properties of gas in galaxies, and also yield additional information about the rotation of galaxies, possible accretion flows in the galactic gas, and hot galactic winds.

Detectability of Long Gamma‐Ray Burst Afterglows from Very High Redshifts

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are promising tools for tracing the formation of high-redshift stars, including the first generation. At very high redshifts the reverse shock emission lasts longer in the observer frame, and its importance for detection and analysis purposes relative to the forward shock increases. We consider two different models for the GRB environment, based on current ideas about the redshift dependence of gas properties in galaxies and primordial star formation. We calculate the observed flux as a function of the redshift and observer time for typical GRB afterglows, taking into account intergalactic photoionization and Lyα absorption opacity, as well as extinction by the Milky Way. The fluxes in the X-ray and near-IR bands are compared with the sensitivity of different detectors such as Chandra, XMM, Swift XRT, and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Using standard assumptions, we find that Chandra, XMM, and Swift XRT can potentially detect GRBs in the X-ray band out to very high redshifts z 30. In the K and M bands, the JWST and ground-based telescopes are potentially able to detect GRBs even 1 day after the trigger out to z ~ 16 and 33, if present. While the X-ray band is insensitive to the external density and to reverse shocks, the near-IR bands provide a sensitive tool for diagnosing both the environment and the reverse shock component.

Simulations on the Collisional Properties of Gas in Galaxies

In this work, we explore a simple method with few free parameters, which describes the global dynamical consequences on disk galaxies of a slow cycling of gas between the interstellar, almost collisionless very cold gas and the warm collisional phases, with a secular transformation of a fraction of warm gas into stars.

The Average Properties of the Dense Molecular Gas in Galaxies

We have observed the HCN J = 3 → 2 and J = 1 → 0 emission from several nearby starburst and normal galaxies. These lines have large critical densities (nH2 > 106 cm-3) and excitation energies (Eu > 25 K). Thus, they probe the warm and dense molecular gas where massive stars typically form. The average cloud densities of these galaxies, as estimated from the ratio of the HCN J = 3 → 2 and 1 → 0 integrated intensities, is correlated with their star formation efficiency. Therefore, the average densities of the molecular clouds in starburst nuclei are higher than those of more quiescent galaxies. Further, the starburst galaxies NGC 253 and M82 have a much higher fraction of molecular mass at high density (nH2 > 104 cm-3) than the normal galaxies IC 342 and the Milky Way. These results imply that the clouds in starburst nuclei form stars more efficiently than those in normal galaxies.

The relation of dust and atomic gas properties of galaxies

We examine how the neutral atomic hydrogen and far-infrared emission from galaxies relate to their environments. We find that isolated and interacting galaxies display a fairly narrow range of a temperature- adjusted "H I/100 micron index," suggesting that atomic gas-to-dust ratios are relatively constant among most galaxies. Isolated normal galaxies are used to develop a fiducial standard for the H I/100 micron index, against which we compare galaxies in other environments. Galaxies undergoing tidal interactions prove to have the same value for the index once the proper temperature adjustment is applied according to their FIR color. Applied to clusters, the H I/100 micron index shows a clear discrimination between galaxies whose H I is "stripped" or "unstripped," implying that there is ~6 times less H I in stripped galaxies relative to the 100 micron-emitting dust. The stripped galaxies also appear to have a slightly lower mean dust temperature, which is surprising since the stripping process might be expected to remove preferentially cooler than average dust from the outer disk.