Termination Of Star Formation Research Articles

Light element discontinuities in the globular cluster NGC 6402 (M14)

AbstractNGC 6402 is one of the most massive globular clusters in the Galaxy but until recently little was known about its detailed chemical composition. Interestingly, recent results have shown that NGC 6402 exhibits a paucity of intermediate composition stars that may be indicative of an early termination of star formation. As a result, NGC 6402 may be important for understanding cluster formation and the order in which various stellar populations are born.

Galaxy formation in the Planck cosmology - II. Star-formation histories and post-processing magnitude reconstruction

We adapt the L-Galaxies semi-analytic model to follow the star-formation histories (SFH) of galaxies -- by which we mean a record of the formation time and metallicities of the stars that are present in each galaxy at a given time. We use these to construct stellar spectra in post-processing, which offers large efficiency savings and allows user-defined spectral bands and dust models to be applied to data stored in the Millennium data repository. We contrast model SFHs from the Millennium Simulation with observed ones from the VESPA algorithm as applied to the SDSS-7 catalogue. The overall agreement is good, with both simulated and SDSS galaxies showing a steeper SFH with increased stellar mass. The SFHs of blue and red galaxies, however, show poor agreement between data and simulations, which may indicate that the termination of star formation is too abrupt in the models. The mean star-formation rate (SFR) of model galaxies is well-defined and is accurately modelled by a double power law at all redshifts: SFR proportional to $1/(x^{-1.39}+x^{1.33})$, where $x=(t_a-t)/3.0\,$Gyr, $t$ is the age of the stars and $t_a$ is the loopback time to the onset of galaxy formation; above a redshift of unity, this is well approximated by a gamma function: SFR proportional to $x^{1.5}e^{-x}$, where $x=(t_a-t)/2.0\,$Gyr. Individual galaxies, however, show a wide dispersion about this mean. When split by mass, the SFR peaks earlier for high-mass galaxies than for lower-mass ones, and we interpret this downsizing as a mass-dependence in the evolution of the quenched fraction: the SFHs of star-forming galaxies show only a weak mass dependence.

AGN in dusty hosts: implications for galaxy evolution

We present strong empirical evidence for a physical connection between the occurrence of a starburst (SB) and a luminous AGN phase. Drawing infrared (IR), X-ray, and optically selected samples from COSMOS, we find that the locus of type-2 AGN hosts in the optical colour-magnitude (U-V/V) and colour-colour (U-V/V-J) space significantly overlaps with that of IR-luminous (L_IR > 10^10 L_sun) galaxies. Based on our observations, we propose that, when simultaneously building their black hole and stellar masses, type-2 AGN hosts are located in the same part of colour-colour space as dusty star-forming galaxies. In fact, our results show that IR-luminous galaxies at z<1.5 are on average 3 times more likely to host a type-2 AGN (L_X > 10^42 erg/s) than would be expected serendipitously, if AGN and star-formation events were unrelated. In addition, the optical and infrared properties of the AGN/SB hybrid systems tentatively suggest that the AGN phase might be coeval with a particularly active phase in a galaxy's star-formation history. Interestingly, we also find a significant fraction of type-2 AGN hosts offset from the dusty galaxy sequence in colour-colour space, possibly representing a transitional or post-starburst phase in galaxy evolution. Our findings are consistent with a scenario whereby AGN play a role in the termination of star-formation in massive galaxies.

Studying the emergence of the red sequence through galaxy clustering: host halo masses at z &gt; 2

We use the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS) Ultra Deep Survey (UDS), the deepest degree-scale near-infrared survey to date, to investigate the clustering of star-forming and passive galaxies to z ∼ 3.5. Our new measurements include the first determination of the clustering for passive galaxies at z > 2, which we achieve using a cross-correlation technique. We find that passive galaxies are the most strongly clustered, typically hosted by massive dark matter haloes with Mhalo > 5 × 1012 M⊙ irrespective of redshift or stellar mass. Our findings are consistent with models in which a critical halo mass determines the transition from star-forming to passive galaxies. Star-forming galaxies show no strong correlation between stellar mass and halo mass, but passive galaxies show evidence for an anticorrelation; low-mass passive galaxies appear, on average, to be located in the most massive haloes. These results can be understood if the termination of star formation is most efficient for galaxies of low stellar mass in very dense environments.

DIRECT EVIDENCE FOR TERMINATION OF OBSCURED STAR FORMATION BY RADIATIVELY DRIVEN OUTFLOWS IN REDDENED QSOs

We present optical to far-infrared photometry of 31 reddened QSOs that show evidence for radiatively driven outflows originating from AGN in their rest-frame UV spectra. We use these data to study the relationships between the AGN-driven outflows, and the AGN and starburst infrared luminosities. We find that FeLoBAL QSOs are invariably IR-luminous, with IR luminosities exceeding 10^{12} Solar luminosities in all cases. The AGN supplies 76% of the total IR emission, on average, but with a range from 20% to 100%. We find no evidence that the absolute luminosity of obscured star formation is affected by the AGN-driven outflows. Conversely, we find an anticorrelation between the strength of AGN-driven outflows, as measured from the range of outflow velocities over which absorption exceeds a minimal threshold, and the contribution from star formation to the total IR luminosity, with a much higher chance of seeing a starburst contribution in excess of 25% in systems with weak outflows than in systems with strong outflows. Moreover, we find no convincing evidence that this effect is driven by the IR luminosity of the AGN. We conclude that radiatively driven outflows from AGN can have a dramatic, negative impact on luminous star formation in their host galaxies. We find that such outflows act to curtail star formation such that star formation contributes less than ~25% of the total IR luminosity. We also propose that the degree to which termination of star formation takes place is not deducible from the IR luminosity of the AGN.

EQUAL- AND UNEQUAL-MASS MERGERS OF DISK AND ELLIPTICAL GALAXIES WITH BLACK HOLES

We present binary galaxy merger simulations with varying mass ratios and different progenitor morphologies. The simulations include mergers of gas-rich disks (Sp-Sp), of early-type galaxies and disks (E-Sp, mixed mergers), and mergers of early-type galaxies (E-E, dry mergers). We follow the dynamics of gas, stars, and dark matter, and include radiative cooling, star formation and black hole (BH) accretion, and the associated feedback processes as in Springel et al. We study the mass assembly of the BHs and discuss technical issues of the implemented model in detail. For Sp-Sp mergers, the peak star formation rate and BH accretion rate decrease and the growth timescales of the central BHs and newly formed stars increase with higher progenitor mass ratios. The peak BH accretion rate typically occurs shortly after the time of BH merging for low progenitor mass ratios (e.g., 3:1 and lower), whereas for higher progenitor mass ratios there is no clear correlation between the peak BH accretion rate and the BH merging time. The termination of star formation by BH feedback in disk mergers is significantly less important for higher progenitor mass ratios (e.g., 3:1 and higher). In addition, the inclusion of BH feedback efficiently suppresses star formation in dry E-E mergers and mixed E-Sp mergers. All merger remnants, independent of their progenitors, follow the observed relations between the central BH mass and the stellar velocity dispersion (MBH − σ), the bulge mass (MBH − M*), and the bulge binding energy (MBH − M*σ2), with the dominant source of scatter arising from variations in the initial gas mass fraction. The normalizations for all relations and the simulated slope of the MBH − σ and MBH − M*σ2 relations are in good agreement with the observations, whereas the simulated slope of the MBH − M* relation is slightly steeper compared to the observations. This indicates that the simple BH feedback model self-regulates the mass growth of the BHs in accordance with the observed relations for a very wide range of merger progenitors.

Termination of star formation by BH feedback in equal‐ and unequal‐mass mergers of disk and elliptical galaxies

AbstractWe present binary galaxy merger simulations of gas‐rich disks (Sp‐Sp), of early‐type galaxies and disks (E‐Sp, mixed mergers), and mergers of early‐type galaxies (E‐E, dry mergers) with varying mass ratios and different progenitor morphologies. The simulations include radiative cooling, star formation and black hole (BH) accretion and the associated feedback processes. We find for Sp‐Sp mergers, that the peak star formation rate and BH accretion rate decrease and the growth timescales of the central black holes and newly formed stars increase with higher progenitor mass ratios. The termination of star formation by BH feedback in disk mergers is significantly less important for higher progenitor mass ratios (e.g. 3:1 and higher). In addition, the inclusion of BH feedback suppresses efficiently star formation in dry E‐E mergers and mixed E‐Sp mergers. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &amp; Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

The Red‐Sequence Luminosity Function in Galaxy Clusters sincez∼ 1

We use a statistical sample of ~500 rich clusters taken from 72 deg2 of the Red-Sequence Cluster Survey (RCS-1) to study the evolution of ~30,000 red-sequence galaxies in clusters over the redshift range 0.35 < z < 0.95. We construct red-sequence luminosity functions (RSLFs) for a well-defined, homogeneously selected, richness-limited sample. The RSLF at higher redshifts shows a deficit of faint red galaxies (to MV ≥ − 19.7) with their numbers increasing toward the present epoch. This is consistent with the picture in which star formation ended at earlier times for the most massive (luminous) galaxies and more recently for less massive (fainter) galaxies. We observe a richness dependence to the downsizing effect in the sense that, at a given redshift, the drop-off of faint red galaxies is greater for poorer (less massive) clusters, suggesting that star formation ended earlier for galaxies in more massive clusters. The decrease in faint red-sequence galaxies is accompanied by an increase in faint blue galaxies, implying that the process responsible for this evolution of faint galaxies is the termination of star formation, possibly with little or no need for merging. At the bright end, we also see an increase in the number of blue galaxies with increasing redshift, suggesting that termination of star formation in higher mass galaxies may also be an important formation mechanism for higher mass ellipticals. By comparing with a low-redshift Abell cluster sample, we find that the downsizing trend seen within RCS-1 has continued to the local universe.

Extended star formation in dwarf spheroidal galaxies: The cases of Draco, Sextans, and Ursa Minor

Star formation and chemical enrichment histories of the dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) Draco, Sextans, and Ursa Minor are investigated by means of chemical evolution models and a simulation code for colour-magnitude diagrams (CMDs). The CMD simulation code is designed to fully consider effects of the chemical evolution on stellar evolution and photometric properties. Comparisons between the chemical evolution models and the observed abundance patterns reveal that the star formation rates were very low (1-5% of that of the solar neighbourhood disc) and that the initial star formation continued for a long duration (> 3.9-6.5 Gyr) in these dSphs. This star formation history can reproduce morphologies of the observed CMDs, such as narrow red giant branches and red horizontal branches. Hence, both of the abundance patterns and the morphologies of the CMDs can be explained by the star formation histories characterised by the low star formation rate and the long duration of the star formation period. Because of the low star formation rates, plenty of gas remains at the final epoch of star formation. We suggest that gas stripping by the Galaxy results in termination of star formation in the dSphs.

Radial Color Gradients in K + A Galaxies in Distant Clusters of Galaxies

Galaxies in rich clusters with z $\gtrsim$ 0.3 are observed to have a higher fraction of photometrically blue galaxies than their nearby counterparts. This raises the important question of what environmental effects can cause the termination of star formation between z $\approx$ 0.3 and the present. The star formation may be truncated due to ram-pressure stripping, or the gas in the disk may be depleted by an episode of star formation caused by some external perturbation. To help resolve this issue, surface photometry was carried out for a total of 70 early-type galaxies in the cluster Cl1358+62, at z $\sim$ 0.33, using two-color images from the Hubble Archive. The galaxies were divided into two categories based on spectroscopic criteria: 24 are type K+A (e.g., strong Balmer lines, with no visible emission lines), while the remaining 46 are in the control sample with normal spectra. Radial color profiles were produced to see if the K+A galaxies show bluer nuclei in relation to their surrounding disks. Specifically, a linear gradient was fit to the radial color profile of each galaxy. We find that the K+A galaxies on average tend to have slightly bluer gradients towards the center than the normals. A Kolmogorov-Smirnov two-sample test has been applied to the two sets of color gradients. The result of the test indicates that there is only a $\sim$2% probability that the K+A and normal samples are drawn from the same parent distribution. There is a possible complication from a trend in the apparent magnitude vs. color gradient relation, but overall our results favor the centralized star formation scenario as an important process in the evolution of galaxies in dense clusters.