Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

Asantha Cooray

Publications and source records attributed to Asantha Cooray.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
arXiv2021

A Long Stream of Metal-Poor Cool Gas around a Massive Starburst Galaxy at z = 2.67

We present the first detailed dissection of the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of massive starburst galaxies at z > 2. Our target is a submillimeter galaxy (SMG) at z = 2.674 that has a star formation rate of 1200 $M_\odot$/yr and a molecular gas reservoir of $1.3\times10^{11} M_\odot$. We characterize its CGM with two background QSOs at impact parameters of 93 kpc and 176 kpc. We detect strong HI and metal-line absorption near the redshift of the SMG towards both QSOs, each consisting of three main subsystems spanning over 1500 km/s. The absorbers show remarkable kinematic and metallicity coherence across a separation of 86 kpc. In particular, the cool gas in the CGM of the SMG exhibits high HI column densities ($\log N_{\rm HI}/{\rm cm}^{-2} = 20.2, 18.6$), low metallicities ([M/H] $\approx$ -2.0), and similar radial velocities ($\approx$ -300 km/s). While the HI column densities match previous results on the CGM around QSOs at z > 2, the metallicities are lower by more than an order of magnitude, making it an outlier in the line width$-$metallicity relation of damped Ly$α$ absorbers. The large physical extent, the velocity coherence, the high surface density, and the low metallicity are all consistent with the cool, inflowing, and near-pristine gas streams predicted to penetrate hot massive halos at z > 1.5. We estimate a total gas accretion rate of ~100 $M_\odot$/yr from three such streams, which falls short of the star formation rate but is consistent with simulations. At this rate, it takes about a gigayear to acquire the molecular gas reservoir of the central starburst.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2020

Rise of the Titans: Gas Excitation and Feedback in a Binary Hyper-Luminous Dusty Starburst Galaxy at z~6

We report new observations toward the hyper-luminous dusty starbursting major merger ADFS-27 (z=5.655), using ATCA and ALMA. We detect CO 2-1, 8-7, 9-8, 10-9 and H2O(321-221) emission, and a P-Cygni-shaped OH+(11-01) absorption/emission feature. We also tentatively detect H2O(321-312) and OH+(12-01) emission and CH+(1-0) absorption. We find a total cold molecular mass of M_gas = (2.1+/-0.2) x 10^11 (alpha_CO/1.0) Msun. We also find that the excitation of the star-forming gas is overall moderate for a z>5 dusty starburst, which is consistent with its moderate dust temperature. A high density, high kinetic temperature gas component embedded in the gas reservoir is required to fully explain the CO line ladder. This component is likely associated with the "maximum starburst" nuclei in the two merging galaxies, which are separated by only (140+/-13) km/s along the line of sight and 9.0 kpc in projection. The kinematic structure of both components is consistent with galaxy disks, but this interpretation remains limited by the spatial resolution of the current data. The OH+ features are only detected towards the northern component, which is also the one that is more enshrouded in dust and thus remains undetected up to 1.6 um even in our sensitive new HST/WFC3 imaging. The absorption component of the OH+ line is blueshifted and peaks near the CO and continuum emission peak while the emission is redshifted and peaks offset by 1.7 kpc from the CO and continuum emission peak, suggesting that the gas is associated with a massive molecular outflow from the intensely star-forming nucleus that supplies 125 Msun/yr of enriched gas to its halo.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2020

CMB-S4: Forecasting Constraints on Primordial Gravitational Waves

CMB-S4---the next-generation ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiment---is set to significantly advance the sensitivity of CMB measurements and enhance our understanding of the origin and evolution of the Universe, from the highest energies at the dawn of time through the growth of structure to the present day. Among the science cases pursued with CMB-S4, the quest for detecting primordial gravitational waves is a central driver of the experimental design. This work details the development of a forecasting framework that includes a power-spectrum-based semi-analytic projection tool, targeted explicitly towards optimizing constraints on the tensor-to-scalar ratio, $r$, in the presence of Galactic foregrounds and gravitational lensing of the CMB. This framework is unique in its direct use of information from the achieved performance of current Stage 2--3 CMB experiments to robustly forecast the science reach of upcoming CMB-polarization endeavors. The methodology allows for rapid iteration over experimental configurations and offers a flexible way to optimize the design of future experiments given a desired scientific goal. To form a closed-loop process, we couple this semi-analytic tool with map-based validation studies, which allow for the injection of additional complexity and verification of our forecasts with several independent analysis methods. We document multiple rounds of forecasts for CMB-S4 using this process and the resulting establishment of the current reference design of the primordial gravitational-wave component of the Stage-4 experiment, optimized to achieve our science goals of detecting primordial gravitational waves for $r > 0.003$ at greater than $5σ$, or, in the absence of a detection, of reaching an upper limit of $r < 0.001$ at $95\%$ CL.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2020

Cross-Correlation of Far-Infrared Background Anisotropies and CMB Lensing from Herschel and Planck satellites

The cosmic infrared background (CIB) anisotropies and cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing are powerful measurements for exploring the cosmological and astrophysical problems. In this work, we measure the auto-correlation power spectrum of the CIB anisotropies in the Herschel-SPIRE HerMES Large Mode Survey (HeLMS) field, and the cross power spectrum with the CMB lensing measurements from the Planck satellite. The HeLMS field covers more than 270 deg^2, which is much larger than the previous analysis. We use the Herschel Level 1 time stream data to merge the CIB maps at 250, 350, and 500 um bands, and mask the areas where the flux is greater than 3-sigma (~50 mJy/beam) or no measured data. We obtain the final CIB power spectra at 100<ell<20000 by considering several effects, such as beam function, mode coupling, transfer function, and so on. We also calculate the theoretical CIB auto- and cross-power spectra of CIB and CMB lensing by assuming that the CIB emissivity follows Gaussian distribution in redshift. We find that, for the CIB auto power spectra, we obtain the signal to noise ratio (SNR) of 15.9, 15.7, and 15.3 at 250, 350, and 500 um, and for the CIBxCMB lensing power spectra, SNR of 7.5, 7.0, and 6.2 at 250, 350, and 500 um, respectively. Comparing to previous works, the constraints on the relevant CIB parameters are improved by factors of 2~5 in this study.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2020

Space Project for Astrophysical and Cosmological Exploration (SPACE), an ESA stand-alone mission and a possible contribution to the Origins Space Telescope

We propose a new mission called Space Project for Astrophysical and Cosmological Exploration (SPACE) as part on the ESA long term planning Voyage 2050 programme. SPACE will study galaxy evolution at the earliest times, with the key goals of charting the formation of the heavy elements, measuring the evolution of the galaxy luminosity function, tracing the build-up of stellar mass in galaxies over cosmic time, and finding the first super-massive black holes (SMBHs) to form. The mission will exploit a unique region of the parameter space, between the narrow ultra-deep surveys with HST and JWST, and shallow wide-field surveys such as Roman Space Telescope and EUCLID, and should yield by far the largest sample of any current or planned mission of very high redshift galaxies at z > 10 which are sufficiently bright for detailed follow-up spectroscopy. Crucially, we propose a wide-field spectroscopic near-IR + mid-IR capability which will greatly enhance our understanding of the first galaxies by detecting and identifying a statistical sample of the first galaxies and the first SMBH, and to chart the metal enrichment history of galaxies in the early Universe - potentially finding signatures of the very first stars to form from metal-free primordial gas. The wide-field and wavelength range of SPACE will also provide us a unique opportunity to study star formation by performing a wide survey of the Milky Way in the near-IR + mid-IR. This science project can be enabled either by a stand-alone ESA-led M mission or by an instrument for an L mission (with ESA and/or NASA, JAXA and other international space agencies) with a wide-field (sub-)millimetre capability at wavelength > 500 microns.

astro-ph.IM↗
arXiv2020

Emergence of an Ultra-Red Ultra-Massive Galaxy Cluster Core at $z=4$

Recent simulations and observations of massive galaxy cluster evolution predict that the majority of stellar mass build up happens within cluster members by $z=2$, before cluster virialization. Protoclusters rich with dusty, star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) at $z>3$ are the favored candidate progenitors for these massive galaxy clusters at $z\sim0$. We present here the first study analyzing stellar emission along with cold dust and gas continuum emission in a spectroscopically confirmed $z=4.002$ protocluster core rich with DSFGs, the Distant Red Core (DRC). We combine new HST and Spitzer data with existing Gemini, Herschel, and ALMA observations to derive individual galaxy-level properties, and compare them to coeval field and other protocluster galaxies. All of the protocluster members are massive ($>10^{10}$ M$_\odot$), but not significantly more so than their coeval field counterparts. Within uncertainty, all are nearly indistinguishable from galaxies on the star-forming vs. stellar mass main-sequence relationship, and on the star formation efficiency plane. Assuming no future major influx of fresh gas, we estimate that these gaseous DSFGs will deplete their gas reservoirs in $\sim300$ Myr, becoming the massive quiescent ellipticals dominating cluster cores by $z\sim3$. Using various methodologies, we derive a total $z=4$ halo mass of $\sim10^{14}$ M$_\odot$, and estimate that the DRC will evolve to become an ultra-massive cluster core of mass $\gtrsim10^{15}$ M$_\odot$ by $z=0$.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2020

Cosmological constraints from line intensity mapping with interlopers

Understanding the formation and evolution of the Universe is crucial for cosmological studies, and the line intensity mapping provides a powerful tool for this kind of study. We propose to make use of multipole moments of redshift-space line intensity power spectrum to constrain the cosmological and astrophysical parameters, such as the equation of state of dark energy, massive neutrinos, primordial non-Gaussianity, and star formation rate density. As an example, we generate mock data of multipole power spectra for H-alpha 6563AA, [OIII] 5007AA and [OII] 3727AA measured by SPHEREx experiment at z=1 considering contaminations from interloper lines, and use Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method to constrain the parameters in the model. We find a good fitting result of the parameters compared to their fiducial values, which means that the multipole power spectrum can effectively distinguish signal and interloper lines, and break the degeneracies between parameters, such as line mean intensity and bias. We also explore the cross power spectrum with CSST (Chinese Space Station Telescope) spectroscopic galaxy survey in the constraints. Since more accurate fitting results can be obtained by including measurements of the emission lines at higher redshifts out to z=3 at least and cross-correlations between emission lines can be involved, the line intensity mapping is expected to offer excellent results in future cosmological and astrophysical studies.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2020

Three Dusty Star Forming Galaxies at $z\sim1.5$: Mergers and Disks on the Main Sequence

The main sequence of galaxies, a correlation between the star formation rates and stellar masses of galaxies, has been observed out to $z\sim4$. Galaxies within the scatter of the correlation are typically interpreted to be secularly evolving while galaxies with star formation rates elevated above the main sequence are interpreted to be undergoing interactions or to be Toomre-unstable disks with starbursting clumps. In this paper we investigate the recent merger histories of three dusty star forming galaxies, identified by their bright submillimeter emission at $z\sim1.5$. We analyze rest-frame optical and UV imaging, rest-frame optical emission line kinematics using slit spectra obtained with MOSFIRE on Keck I, and calculate Gini and M$_{20}$ statistics for each galaxy and conclude two are merger-driven while the third is an isolated disk galaxy. The disk galaxy lies $\sim$4$\times$ above the main sequence, one merger lies within the scatter of the main sequence, and one merger lies $\sim$4$\times$ below the main sequence. This hints that the location of a galaxy with respect to the main sequence may not be a useful discriminator of the recent star formation history of high-M$_{\star}$ galaxies at $z\sim1$.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2020

The Case for Probe-class NASA Astrophysics Missions

Astrophysics spans an enormous range of questions on scales from individual planets to the entire cosmos. To address the richness of 21st century astrophysics requires a corresponding richness of telescopes spanning all bands and all messengers. Much scientific benefit comes from having the multi-wavelength capability available at the same time. Most of these bands,or measurement sensitivities, require space-based missions. Historically, NASA has addressed this need for breadth with a small number of flagship-class missions and a larger number of Explorer missions. While the Explorer program continues to flourish, there is a large gap between Explorers and strategic missions. A fortunate combination of new astrophysics technologies with new, high capacity, low dollar-per-kg to orbit launchers, and new satellite buses allow for cheaper missions with capabilities approaching strategic mission levels. NASA has recognized these developments by calling for Probe-class mission ideas for mission studies, spanning most of the electromagnetic spectrum from GeV gamma-rays to the far infrared, and the new messengers of neutrinos and ultra-high energy cosmic rays. The key insight from the Probes exercise is that order-of-magnitude advances in science performance metrics are possible across the board for initial total cost estimates in the range 500M-1B dollars.

astro-ph.IM↗
arXiv2019

Photometric Redshift Estimation with Galaxy Morphology using Self-Organizing Maps

We use multi-band optical and near-infrared photometric observations of galaxies in the Cosmic Assembly Near-Infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS) to predict photometric redshifts using artificial neural networks. The multi-band observations span over 0.39 microns to 8.0 microns for a sample of about 1000 galaxies in the GOODS-S field for which robust size measurements are available from Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 observations. We use Self Organizing Maps (SOMs) to map the multi dimensional photometric and galaxy size observations while taking advantage of existing spectroscopic redshifts at 0 < z < 2 for independent training and testing sets. We show that use of photometric and morphological data led to redshift estimates comparable to redshift measurements from SED modeling and from self-organizing maps without morphological measurements.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2019

Spitzer catalog of Herschel-selected ultrared dusty, star-forming galaxies

The largest Herschel extragalactic surveys, H-ATLAS and HerMES, have selected a sample of "ultrared" dusty, star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) with rising SPIRE flux densities ($S_{500} > S_{350} > S_{250}$; so-called "500 $μ$m-risers") as an efficient way for identifying DSFGs at higher redshift ($z > 4$). In this paper, we present a large Spitzer follow-up program of 300 Herschel ultrared DSFGs. We have obtained high-resolution ALMA, NOEMA, and SMA data for 63 of them, which allow us to securely identify the Spitzer/IRAC counterparts and classify them as gravitationally lensed or unlensed. Within the 63 ultrared sources with high-resolution data, $\sim$65% appear to be unlensed, and $\sim$27% are resolved into multiple components. We focus on analyzing the unlensed sample by directly performing multi-wavelength spectral energy distribution (SED) modeling to derive their physical properties and compare with the more numerous $z \sim 2$ DSFG population. The ultrared sample has a median redshift of 3.3, stellar mass of 3.7 $\times$ 10$^{11}$ $M_{\odot}$, star formation rate (SFR) of 730 $M_{\odot}$yr$^{-1}$, total dust luminosity of 9.0 $\times$ 10$^{12}$ $L_{\odot}$, dust mass of 2.8 $\times$ 10$^9$ $M_{\odot}$, and V-band extinction of 4.0, which are all higher than those of the ALESS DSFGs. Based on the space density, SFR density, and stellar mass density estimates, we conclude that our ultrared sample cannot account for the majority of the star-forming progenitors of the massive, quiescent galaxies found in infrared surveys. Our sample contains the rarer, intrinsically most dusty, luminous and massive galaxies in the early universe that will help us understand the physical drivers of extreme star formation.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2019

CMB-S4 Decadal Survey APC White Paper

We provide an overview of the science case, instrument configuration and project plan for the next-generation ground-based cosmic microwave background experiment CMB-S4, for consideration by the 2020 Decadal Survey.

astro-ph.IM↗
arXiv2019

Infrared Contributions of X-Ray Selected Active Galactic Nuclei in Dusty Star-Forming Galaxies

We investigate the infrared contribution from supermassive black hole activity versus host galaxy emission in the mid to far-infrared (IR) spectrum for a large sample of X-ray bright active galactic nuclei (AGN) residing in dusty, star-forming host galaxies. We select 703 AGN with L_X = 10^42-46 ergs/s at 0.1 < z < 5 from the Chandra XBootes X-ray Survey with rich multi-band observations in the optical to far-IR. This is the largest sample to date of X-ray AGN with mid and far-IR detections that uses spectral energy distribution (SED) decomposition to determine intrinsic AGN and host galaxy infrared luminosities. We determine weak or nonexistent relationships when averaging star-formation activity as a function of AGN activity, but see stronger positive trends when averaging L_X in bins of star-forming activity for AGN at low redshifts. We estimate an average dust covering factor of 33% based on infrared SEDs and bolometric AGN luminosity, corresponding to a Type 2 AGN population of roughly a third. We also see a population of AGN that challenge the inclination based unification model with individual dust covering factors that contradict the nuclear obscuration expected from observed X-ray hardness ratios. We see no strong connection between AGN fractions in the IR and corresponding total infrared, 24 um, or X-ray luminosities. The average rest-frame AGN contribution as a function of IR wavelength shows significant (~80%) contributions in the mid-IR that trail off at lambda > 30 um. Additionally, we provide a relation between observed L_X and pure AGN IR output for high-z AGN allowing future studies to estimate AGN infrared contribution using only observed X-ray flux density estimates.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2019

The Life Cycle of Dust

Dust offers a unique probe of the interstellar medium (ISM) across multiple size, density, and temperature scales. Dust is detected in outflows of evolved stars, star-forming molecular clouds, planet-forming disks, and even in galaxies at the dawn of the Universe. These grains also have a profound effect on various astrophysical phenomena from thermal balance and extinction in galaxies to the building blocks for planets, and changes in dust grain properties will affect all of these phenomena. A full understanding of dust in all of its forms and stages requires a multi-disciplinary investigation of the dust life cycle. Such an investigation can be achieved with a statistical study of dust properties across stellar evolution, star and planet formation, and redshift. Current and future instrumentation will enable this investigation through fast and sensitive observations in dust continuum, polarization, and spectroscopy from near-infrared to millimeter wavelengths.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2019

Tomography of the Cosmic Dawn and Reionization Eras with Multiple Tracers

The Cosmic Dawn and Reionization epochs remain a fundamental but challenging frontier of astrophysics and cosmology. We advocate a large-scale, multi-tracer approach to develop a comprehensive understanding of the physics that led to the formation and evolution of the first stars and galaxies. We highlight the line intensity mapping technique to trace the multi-phase reionization topology on large scales, and measure reionization history in detail. Besides 21cm, we advocate for Lya tomography mapping during the epoch of Wouthuysen-Field coupling as an additional probe of the cosmic dawn era.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2019

The evolution of the cosmic molecular gas density

One of the last missing pieces in the puzzle of galaxy formation and evolution through cosmic history is a detailed picture of the role of the cold gas supply in the star-formation process. Cold gas is the fuel for star formation, and thus regulates the buildup of stellar mass, both through the amount of material present through a galaxy's gas mass fraction, and through the efficiency at which it is converted to stars. Over the last decade, important progress has been made in understanding the relative importance of these two factors along with the role of feedback, and the first measurements of the volume density of cold gas out to redshift 4, (the "cold gas history of the Universe") has been obtained. To match the precision of measurements of the star formation and black-hole accretion histories over the coming decades, a two orders of magnitude improvement in molecular line survey speeds is required compared to what is possible with current facilities. Possible pathways towards such large gains include significant upgrades to current facilities like ALMA by 2030 (and beyond), and eventually the construction of a new generation of radio-to-millimeter wavelength facilities, such as the next generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) concept.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2019

CDIM: Cosmic Dawn Intensity Mapper Final Report

The Cosmic Dawn Intensity Mapper (CDIM) will transform our understanding of the era of reionization when the Universe formed the first stars and galaxies, and UV photons ionized the neutral medium. CDIM goes beyond the capabilities of upcoming facilities by carrying out wide area spectro-imaging surveys, providing redshifts of galaxies and quasars during reionization as well as spectral lines that carry crucial information on their physical properties. CDIM will make use of unprecedented sensitivity to surface brightness to measure the intensity fluctuations of reionization on large-scales to provide a valuable and complementary dataset to 21-cm experiments. The baseline mission concept is an 83-cm infrared telescope equipped with a focal plane of 24 \times 20482 detectors capable of R = 300 spectro-imaging observations over the wavelength range of 0.75 to 7.5 μm using Linear Variable Filters (LVFs). CDIM provides a large field of view of 7.8 deg2 allowing efficient wide area surveys, and instead of moving instrumental components, spectroscopic mapping is obtained through a shift-and-stare strategy through spacecraft operations. CDIM design and capabilities focus on the needs of detecting faint galaxies and quasars during reionization and intensity fluctuation measurements of key spectral lines, including Lyman-α and Hα radiation from the first stars and galaxies. The design is low risk, carries significant science and engineering margins, and makes use of technologies with high technical readiness level for space observations.

astro-ph.GA↗