arXiv subjects

Asantha Cooray

Publications and source records attributed to Asantha Cooray.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Low-Resolution Near-infrared Stellar Spectra Observed by the Cosmic Infrared Background Experiment (CIBER)

We present near-infrared (0.8-1.8 $μ$m) spectra of 105 bright (${m_{J}}$ $<$ 10) stars observed with the low resolution spectrometer on the rocket-borne Cosmic Infrared Background Experiment (CIBER). As our observations are performed above the earth's atmosphere, our spectra are free from telluric contamination, which makes them a unique resource for near-infrared spectral calibration. Two-Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) photometry information is used to identify cross-matched stars after reduction and extraction of the spectra. We identify the spectral types of the observed stars by comparing them with spectral templates from the Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) library. All the observed spectra are consistent with late F to M stellar spectral types, and we identify various infrared absorption lines.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2017

The interstellar medium in high-redshift submillimeter galaxies as probed by infrared spectroscopy

Submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) at $z\gtrsim1$ are luminous in the far-infrared and have star-formation rates, SFR, of hundreds to thousands of solar masses per year. However, it is unclear whether they are true analogs of local ULIRGs or whether the mode of their star formation is more similar to that in local disk galaxies. We target these questions by using Herschel-PACS to examine the conditions in the interstellar medium (ISM) in far-infrared luminous SMGs at z~1-4. We present 70-160 micron photometry and spectroscopy of the [OIV]26 micron, [FeII]26 micron, [SIII]33 micron, [SiII]34 micron, [OIII]52 micron, [NIII]57 micron, and [OI]63 micron fine-structure lines and the S(0) and S(1) hydrogen rotational lines in 13 lensed SMGs identified by their brightness in early Herschel data. Most of the 13 targets are not individually spectroscopically detected and we instead focus on stacking these spectra with observations of an additional 32 SMGs from the \herschel\ archive -- representing a complete compilation of PACS spectroscopy of SMGs. We detect [OI]63 micron, [SiII]34 micron, and [NIII]57 micron at >3sigma in the stacked spectra, determining that the average strengths of these lines relative to the far-IR continuum are $(0.36\pm0.12)\times10^{-3}$, $(0.84\pm0.17)\times10^{-3}$, and $(0.27\pm0.10)\times10^{-3}$, respectively. Using the [OIII]52/[NIII]57 emission line ratio we show that SMGs have average gas-phase metallicities $\gtrsim Z_{\rm sun}$. By using PDR modelling and combining the new spectral measurements with integrated far-infrared fluxes and existing [CII]158 micron data we show that SMGs have average gas densities, n, of $\sim10^{1-3}{\rm cm^{-3}}$ and FUV field strengths, $G_0\sim10^{2.2-4.5}$ (in Habing units: $1.6\times10^{-3}{\rm erg~cm^{-2}~s^{-1}}$), consistent with both local ULIRGs and lower luminosity star-forming galaxies.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

Intensity mapping of H-alpha, H-beta, [OII] and [OIII] lines at z<5

Intensity mapping is now becoming a useful tool to study the large-scale structure of the universe through spatial variations in the integrated emission from galaxies and the intergalactic medium. We study intensity mapping of the H-alpha 6563AA, [OIII]5007AA, [OII]3727AA and H-beta 4861AA lines at 0.8<z<5.2. The mean intensities of these four emission lines are estimated using the observed luminosity functions (LFs), cosmological simulations, and the star formation rate density (SFRD) derived from observations at z<5. We calculate the intensity power spectra and consider the foreground contamination of other lines at lower redshifts. We use the proposed NASA small explorer SPHEREx (the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer) as a case study for the detectability of the intensity power spectra of the four emission lines. We also investigate the cross correlation with the 21-cm line probed by CHIME (the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment), Tianlai experiment and SKA (the Square Kilometer Array) at 0.8<z<2.4. We find both the auto and cross power spectra can be well measured for the H-alpha, [OIII] and [OII] lines at z<3, while it is more challenging for the H-beta line. Finally, we estimate the constraint on the SFRD from intensity mapping, and find we can reach accuracy higher than 7% at z<4, which is better than usual measurements using the LFs of galaxies.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

Cosmology with intensity mapping techniques using atomic and molecular lines

We present a systematic study of the intensity mapping technique using updated models for the different emission lines from galaxies and identify which ones are more promising for cosmological studies of the post reionization epoch. We consider the emission of ${\rm Lyα}$, ${\rm Hα}$, H$β$, optical and infrared oxygen lines, nitrogen lines, CII and the CO rotational lines. We then identify that ${\rm Lyα}$, ${\rm Hα}$, OII, CII and the lowest rotational CO lines are the best candidates to be used as IM probes. These lines form a complementary set of probes of the galaxies emission spectra. We then use reasonable experimental setups from current, planned or proposed experiments to access the detectability of the power spectrum of each emission line. Intensity mapping of ${\rm Lyα}$ emission from $z=2$ to 3 will be possible in the near future with HETDEX, while far-infrared lines require new dedicated experiments. We also show that the proposed SPHEREx satellite can use OII and ${\rm Hα}$ IM to study the large-scale distribution of matter in intermediate redshifts of 1 to 4. We found that submilimeter experiments with bolometers can have similar performances at intermediate redshifts using CII and CO(3-2).

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

Cross-correlation between X-ray and optical/near-infrared background intensity fluctuations

Angular power spectra of optical and infrared background anisotropies at wavelengths between 0.5 to 5 $μ$m are a useful probe of faint sources present during reionization, in addition to faint galaxies and diffuse signals at low redshift. The cross-correlation of these fluctuations with backgrounds at other wavelengths can be used to separate some of these signals. A previous study on the cross-correlation between X-ray and $Spitzer$ fluctuations at 3.6 $μ$m and 4.5 $μ$m has been interpreted as evidence for direct collapse blackholes (DCBHs) present at $z > 12$. Here we return to this cross-correlation and study its wavelength dependence from 0.5 to 4.5 $μ$m using $Hubble$ and $Spitzer$ data in combination with a subset of the 4 Ms $Chandra$ observations in GOODS-S/ECDFS. Our study involves five $Hubble$ bands at 0.6, 0.7, 0.85, 1.25 and 1.6 $μ$m, and two $Spitzer$-IRAC bands at 3.6 $μ$m and 4.5 $μ$m. We confirm the previously seen cross-correlation between 3.6 $μ$m (4.5 $μ$m) and X-rays with 3.7$σ$ (4.2$σ$) and 2.7$σ$ (3.7$σ$) detections in the soft [0.5-2] keV and hard [2-8] keV X-ray bands, respectively, at angular scales above 20 arcseconds. The cross-correlation of X-rays with $Hubble$ is largely anticorrelated, ranging between the levels of 1.4$-$3.5$σ$ for all the $Hubble$ and X-ray bands. This lack of correlation in the shorter optical/NIR bands implies the sources responsible for the cosmic infrared background at 3.6 and 4.5~$μ$m are at least partly dissimilar to those at 1.6 $μ$m and shorter.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

Spectral Line De-confusion in an Intensity Mapping Survey

Spectral line intensity mapping has been proposed as a promising tool to efficiently probe the cosmic reionization and the large-scale structure. Without detecting individual sources, line intensity mapping makes use of all available photons and measures the integrated light in the source confusion limit, to efficiently map the three-dimensional matter distribution on large scales as traced by a given emission line. One particular challenge is the separation of desired signals from astrophysical continuum foregrounds and line interlopers. Here we present a technique to extract large-scale structure information traced by emission lines from different redshifts, embedded in a three-dimensional intensity mapping data cube. The line redshifts are distinguished by the anisotropic shape of the power spectra when projected onto a common coordinate frame. We consider the case where high-redshift [CII] lines are confused with multiple low-redshift CO rotational lines. We present a semi-analytic model for [CII] and CO line estimates based on the cosmic infrared background measurements, and show that with a modest instrumental noise level and survey geometry, the large-scale [CII] and CO power spectrum amplitudes can be successfully extracted from a confusion-limited data set, without external information. We discuss the implications and limits of this technique for possible line intensity mapping experiments.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

Multi-wavelength lens reconstruction of a $\textit{Planck}$ $\&$ $\textit{Herschel}$-detected star-bursting galaxy

We present a source-plane reconstruction of a ${\it Herschel}$ and ${\it Planck}$-detected gravitationally-lensed dusty star-forming galaxy (DSFG) at $z=1.68$ using {\it Hubble}, Sub-millimeter Array (SMA), and Keck observations. The background sub-millimeter galaxy (SMG) is strongly lensed by a foreground galaxy cluster at $z=0.997$ and appears as an arc of length $\sim 15^{\prime \prime}$ in the optical images. The continuum dust emission, as seen by SMA, is limited to a single knot within this arc. We present a lens model with source plane reconstructions at several wavelengths to show the difference in magnification between the stars and dust, and highlight the importance of a multi-wavelength lens models for studies involving lensed DSFGs. We estimate the physical properties of the galaxy by fitting the flux densities to model SEDs leading to a magnification-corrected star formation rate of $390 \pm 60$ M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$ and a stellar mass of $1.1 \pm 0.4\times 10^{11}$ M$_{\odot}$. These values are consistent with high-redshift massive galaxies that have formed most of their stars already. The estimated gas-to-baryon fraction, molecular gas surface density, and SFR surface density have values of $0.43 \pm 0.13$, $350 \pm 200$ M$_{\odot}$ pc$^{-2}$, and $\sim 12 \pm 7~$M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$ kpc$^{-2}$, respectively. The ratio of star formation rate surface density to molecular gas surface density puts this among the most star-forming systems, similar to other measured SMGs and local ULIRGS.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

Toward a tomographic analysis of the cross-correlation between Planck CMB lensing and H-ATLAS galaxies

We present an improved and extended analysis of the cross-correlation between the map of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) lensing potential derived from the \emph{Planck} mission data and the high-redshift galaxies detected by the \emph{Herschel} Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS) in the photometric redshift range $z_{\rm ph} \ge 1.5$. We compare the results based on the 2013 and 2015 \textit{Planck} datasets, and investigate the impact of different selections of the H-ATLAS galaxy samples. Significant improvements over our previous analysis have been achieved thanks to the higher signal-to-noise ratio of the new CMB lensing map recently released by the \textit{Planck} collaboration. The effective galaxy bias parameter, $b$, for the full galaxy sample, derived from a joint analysis of the cross-power spectrum and of the galaxy auto-power spectrum is found to be $b = 3.54^{+0.15}_{-0.14}$. Furthermore, a first tomographic analysis of the cross-correlation signal is implemented, by splitting the galaxy sample into two redshift intervals: $1.5 \le z_{\rm ph} < 2.1$ and $z_{\rm ph}\ge 2.1$. A statistically significant signal was found for both bins, indicating a substantial increase with redshift of the bias parameter: $b=2.89\pm0.23$ for the lower and $b=4.75^{+0.24}_{-0.25}$ for the higher redshift bin. Consistently with our previous analysis we find that the amplitude of the cross correlation signal is a factor of $1.45^{+0.14}_{-0.13}$ higher than expected from the standard $Λ$CDM model for the assumed redshift distribution. The robustness of our results against possible systematic effects has been extensively discussed although the tension is mitigated by passing from 4 to 3$σ$.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

Science Impacts of the SPHEREx All-Sky Optical to Near-Infrared Spectral Survey: Report of a Community Workshop Examining Extragalactic, Galactic, Stellar and Planetary Science

SPHEREx is a proposed SMEX mission selected for Phase A. SPHEREx will carry out the first all-sky spectral survey and provide for every 6.2" pixel a spectra between 0.75 and 4.18 $μ$m [with R$\sim$41.4] and 4.18 and 5.00 $μ$m [with R$\sim$135]. The SPHEREx team has proposed three specific science investigations to be carried out with this unique data set: cosmic inflation, interstellar and circumstellar ices, and the extra-galactic background light. It is readily apparent, however, that many other questions in astrophysics and planetary sciences could be addressed with the SPHEREx data. The SPHEREx team convened a community workshop in February 2016, with the intent of enlisting the aid of a larger group of scientists in defining these questions. This paper summarizes the rich and varied menu of investigations that was laid out. It includes studies of the composition of main belt and Trojan/Greek asteroids; mapping the zodiacal light with unprecedented spatial and spectral resolution; identifying and studying very low-metallicity stars; improving stellar parameters in order to better characterize transiting exoplanets; studying aliphatic and aromatic carbon-bearing molecules in the interstellar medium; mapping star formation rates in nearby galaxies; determining the redshift of clusters of galaxies; identifying high redshift quasars over the full sky; and providing a NIR spectrum for most eROSITA X-ray sources. All of these investigations, and others not listed here, can be carried out with the nominal all-sky spectra to be produced by SPHEREx. In addition, the workshop defined enhanced data products and user tools which would facilitate some of these scientific studies. Finally, the workshop noted the high degrees of synergy between SPHEREx and a number of other current or forthcoming programs, including JWST, WFIRST, Euclid, GAIA, K2/Kepler, TESS, eROSITA and LSST.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

Axion decay and anisotropy of near-IR extragalactic background light

The extragalactic background light (EBL) is comprised of the cumulative radiation from all galaxies and active galactic nuclei over the cosmic history. In addition to point sources, EBL also contains information from diffuse sources of radiation. The angular power spectra of the near-infrared intensities could contain additional signals and a complete understanding of the nature of the IR background is still lacking in the literature. Here we explore the constraints that can be placed on particle decays, especially candidate dark matter models involving axions that trace dark matter halos of galaxies. Axions with a mass around a few eV will decay via two photons with wavelengths in the near-IR band, and will leave a signature in the IR background intensity power spectrum. Using recent power spectra measurements from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and Cosmic Infrared Background Experiment (CIBER), we find that the 0.6 to 1.6 micron power spectra can be explained by axions with masses around 4 eV. The total axion abundance Omega_a~0.05, and it is comparable to the baryon density of the Universe. The suggested mean axion mass and abundance are not ruled out by existing cosmological observations. Interestingly, the axion model with a mass distribution is preferred by the data, which cannot be explained by the standard quantum chromodynamics (QCD) theory and needs further discussion.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

Cosmic Dawn Intensity Mapper

Cosmic Dawn Intensity Mapper is a "Probe Class" mission concept for reionization studies of the universe. It will be capable of spectroscopic imaging observations between 0.7 to 6-7 microns in the near-Infrared. The primary observational objective is pioneering observations of spectral emission lines of interest throughout the cosmic history, but especially from the first generation of distant, faint galaxies when the universe was less than 800 million years old. With spectro-imaging capabilities, using a set of linear variable filters (LVFs), CDIM will produce a three-dimensional tomographic view of the epoch of reionization (EoR). CDIM will also study galaxy formation over more than 90% of the cosmic history and will move the astronomical community from broad-band astronomical imaging to low-resolution (R=200-300) spectro-imaging of the universe.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

Extragalactic Background Light: Measurements and Applications

This review covers the measurements related to the extragalactic background light (EBL) intensity from gamma-rays to radio in the electromagnetic spectrum over 20 decades in the wavelength. The cosmic microwave background (CMB) remains the best measured spectrum with an accuracy better than 1%. The measurements related to the cosmic optical background (COB), centered at 1 microns, are impacted by the large zodiacal light associated with interplanetary dust in the inner Solar system. The best measurements of COB come from an indirect technique involving Gamma-ray spectra of bright blazars with an absorption feature resulting from pair-production off of COB photons. The cosmic infrared background (CIB) peaking at around 100 microns established an energetically important background with an intensity comparable to the optical background. This discovery paved the path for large aperture far-infrared and sub-millimeter observations resulting in the discovery of dusty, starbursting galaxies. Their role in galaxy formation and evolution remains an active area of research in modern-day astrophysics. The extreme UV background remains mostly unexplored and will be a challenge to measure due to the high Galactic background and absorption of extragalactic photons by the intergalactic medium at these EUV/soft X-ray energies. We also summarize our understanding of the spatial anisotropies and angular power spectra of intensity fluctuations. We motivate a precise direct measurement of the COB between 0.1 to 5 microns using a small aperture telescope observing either from the outer Solar system, at distances of 5 AU or more, or out of the ecliptic plane. Other future applications include improving our understanding of the background at TeV energies and spectral distortions of CMB and CIB.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

Star Formation in Luminous Quasars at 2<z<3

We investigate the relation between star formation rates ($\dot{M}_{s}$) and AGN properties in optically selected type 1 quasars at $2<z<3$ using data from Herschel and the SDSS. We find that $\dot{\rm{M}}_s$ remains approximately constant with redshift, at $300\pm100~\rm{M}_{\odot}$yr$^{-1}$. Conversely, $\dot{\rm{M}}_s$ increases with AGN luminosity, up to a maximum of $\sim600~\rm{M}_{\odot}$yr$^{-1}$, and with CIV FWHM. In context with previous results, this is consistent with a relation between $\dot{\rm{M}}_s$ and black hole accretion rate ($\dot{\rm{M}}_{bh}$) existing in only parts of the $z-\dot{\rm{M}}_{s}-\dot{\rm{M}}_{bh}$ plane, dependent on the free gas fraction, the trigger for activity, and the processes that may quench star formation. The relations between $\dot{\rm{M}}_s$ and both AGN luminosity and CIV FWHM are consistent with star formation rates in quasars scaling with black hole mass, though we cannot rule out a separate relation with black hole accretion rate. Star formation rates are observed to decline with increasing CIV equivalent width. This decline can be partially explained via the Baldwin effect, but may have an additional contribution from one or more of three factors; $M_i$ is not a linear tracer of L$_{2500}$, the Baldwin effect changes form at high AGN luminosities, and high CIV EW values signpost a change in the relation between $\dot{\rm{M}}_s$ and $\dot{\rm{M}}_{bh}$. Finally, there is no strong relation between $\dot{\rm{M}}_s$ and Eddington ratio, or the asymmetry of the CIV line. The former suggests that star formation rates do not scale with how efficiently the black hole is accreting, while the latter is consistent with CIV asymmetries arising from orientation effects.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

Astronomy Job Crisis

Astronomers in CANDELS outline changes for the academic system to promote a smooth transition for junior scientists from academia to industry.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2015

An Increasing Stellar Baryon Fraction in Bright Galaxies at High Redshift

Recent observations have shown that the characteristic luminosity of the rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) luminosity function does not significantly evolve at 4 < z < 7 and is approximately M*_UV ~ -21. We investigate this apparent non-evolution by examining a sample of 178 bright, M_UV < -21 galaxies at z=4 to 7, analyzing their stellar populations and host halo masses. Including deep Spitzer/IRAC imaging to constrain the rest-frame optical light, we find that M*_UV galaxies at z=4-7 have similar stellar masses of log(M/Msol)=9.6-9.9 and are thus relatively massive for these high redshifts. However, bright galaxies at z=4-7 are less massive and have younger inferred ages than similarly bright galaxies at z=2-3, even though the two populations have similar star formation rates and levels of dust attenuation. We match the abundances of these bright z=4-7 galaxies to halo mass functions from the Bolshoi Lambda-CDM simulation to estimate the halo masses. We find that the typical halo masses in ~M*_UV galaxies decrease from log(M_h/Msol)=11.9 at z=4 to log(M_h/Msol)=11.4 at z=7. Thus, although we are studying galaxies at a similar mass across multiple redshifts, these galaxies live in lower mass halos at higher redshift. The stellar baryon fraction in units of the cosmic mean Omega_b/Omega_m rises from 5.1% at z=4 to 11.7% at z=7; this evolution is significant at the ~3-sigma level. This rise does not agree with simple expectations of how galaxies grow, and implies that some effect, perhaps a diminishing efficiency of feedback, is allowing a higher fraction of available baryons to be converted into stars at high redshifts.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

Ultraviolet Luminosity Density of the Universe During the Epoch of Reionization

The spatial fluctuations of the extragalactic background light trace the total emission from all stars and galaxies in the Universe. A multi-wavelength study can be used to measure the integrated emission from first galaxies during reionization when the Universe was about 500 million years old. Here we report arcminute-scale spatial fluctuations in one of the deepest sky surveys with the Hubble Space Telescope in five wavebands between 0.6 and 1.6 $μ$m. We model-fit the angular power spectra of intensity fluctuation measurements to find the ultraviolet luminosity density of galaxies at $z$ > 8 to be $\log ρ_{\rm UV} = 27.4^{+0.2}_{-1.2}$ erg s$^{-1}$ Hz$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-3}$ $(1σ)$. This level of integrated light emission allows for a significant surface density of fainter primeval galaxies that are below the point source detection level in current surveys.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2015

H-ATLAS/GAMA: Quantifying the Morphological Evolution of the Galaxy Population Using Cosmic Calorimetry

Using results from the Herschel Astrophysical Terrahertz Large-Area Survey and the Galaxy and Mass Assembly project, we show that, for galaxy masses above approximately 1.0e8 solar masses, 51% of the stellar mass-density in the local Universe is in early-type galaxies (ETGs: Sersic n > 2.5) while 89% of the rate of production of stellar mass-density is occurring in late-type galaxies (LTGs: Sersic n < 2.5). From this zero-redshift benchmark, we have used a calorimetric technique to quantify the importance of the morphological transformation of galaxies over the history of the Universe. The extragalactic background radiation contains all the energy generated by nuclear fusion in stars since the Big Bang. By resolving this background radiation into individual galaxies using the deepest far-infrared survey with the Herschel Space Observatory and a deep near-infrared/optical survey with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and using measurements of the Sersic index of these galaxies derived from the HST images, we estimate that approximately 83% of the stellar mass-density formed over the history of the Universe occurred in LTGs. The difference between this and the fraction of the stellar mass-density that is in LTGs today implies there must have been a major transformation of LTGs into ETGs after the formation of most of the stars.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

Prospects for detecting CII emission during the Epoch of Reionization

We produce simulations of emission of the atomic CII line in large sky fields in order to determine the current prospects for mapping this line during the high redshift Epoch of Reionization. We estimate the CII line intensity, redshift evolution and spatial fluctuations using observational relations between CII emission and the SFR in a galaxy for the frequency range of 200 GHz to 300 GHz. We obtained a frequency averaged intensity of CII emission of ${\rm I_{\rm CII}=(4 \pm 2)\times10^{2}\, Jy\, \rm sr^{-1}}$ in the redshift range $z\, \sim\, 5.3\, -\, 8.5$. Observations of CII emission in this frequency range will suffer contamination from emission lines at lower redshifts, in particular from the CO rotation lines. For the relevant frequency range we estimated the CO contamination (originated in emission from galaxies at $z\, <\, 2.5$), using simulations, to be ${\rm I_{\rm CO} \approx 10^{3}\, Jy \, sr^{-1}}$ and independently confirmed the result based in observational relations. We generated maps as a function of angle and frequency using detailed simulations of the CII and CO emission across several redshifts in order to properly take into account the observational pipeline and light cone effects. In order to reduce the foreground contamination we found that we should mask galaxies below redshifts $\sim 2.5$ with a CO flux in one of the CO(J:2-1) to CO(J:6-5) lines higher than ${\rm 5\times 10^{-22}\, W\ m^{-2}}$ or a AB magnitude lower than ${\rm m_{\rm K}\, =\, 22}$. We estimate that the additional continuum contamination is of the order of ${\rm 10^{5}\, Jy\, sr^{-1}}$. It is also considered the possibility of cross correlating foreground lines with galaxies in order to probe the intensity of the foregrounds.

astro-ph.GA↗