arXiv subjects

C. G. Lacey

Publications and source records attributed to C. G. Lacey.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2012

The UV colours and dust attenuation of Lyman-break galaxies

Using GALFORM, a semi-analytical model of galaxy formation in the Lambda cold dark matter cosmology, we study the rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) colours of Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) in the redshift range 2.5 < z < 10. As the impact of dust on UV luminosity can be dramatic, our model includes a self-consistent computation of dust attenuation based on a radiative transfer model. We find that intrinsically brighter galaxies suffer stronger dust attenuation than fainter ones, though the relation has a large scatter. The model predicts galaxies with UV colours consistent with the colour selection regions designed to select LBGs in observational surveys. We find that the drop-out technique that selects LBGs based on two rest-frame UV colours is robust and effective, selecting more than 70 per cent of UV bright galaxies at a given redshift. We investigate the impact on the predicted UV colours of varying selected model parameters. We find that the UV colours are most sensitive to the modelling of dust attenuation and in particular, to the extinction curve used in the radiative transfer calculation. If we assume a Milky Way dust extinction curve, the predicted UV continuum slopes are, in general, bluer than observed. However, we find that the opposite is true when using the Small Magellanic Cloud dust extinction curve. This demonstrates the strong dependence of UV colours on dust properties and highlights the inadequacy of using the UV continuum slope as a tracer of dust attenuation without any further knowledge of the galaxy inclination or dust characteristics in high redshift galaxies.

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arXiv2012

On the role of feedback in shaping the cosmic abundance and clustering of neutral atomic hydrogen in galaxies

We investigate the impact of feedback - from supernovae (SNe), active galactic nuclei (AGN) and a photo-ionizing background at high redshifts - on the neutral atomic hydrogen (HI) mass function, the $b_{\rm J}$ band luminosity function, and the spatial clustering of these galaxies at $z$=0. We use a version of the semi-analytical galaxy formation model GALFORM that calculates self-consistently the amount of HI in a galaxy as a function of cosmic time and links its star formation rate to its mass of molecular hydrogen (H$_2$). We find that a systematic increase or decrease in the strength of SNe feedback leads to a systematic decrease or increase in the amplitudes of the luminosity and HI mass functions, but has little influence on their overall shapes. Varying the strength of AGN feedback influences only the numbers of the brightest or most HI massive galaxies, while the impact of varying the strength of photo-ionization feedback is restricted to changing the numbers of the faintest or least HI massive galaxies.Our results suggest that the HI mass function is a more sensitive probe of the consequences of cosmological reionization for galaxy formation than the luminosity function. We find that increasing the strength of any of the modes of feedback acts to weaken the clustering strength of galaxies, regardless of their HI-richness. In contrast, weaker AGN feedback has little effect on the clustering strength whereas weaker SNe feedback increases the clustering strength of HI-poor galaxies more strongly than HI-rich galaxies. These results indicate that forthcoming HI surveys on next generation radio telescopes such as the Square Kilometre Array and its pathfinders will be exploited most fruitfully as part of multiwavelength survey campaigns.

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arXiv2012

The Structure of Reionization in Hierarchical Galaxy Formation Models

Understanding the epoch of reionization and the properties of the first galaxies represents an important goal for modern cosmology. The structure of reionization, and hence the observed power spectrum of redshifted 21cm fluctuations are known to be sensitive to the astrophysical properties of the galaxies that drove reionization. Thus, detailed measurements of the 21cm power spectrum and its evolution could lead to measurements of the properties of early galaxies that are otherwise inaccessible. In this paper, we make predictions for the ionised structure during reionization and the 21cm power spectrum based on detailed models of galaxy formation. We combine the semi-analytic GALFORM model implemented within the Millennium-II dark matter simulation, with a semi-numerical scheme to describe the resulting ionization structure. Using these models we show that the details of SNe and radiative feedback affect the structure and distribution of ionised regions, and hence the slope and amplitude of the 21 cm power spectrum. These results indicate that forthcoming measurements of the 21cm power-spectrum could be used to uncover details of early galaxy formation. We find that the strength of SNe feedback is the dominant effect governing the evolution of structure during reionization. In particular we show SNe feedback to be more important than radiative feedback, the presence of which we find does not influence either the total stellar mass or overall ionising photon budget. Thus, if SNe feedback is effective at suppressing star formation in high redshift galaxies, we find that photoionization feedback does not lead to self-regulation of the reionization process as has been thought.

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arXiv2012

The contribution of star-forming galaxies to fluctuations in the cosmic background light

Star-forming galaxies which are too faint to be detected individually produce intensity fluctuations in the cosmic background light. This contribution needs to be taken into account as a foreground when using the primordial signal to constrain cosmological parameters. The extragalactic fluctuations are also interesting in their own right as they depend on the star formation history of the Universe and the way in which this connects with the formation of cosmic structure. We present a new framework which allows us to predict the occupation of dark matter haloes by star-forming galaxies and uses this information, in conjunction with an N-body simulation of structure formation, to predict the power spectrum of intensity fluctuations in the infrared background. We compute the emission from galaxies at far-infrared, millimetre and radio wavelengths. Our method gives accurate predictions for the clustering of galaxies both for the one halo and two halo terms. We illustrate our new framework using a previously published model which reproduces the number counts and redshift distribution of galaxies selected by their emission at $850\,μ$m. Without adjusting any of the model parameters, the predictions show encouraging agreement at high frequencies and on small angular scales with recent estimates of the extragalactic fluctuations in the background made from early data analysed by the Planck Collaboration. There are, however, substantial discrepancies between the model predictions and observations on large angular scales and at low frequencies, which illustrates the usefulness of the intensity fluctuations as a constraint on galaxy formation models.

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arXiv2012

Massive, red galaxies in a hierarchical universe-II Clustering of Extremely Red Objects

We present predictions for the clustering of Extremely Red Objects (EROs) in a Λcold dark matter Universe, using a semi-analytical galaxy formation model in combination with a cosmological N-body simulation. EROs are red, massive galaxies observed at 0.7< z < 3, and their numbers and properties have posed a challenge to hierarchical galaxy formation models. We analyse the halo occupation distribution and two-point correlation function of EROs, exploring how these quantities change with apparent magnitude, colour cut and redshift. Our model predicts a halo occupation distribution that is significantly different from that typically assumed. This is due to the inclusion of AGN feedback, which changes the slope and scatter of the luminosity-host halo mass relation above the mass where AGN feedback first becomes important. We predict that, on average, dark matter haloes with masses above 10^{13}h^{-1}Msun host at least one ERO at 1.5 < z < 2.5. Taking into account sample variance in observational estimates, the predicted angular clustering for EROs with either (R-K)>5 or (i-K)>4.5 is in reasonable agreement with current observations.

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arXiv2011

The nature and descendants of Lyman-break galaxies in the LambdaCDM cosmology

We predict the formation histories, properties and descendants of Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) in the Lambda-CDM cosmology. In our model, which incorporates a top-heavy IMF in starbursts, we find that most LBGs are starbursts triggered by minor mergers of galaxies. The duration of the LBG phase is predicted to be quite short, ~20-60 Myr. We investigate the distributions of stellar and halo masses and morphologies for bright (L_UV > L*_UV) and faint (L_UV > 0.1 L*_UV) LBGs at z=3, z=6 and z=10 (where we classify LBGs according to their rest-frame UV luminosities relative the observed characteristic luminosity L*_UV at z \approx 3). Bright LBGs at z=3 are predicted to have median stellar masses ~ 1x10^9 Msun/h and host halo masses ~ 3x10^{11} Msun/h, and to be typically mildly disk-dominated in stellar mass. On the other hand, faint LBGs at z=10 are predicted to have median stellar masses of only ~ 1x10^7 Msun/h and host halo masses 2x10^{10} Msun/h, and to be generally bulge-dominated. Bright LBGs at z=3 evolve to present-day galaxies with median stellar mass ~ 5x^{10} Msun/h (comparable to the Milky Way), consisting of roughly equal numbers of disk- and bulge-dominated systems, and hosted by halos with median mass ~2x10^{13} Msun/h (corresponding to medium-size galaxy groups). The model predicts that 40% of Milky Way mass galaxies at the present-day have a bright LBG progenitor in the redshift range 3<z<4, while 95% have a faint LBG progenitor in the same redshift range, and 7% have a faint LBG progenitor at 10<z<11. With our multiwavelength model, we also investigate the overlap between the LBG population and that of submillimetre selected galaxies (SMGs); at z=3, only ~1% of bright LBGs are also predicted to also be bright SMGs (with an 850 mum flux in excess of 5 mJy).

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arXiv2010

The role of submillimetre galaxies in hierarchical galaxy formation

We study the role of submillimetre galaxies (SMGs) in the galaxy formation process in the Lambda Cold Dark Matter cosmology. We use the Baugh et al. (2005) semi-analytical model, which matches the observed SMG number counts and redshift distribution by assuming a top-heavy initial mass function (IMF) in bursts triggered by galaxy mergers. We build galaxy merger trees and follow the evolution and properties of SMGs and their descendants. Our primary sample of model SMGs consists of galaxies which had 850 mu fluxes brighter than 5 mJy at some redshift z>1. Our model predicts that the present-day descendants of such SMGs cover a wide range of stellar masses ~ 10^{10} - 10^{12} Msun/h, with a median ~ 10^{11} Msun/h, and that more than 70% of these descendants are bulge-dominated. More than 50% of present day galaxies with stellar masses larger than 7 x 10^{11} Msun/h are predicted to be descendants of such SMGs. We find that although SMGs make an important contribution to the total star formation rate at z~2, the final stellar mass produced in the submillimetre phase contributes only 0.2% of the total present-day stellar mass, and 2% of the stellar mass of SMG descendants, in stark contrast to the popular picture in which the SMG phase marks the production of the bulk of the mass of present day massive ellipticals.

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arXiv2010

The evolution of Lyman-break galaxies in CDM

We make a detailed investigation of the properties of Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) in the LambdaCDM model. We present predictions for two published variants of the GALFORM semi-analytical model: the Baugh et al. (2005) model, which has star formation at high redshifts dominated by merger-driven starbursts with a top-heavy IMF, and the Bower et al. (2006) model, which has AGN feedback and a standard Solar neighbourhood IMF throughout. We show predictions for the evolution of the rest-frame far-UV luminosity function in the redshift range z=3-20, and compare with the observed luminosity functions of LBGs at z=3-10. We find that the Baugh et al. model is in excellent agreement with these observations, while the Bower et al. model predicts too many high-luminosity LBGs. Dust extinction, which is predicted self-consistently based on galaxy gas contents, metallicities and sizes, is found to have a large effect on LBG luminosities. We compare predictions for the size evolution of LBGs at different luminosities with observational data for 2<z<7, and find the Baugh et al. model to be in good agreement. We present predictions for stellar, halo and gas masses, star formation rates, circular velocities, bulge-to-disk ratios, gas and stellar metallicities and clustering bias, as functions of far-UV luminosity and redshift. We find broad consistency with current observational constraints. We then present predictions for the abundance and angular sizes of LBGs out to very high redshift (z<20), finding that planned deep surveys with JWST should detect objects out to z<15. The typical UV luminosities of galaxies are predicted to be very low at high redshifts, which has implications for detecting the galaxies responsible for reionizing the IGM; for example, at z=10, 50% of the ionizing photons are expected to be produced by galaxies fainter than M_AB(1500A)-5logh ~ -15.

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arXiv2010

Modelling the dusty universe II: The clustering of submillimetre-selected galaxies

We combine the GALFORM semi-analytical model of galaxy formation, which predicts the star formation and merger histories of galaxies, the GRASIL spectro-photometric code, which calculates the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of galaxies self-consistently including reprocessing of radiation by dust, and artificial neural networks (ANN), to investigate the clustering properties of galaxies selected by their emission at submillimetre wavelengths (SMGs). We use the Millennium Simulation to predict the spatial and angular distribution of SMGs. At redshift z = 2, we find that these galaxies are strongly clustered, with a comoving correlation length of r0 = 5.6 \pm 0.9 Mpc/h for galaxies with 850μm flux densities brighter than 5 mJy, in agreement with observations. We predict that at higher redshifts these galaxies trace denser and increasingly rarer regions of the universe. We present the predicted dependence of the clustering on luminosity, submillimetre colour, halo and total stellar masses. Interestingly, we predict tight relations between correlation length and halo and stellar masses, independent of sub-mm luminosity.

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arXiv2010

Modelling the spectral energy distribution of galaxies: introducing the artificial neural network

The spectral energy distribution of galaxies is a complex function of the star formation history and geometrical arrangement of stars and gas in galaxies. The computation of the radiative transfer of stellar radiation through the dust distribution is time-consuming. This aspect becomes unacceptable in particular when dealing with the predictions by semi-analytical galaxy formation models populating cosmological volumes, to be then compared with multi-wavelength surveys. Mainly for this aim, we have implemented an artificial neural network algorithm into the spectro-photometric and radiative transfer code GRASIL in order to compute the spectral energy distribution of galaxies in a short computing time. This allows to avoid the adoption of empirical templates that may have nothing to do with the mock galaxies output by models. The ANN has been implemented to compute the dust emission spectrum (the bottleneck of the computation), and separately for the star-forming molecular clouds and the diffuse dust (due to their different properties and dependencies). We have defined the input neurons effectively determining their emission, which means this implementation has a general applicability and is not linked to a particular galaxy formation model. We have trained the net for the disc and spherical geometries, and tested its performance to reproduce the SED of disc and starburst galaxies, as well as for a semi-analytical model for spheroidal galaxies. We have checked that for this model both the SEDs and the galaxy counts in the Herschel bands obtained with the ANN approximation are almost superimposed to the same quantities obtained with the full GRASIL. We conclude that this method appears robust and advantageous, and will present the application to a more complex SAM in another paper.

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arXiv2010

The LABOCA survey of the Extended Chandra Deep Field South: A photometric redshift survey of submillimetre galaxies

[abridged] We derive photometric redshifts from 17-band optical to mid-IR photometry of 74 robust counterparts to 68 of the 126 submillimetre galaxies (SMGs) selected at 870um by LABOCA observations in the ECDFS. The median photometric redshift of identified SMGs is z=2.2\pm0.1, the interquartile range is z=1.8-2.7 and we identify 10 (~15%) high-redshift (z>3) SMGs. We derive a simple redshift estimator for SMGs based on the 3.6 and 8um fluxes, which is accurate to Delta_z~0.4 for SMGs at z<4. A statistical analysis of sources around unidentified SMGs identifies a population of likely counterparts with a redshift distribution peaking at z=2.5\pm0.3, which likely comprises ~60% of the unidentified SMGs. This confirms that the bulk of the undetected SMGs are coeval with those detected in the radio/mid-IR. We conclude that ~15% of all the SMGs are below the flux limits of our survey and lie at z>3 and hence ~30% of all SMGs have z>3. We estimate that the full S_870um>4mJy SMG population has a median redshift of 2.5\pm0.6. In contrast to previous suggestions we find no significant correlation between S_870um and redshift. The median stellar mass of the SMGs derived from SED fitting is (9.2\pm0.9)x10^10Msun and the interquartile range is (4.7-14)x10^10Msun, although we caution that uncertainty in the star-formation histories results in a factor of ~5 uncertainty in these stellar masses. The median characteristic dust temperature of SMGs is 35.9\pm1.4K and the interquartile range is 28.5-43.3K. The infrared luminosity function shows that SMGs at z=2-3 typically have higher far-IR luminosities and luminosity density than those at z=1-2. This is mirrored in the evolution of the star-formation rate density (SFRD) for SMGs which peaks at z~2. The maximum contribution of bright SMGs to the global SFRD (~5% for SMGs with S_870um>4mJy; ~50% for SMGs with S_870um>1mJy) also occurs at z~2.

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arXiv2010

The Parameter Space of Galaxy Formation

Semi-analytic models are a powerful tool for studying the formation of galaxies. However, these models inevitably involve a significant number of poorly constrained parameters that must be adjusted to provide an acceptable match to the observed universe. In this paper, we set out to quantify the degree to which observational data-sets can constrain the model parameters. By revealing degeneracies in the parameter space we can hope to better understand the key physical processes probed by the data. We use novel mathematical techniques to explore the parameter space of the GALFORM semi-analytic model. We base our investigation on the Bower et al. 2006 version of GALFORM, adopting the same methodology of selecting model parameters based on an acceptable match to the local bJ and K luminosity functions. The model contains 16 parameters that are poorly constrained, and we investigate this parameter space using the Model Emulator technique, constructing a Bayesian approximation to the GALFORM model that can be rapidly evaluated at any point in parameter space. By combining successive waves of emulation, we show that only 0.26% of the initial volume is of interest for further exploration. However, within this region we show that the Bower et al. 2006 model is only one choice from an extended sub-space of model parameters that can provide equally acceptable fits. We explore the geometry of this region and begin to explore the physical connections between parameters that are exposed by this analysis. We also consider the impact of adding additional observational data to further constrain the parameter space.

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arXiv2010

Extremely Red Objects in a hierarchical universe

We analyse whether hierarchical formation models based on Lambda cold dark matter cosmology can produce enough massive red galaxies to match observations. For this purpose, we compare with observations the predictions from two published models for the abundance and redshift distribution of Extremely Red Objects (EROs), which are red, massive galaxies observed at z >= 1. One of the models invokes a "superwind" to regulate star formation in massive haloes and the other suppresses cooling through "radio-mode" AGN feedback. The first one underestimates the number counts of EROs by an order of magnitude, whereas the radio-mode AGN feedback model gives excellent agreement with the number counts of EROs and redshift distribution of K-selected galaxies. This study highlights the need to consider AGN feedback in order to understand the formation and evolution of massive galaxies at z >= 1.

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arXiv2010

Massive, red galaxies in a hierarchical universe I. Counts of Extremely Red Objects and basic properties

We present predictions for the abundance and nature of Extremely Red Objects (EROs) in the Lambda cold dark matter model. EROs are red, massive galaxies observed at z>= 1 and their numbers and properties pose a challenge to hierarchical galaxy formation models. We compare the predictions from two published models, one of which invokes a "superwind" to regulate star formation in massive haloes and the other which suppresses gas cooling in haloes through "radio-mode" AGN feedback. The superwind model underestimates the number counts of EROs by an order of magnitude, whereas the radio-mode AGN feedback model gives excellent agreement with the number counts and redshift distribution of EROs. In the AGN feedback model the ERO population is dominated by old, passively evolving galaxies, whereas observations favour an equal split between old galaxies and dusty starbursts. Also, the model predicts a more extended redshift distribution of passive galaxies than is observed. These comparisons suggest that star formation may be quenched too efficiently in this model.

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arXiv2010

The spatial distribution of cold gas in hierarchical galaxy formation models

The distribution of cold gas in dark matter haloes is driven by key processes in galaxy formation: gas cooling, galaxy mergers, star formation and reheating of gas by supernovae. We compare the predictions of four different galaxy formation models for the spatial distribution of cold gas. We find that satellite galaxies make little contribution to the abundance or clustering strength of cold gas selected samples, and are far less important than they are in optically selected samples. The halo occupation distribution function of present-day central galaxies with cold gas mass > 10^9 h^-1 Msun is peaked around a halo mass of ~ 10^11 h^-1 Msun, a scale that is set by the AGN suppression of gas cooling. The model predictions for the projected correlation function are in good agreement with measurements from the HI Parkes All-Sky Survey. We compare the effective volume of possible surveys with the Square Kilometre Array with those expected for a redshift survey in the near-infrared. Future redshift surveys using neutral hydrogen emission will be competitive with the most ambitious spectroscopic surveys planned in the near-infrared.

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arXiv2010

The Redshift Evolution of the Mass Function of Cold Gas in Hierarchical Galaxy Formation Models

(Abridged) Accurately predicting how the cosmic abundance of neutral hydrogen evolves with redshift is a challenging problem facing modellers of galaxy formation. We investigate the predictions of four currently favoured semi-analytical galaxy formation models applied to the Millennium simulation for the mass function of cold neutral gas (atomic and molecular) in galaxies as a function of redshift, and we use these predictions to construct number counts for the next generation of all-sky neutral atomic hydrogen (HI) surveys. Despite the different implementations of the physical ingredients of galaxy formation, we find that the model predictions are broadly consistent with one another; the key differences reflect how the models treat AGN feedback and how the timescale for star formation evolves with redshift. The models produce mass functions of cold gas in galaxies that are generally in good agreement with HI surveys at $z$=0. Interestingly we find that these mass functions do not evolve significantly with redshift. Adopting a simple conversion factor for cold gas mass to HI mass that we apply to all galaxies at all redshifts, we derive mass functions of HI in galaxies from the predicted mass functions of cold gas, which we use to predict the number counts of sources likely to be detected by HI surveys on next generation radio telescopes such as the Square Kilometre Array and its pathfinders. We show also how adopting a conversion factor for cold gas mass to HI mass that varies from galaxy to galaxy impacts on number counts. In addition, we examine how the typical angular sizes of galaxies vary with redshift. Taken together, these results make clear that forthcoming HI surveys will provide important and powerful tests of theoretical galaxy formation models.

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arXiv2010

Predictions for Herschel from LambdaCDM: unveiling the cosmic star formation history

We use a model for the evolution of galaxies in the far-IR based on the LambdaCDM cosmology to make detailed predictions for upcoming cosmological surveys with the Herschel Space Observatory. We use the combined GALFORM semi-analytical galaxy formation model and GRASIL spectrophotometric code to compute galaxy SEDs including the reprocessing of radiation by dust. The model, which is the same as that in Baugh et al. (2005), assumes two different IMFs: a normal solar neighbourhood IMF for quiescent star formation in disks, and a very top-heavy IMF in starbursts triggered by galaxy mergers. We have shown previously that the top-heavy IMF appears necessary to explain the number counts and redshifts of faint sub-mm galaxies. In this paper, we present predictions for galaxy luminosity functions, number counts and redshift distributions in the Herschel imaging bands. We find that source confusion will be a serious problem in the deepest planned surveys. We also show predictions for physical properties such as star formation rates and stellar, gas and halo masses, together with fluxes at other wavelengths (from the far-UV to the radio) relevant for multi-wavelength follow-up observations. We investigate what fraction of the total IR emission from dust and of the high-mass star formation over the history of the Universe should be resolved by planned surveys with Herschel, and find a fraction ~30-50%, depending on confusion. Finally, we show that galaxies in Herschel surveys should be significantly clustered.

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arXiv2009

Empirical H-alpha emitter count predictions for dark energy surveys

Future galaxy redshift surveys aim to measure cosmological quantities from the galaxy power spectrum. A prime example is the detection of baryonic acoustic oscillations (BAOs), providing a standard ruler to measure the dark energy equation of state, w(z), to high precision. The strongest practical limitation for these experiments is how quickly accurate redshifts can be measured for sufficient galaxies to map the large-scale structure. A promising strategy is to target emission-line (i.e. star-forming) galaxies at high-redshift (z~0.5-2); not only is the space density of this population increasing out to z~2, but also emission-lines provide an efficient method of redshift determination. Motivated by the prospect of future dark energy surveys targeting H-alpha emitters at near-infrared wavelengths (i.e. z>0.5), we use the latest empirical data to model the evolution of the H-alpha luminosity function out to z~2, and thus provide predictions for the abundance of H-alpha emitters for practical limiting fluxes. We caution that the estimates presented in this work must be tempered by an efficiency factor, epsilon, giving the redshift success rate from these potential targets. For a range of practical efficiencies and limiting fluxes, we provide an estimate of nP_{0.2}, where n is the 3D galaxy number density and P_{0.2} is the galaxy power spectrum evaluated at k=0.2h/Mpc. Ideal surveys must provide nP_{0.2}>1 in order to balance shot-noise and cosmic variance errors. We show that a realistic emission-line survey (epsilon=0.5) could achieve nP_{0.2}=1 out to z~1.5 with a limiting flux of 10^{-16} erg/s/cm^{-2}. If the limiting flux is a factor 5 brighter, then this goal can only be achieved out to z~0.5, highlighting the importance of survey depth and efficiency in cosmological redshift surveys.

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