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Georgios E. Magdis

Publications and source records attributed to Georgios E. Magdis.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Characterization of Two 2mm-detected Optically-Obscured Dusty Star-Forming Galaxies

The 2mm Mapping Obscuration to Reionization with ALMA (MORA) Survey was designed to detect high redshift ($z\gtrsim4$), massive, dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs). Here we present two, likely high redshift sources, identified in the survey whose physical characteristics are consistent with a class of optical/near-infrared (OIR) invisible DSFGs found elsewhere in the literature. We first perform a rigorous analysis of all available photometric data to fit spectral energy distributions and estimate redshifts before deriving physical properties based on our findings. Our results suggest the two galaxies, called MORA-5 and MORA-9, represent two extremes of the "OIR-dark" class of DSFGs. MORA-5 ($z_{\rm phot}=4.3^{+1.5}_{-1.3}$) is a significantly more active starburst with a star-formation rate of 830$^{+340}_{-190}$M$_\odot$yr$^{-1}$ compared to MORA-9 ($z_{\rm phot}=4.3^{+1.3}_{-1.0}$) whose star-formation rate is a modest 200$^{+250}_{-60}$M$_\odot$yr$^{-1}$. Based on the stellar masses (M$_{\star}\approx10^{10-11}$M$_\odot$), space density ($n\sim(5\pm2)\times10^{-6}$Mpc$^{-3}$, which incorporates two other spectroscopically confirmed OIR-dark DSFGs in the MORA sample at $z=4.6$ and $z=5.9$), and gas depletion timescales ($<1$Gyr) of these sources, we find evidence supporting the theory that OIR-dark DSFGs are the progenitors of recently discovered $3<z<4$ massive quiescent galaxies.

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Mapping Obscuration to Reionization with ALMA (MORA): 2mm Efficiently Selects the Highest-Redshift Obscured Galaxies

We present the characteristics of 2mm-selected sources from the largest Atacama Large Millimeter and submillimeter Array (ALMA) blank-field contiguous survey conducted to-date, the Mapping Obscuration to Reionization with ALMA (MORA) survey covering 184arcmin$^2$ at 2mm. Twelve of the thirteen detections above 5$σ$ are attributed to emission from galaxies, eleven of which are dominated by cold dust emission. These sources have a median redshift of $\langle z_{\rm 2mm}\rangle=3.6^{+0.4}_{-0.3}$ primarily based on optical/near-infrared (OIR) photometric redshifts with some spectroscopic redshifts, with 77$\pm$11% of sources at $z>3$ and 38$\pm$12% of sources at $z>4$. This implies that 2mm selection is an efficient method for identifying the highest redshift dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs). Lower redshift DSFGs ($z<3$) are far more numerous than those at $z>3$ yet likely to drop out at 2mm. MORA shows that DSFGs with star-formation rates in excess of 300M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$ and relative rarity of $\sim$10$^{-5}$ Mpc$^{-3}$ contribute $\sim$30% to the integrated star-formation rate density between $3 2$. Analysis of MORA sources' spectral energy distributions hint at steeper empirically-measured dust emissivity indices than typical literature studies, with $\langleβ\rangle=2.2^{+0.5}_{-0.4}$. The MORA survey represents an important step in taking census of obscured star-formation in the Universe's first few billion years, but larger area 2mm surveys are needed to more fully characterize this rare population and push to the detection of the Universe's first dusty galaxies.

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Quenching of star formation from a lack of inflowing gas to galaxies

Star formation in half of massive galaxies was quenched by the time the Universe was three billion years old. Very low amounts of molecular gas appear responsible for this, at least in some cases, though morphological gas stabilization, shock heating, or activity associated with accretion onto a central supermassive black hole is invoked in other cases. Recent studies of quenching by gas depletion have been based upon upper limits that are insufficiently sensitive to determine this robustly, or stacked emission with its problems of averaging. Here we report 1.3mm observations of dust emission from six strongly lensed galaxies where star formation has been quenched, with magnifications of up to a factor of 30. Four of the six galaxies are undetected in dust emission, with an estimated upper limit on the dust mass of 0.0001 times the stellar mass, and by proxy (assuming a Milky Way molecular gas-to-dust ratio) 0.01 times the stellar mass in molecular gas. This is two orders of magnitude less molecular gas per unit stellar mass than seen in star forming galaxies at similar redshifts. It remains difficult to extrapolate from these small samples, but these observations establish that gas depletion is responsible for a cessation of star formation in some fraction of high-redshift galaxies.

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The effect of active galactic nuclei on the cold interstellar medium in distant star-forming galaxies

In the framework of a systematic ALMA study of IR-selected main-sequence and starburst galaxies at z~1-1.7 at typical ~1" resolution, we report on the effects of mid-IR- and X-ray-detected active galactic nuclei (AGN) on the reservoirs and excitation of molecular gas in a sample of 55 objects. We find detectable nuclear activity in ~30% of the sample. The presence of dusty tori influences the IR SED of galaxies, as highlighted by the strong correlation among the AGN contribution to the total IR luminosity budget (fAGN = LIR,AGN/LIR), its hard X-ray emission, and the Rayleigh-Jeans to mid-IR (S1.2mm/S24um) observed color, with consequences on the empirical SFR estimates. Nevertheless, we find only marginal effects of AGN on the CO (J=2,4,5,7) or neutral carbon ([CI](1-0), [CI](2-1)) line luminosities and on the derived molecular gas excitation as gauged by line ratios and the full SLEDs. The [CI] and CO emission up to J=5,7 thus primarily traces the properties of the host in typical IR luminous galaxies. However, we highlight the existence of a large variety of line luminosities and ratios despite the homogeneous selection. In particular, we find a sparse group of AGN-dominated sources with the highest LIR,AGN/LIR,SFR ratios, >3, that are more luminous in CO(5-4) than what is predicted by the L'CO(5-4)-LIR,SFR relation, which might be the result of the nuclear activity. For the general population, our findings translate into AGN having minimal effects on quantities such as gas and dust fractions and SFEs. If anything, we find hints of a marginal tendency of AGN hosts to be compact at far-IR wavelengths and to display 1.8x larger dust optical depths. In general, this is consistent with a marginal impact of the nuclear activity on the gas reservoirs and star formation in average star-forming AGN hosts with LIR>5e11 Lsun, typically underrepresented in surveys of quasars and SMGs.

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Extensive Lensing Survey of Optical and Near-Infrared Dark Objects (El Sonido): HST H-Faint Galaxies behind 101 Lensing Clusters

We present a Spitzer/IRAC survey of H-faint ($H_{160} \gtrsim 26.4$, $<5σ$) sources in 101 lensing cluster fields. Across a CANDELS/Wide-like survey area of $\sim$648 arcmin$^2$ (effectively $\sim$221 arcmin$^2$ in the source plane), we have securely discovered 53 sources in the IRAC Channel-2 band (CH2, 4.5 $\mathrm{μm}$; median CH2$=22.46\pm0.11$ AB mag) that lack robust HST/WFC3-IR F160W counterparts. The most remarkable source in our sample, namely ES-009 in the field of Abell 2813, is the brightest H-faint galaxy at 4.5 $\mathrm{μm}$ known so far ($\mathrm{CH2}=20.48\pm0.03$ AB mag). We show that the H-faint sources in our sample are massive (median $M_\mathrm{star} = 10^{10.3\pm 0.3}$ $M_\odot$), star-forming (median star formation rate $=100_{-40}^{+60}$ $M_\odot$yr$^{-1}$) and dust-obscured ($A_V=2.6\pm0.3$) galaxies around a median photometric redshift of $z=3.9\pm0.4$. The stellar continua of 14 H-faint galaxies can be resolved in the CH2 band, suggesting a median circularized effective radius ($R_\mathrm{e,circ}$; lensing corrected) of $1.9\pm0.2$ kpc and $<1.5$ kpc for the resolved and whole samples, respectively. This is consistent with the sizes of massive unobscured galaxies at $z\sim4$, indicating that H-faint galaxies represent the dusty tail of the distribution of a wider galaxy population. Comparing with the ALMA dust continuum sizes of similar galaxies reported previously, we conclude that the heavy dust obscuration in H-faint galaxies is related to the compactness of both stellar and dust continua ($R_\mathrm{e,circ}\sim 1$ kpc). These H-faint galaxies make up $16_{-7}^{+13}$% of the galaxies in the stellar mass range of $10^{10}-10^{11.2}$ $M_\odot$ at $z=3\sim5$, contributing to $8_{-4}^{+8}$% of the cosmic star formation rate density in this epoch and likely tracing the early phase of massive galaxy formation.

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The Interstellar Medium of Quiescent Galaxies and its Evolution With Time

We characterise the basic far-IR (FIR) properties and the gas mass fraction of massive ( ~ 11.0) quiescent galaxies (QGs) and explore how these evolve from z = 2.0 to the present day. We use robust, multi-wavelength (mid- to far-IR and sub-millimetre to radio) stacking ensembles of homogeneously selected and mass complete samples of log(M*/Msun) > 10.8 QGs. We find that the dust to stellar mass ratio (Md/M*) rises steeply as a function of redshift up to z~1.0 and then remains flat at least out to z = 2.0. Using Md as a proxy of gas mass (Mgas), we find a similar trend for the evolution of the gas mass fraction (fgas) with z > 1.0 QGs having fgas ~ 7.0% (for solar metallicity). This fgas is 3 - 10 times lower than that of normal star forming galaxies (SFGs) at their corresponding redshift but ~3 and ~10 times larger compared to that of z = 0.5 and local QGs. Furthermore, the inferred gas depletion time scales are comparable to that of local SFGs and systematically longer than that of main sequence galaxies at their corresponding redshifts. Our analysis also reveals that the average dust temperature (Td) of massive QGs remains roughly constant (< Td > = 21.0 \pm 2.0K) at least out to z ~ 2.0 and is substantially colder (~ 10K) compared to that of z > 0 SFGs. This motivated us to construct and release a redshift-invariant template IR SED, that we use to make predictions for ALMA observations and to explore systematic effects in the Mgas estimates of massive, high-z QGs. Finally, we discuss how a simple model that considers progenitor-bias can effectively reproduce the observed evolution of Md/M* and fgas. Our results indicate universal initial interstellar medium conditions for quenched galaxies and a large degree of uniformity in their internal processes across cosmic time.

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The Evolution of Gas-Phase Metallicity and Resolved Abundances in Star-forming Galaxies at $z \approx0.6-1.8$

We present an analysis of the chemical abundance properties of $\approx$650 star-forming galaxies at $z \approx0.6-1.8$. Using integral-field observations from the $K$-band Multi-Object Spectrograph (KMOS), we quantify the [NII]/H$α$ emission-line ratio, a proxy for the gas-phase Oxygen abundance within the interstellar medium. We define the stellar mass-metallicity relation at $z \approx0.6-1.0$ and $z \approx1.2-1.8$ and analyse the correlation between the scatter in the relation and fundamental galaxy properties (e.g. H$α$ star-formation rate, H$α$ specific star-formation rate, rotation dominance, stellar continuum half-light radius and Hubble-type morphology). We find that for a given stellar mass, more highly star-forming, larger and irregular galaxies have lower gas-phase metallicities, which may be attributable to their lower surface mass densities and the higher gas fractions of irregular systems. We measure the radial dependence of gas-phase metallicity in the galaxies, establishing a median, beam smearing-corrected, metallicity gradient of $ ΔZ/ ΔR=0.002 \pm0.004$ dex kpc$^{-1}$, indicating on average there is no significant dependence on radius. The metallicity gradient of a galaxy is independent of its rest-frame optical morphology, whilst correlating with its stellar mass and specific star-formation rate, in agreement with an inside-out model of galaxy evolution, as well as its rotation dominance. We quantify the evolution of metallicity gradients, comparing the distribution of $ΔZ/ ΔR$ in our sample with numerical simulations and observations at $z \approx0-3$. Galaxies in our sample exhibit flatter metallicity gradients than local star-forming galaxies, in agreement with numerical models in which stellar feedback plays a crucial role redistributing metals.

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Physical properties and evolution of (Sub-)millimeter selected galaxies in the galaxy formation simulation Shark

We thoroughly explore the properties of (sub)-millimeter (mm) selected galaxies (SMGs) in the Shark semi-analytic model of galaxy formation. Compared to observations, the predicted number counts at wavelengths (lambda) 0.6-2mm and redshift distributions at 0.1-2mm, agree well. At the bright end (>1mJy), Shark galaxies are a mix of mergers and disk instabilities. These galaxies display a stacked FUV-to-FIR spectrum that agrees well with observations. We predict that current optical/NIR surveys are deep enough to detect bright (>1mJy) lambda=0.85-2mm-selected galaxies at z<5, but too shallow to detect counterparts at higher redshift. A James Webb Space Telescope 10,000s survey should detect all counterparts for galaxies with $S_{\rm 0.85mm}>0.01$mJy. We predict SMG's disks contribute significantly (negligibly) to the rest-frame UV (IR). We investigate the 0 1mJy lambda=0.85-2mm-selected galaxies finding their: (i) stellar masses are $>10^{10.2}M_{\odot}$, with the 2mm ones tracing the most massive galaxies ($>10^{11}M_{\odot}$); (ii) specific star formation rates (SFR) are mildly (~3-10x) above the main sequence (MS); (iii) host halo masses are $\gtrsim 10^{12.3}M_{\odot}$, with 2mm galaxies tracing the most massive halos (proto-clusters); (iv) SMGs have lower dust masses ($\approx 10^{8}M_{\odot}$), higher dust temperatures ($\approx 40-45$K) and higher rest-frame V-band attenuation (>1.5) than MS galaxies; (v) sizes decrease with redshift, from 4kpc at z=1 to <1kpc at z=4; (vi) the Carbon Monoxide line spectra of $S_{\rm 0.85mm}>1$mJy sources peak at 4->3. Finally, we study the contribution of SMGs to the molecular gas and cosmic SFR density at 0 1mJy sources make a negligible contribution at z>3 and z>5, respectively, suggesting current observations have unveiled the majority of the star formation at 0<z<10.

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Extinction in the 11.2 micron PAH band and the low L_11.2/L_IR in ULIRGs

We present a method for recovering the intrinsic (extinction-corrected) luminosity of the 11.2 micron PAH band in galaxy spectra. Using 105 high S/N Spitzer/IRS spectra of star-forming galaxies, we show that the equivalent width ratio of the 12.7 and 11.2 micron PAH bands is independent on the optical depth, with small dispersion of ~5% indicative of a nearly constant intrinsic flux ratio R_int = (f_12.7/f_11.2)_int = 0.377 +/- 0.020. Conversely, the observed flux ratio, R_obs = (f_12.7/f_11.2)_obs strongly correlates with the silicate strength (S_sil) confirming that differences in R_obs reflect variation in the optical depth. The relation between R_obs and S_sil reproduces predictions for the Galactic Centre extinction law but disagrees with other laws. We calibrate the total extinction affecting the 11.2 micron PAH from R_obs, which we apply to another sample of 215 galaxies with accurate measurements of the total infrared luminosity (L_IR) to investigate the impact of extinction on L_11.2/L_IR. Correlation between L_11.2/L_IR and R_obs independently on L_IR suggests that increased extinction explains the well known decrease in the average L_11.2/L_IR at high L_IR. The extinction-corrected L_11.2 is proportional to L_IR in the range L_IR/L_sun = 10^9--10^13. These results consolidate L_11.2 as a robust tracer of star formation in galaxies.

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CO emission in distant galaxies on and above the main sequence

We present the detection of multiple CO line transitions with ALMA in a few tens of infrared-selected galaxies on and above the main sequence at z=1.1-1.7. We reliably detected the emission of CO(5-4), CO(2-1), and CO(7-6)+[CI](2-1) in 50, 33, and 13 galaxies, respectively, and we complemented this information with available CO(4-3) and [CI](1-0) fluxes for part of the sample, and modeling of the optical-to-mm SEDs. We retrieve a quasi-linear relation between LIR and CO(5-4) or CO(7-6) for main-sequence galaxies and starbursts, corroborating the hypothesis that these transitions can be used as SFR tracers. We find the CO excitation to steadily increase as a function of the star formation efficiency, the mean intensity of the radiation field warming the dust, the surface density of SFR, and, less distinctly, with the distance from the main sequence. This adds to the tentative evidence for higher excitation of the CO+[CI] SLED of starbursts relative to that for main-sequence objects, where the dust opacities play a minor role in shaping the high-J CO transitions in our sample. However, the distinction between the average SLED of upper main-sequence and starburst galaxies is blurred, driven by a wide variety of intrinsic shapes. LVG radiative transfer modeling demonstrates the existence of a highly excited component that elevates the CO SLED of high-redshift main-sequence and starbursting galaxies above the typical values observed in the disk of the Milky Way. This excited component is dense and it encloses ~50% of the total molecular gas mass in main-sequence objects. We interpret the observed trends involving the CO excitation as mainly driven by a combination of large SFRs and compact sizes, naturally connected with enhanced dense molecular gas fractions and higher dust and gas temperatures, due to increasing UV radiation fields, cosmic ray rates, and dust/gas coupling. [Abridged]

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Stellar Velocity Dispersion of a Massive Quenching Galaxy at z=4.01

We present the first stellar velocity dispersion measurement of a massive quenching galaxy at z=4.01. The galaxy is first identified as a massive z>~4 galaxy with suppressed star formation from photometric redshifts based on deep multi-band data in the UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey field. A follow-up spectroscopic observation with MOSFIRE on Keck revealed strong multiple absorption features, which are identified as Balmer absorption lines, giving a secure redshift of z=4.01. Thanks to the high S/N of the spectrum, we are able to estimate the stellar velocity dispersion, sigma=268+/-59 km/s. This velocity dispersion is consistent with that of massive galaxies today, implying no significant evolution in stellar velocity dispersion over the last 12 Gyr. Based on an upper limit on its physical size from deep optical images (r_eff<1.3 kpc), we find that its dynamical mass is consistent with the stellar mass inferred from photometry. Furthermore, the galaxy is located on the mass fundamental plane extrapolated from lower redshift galaxies. Combining all these results, we find that the velocity dispersion does not significantly evolve with redshift, although the size and mass of massive quenched galaxies do. This suggests that the mass in the core of massive galaxies does not evolve significantly, while most of the mass growth occurs in the outskirts of the galaxies, which also increases the size. This picture is consistent with a two-phase formation scenario in which mass and size growth is due to accretion in the outskirts of galaxies via mergers.

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The BUFFALO HST Survey

The Beyond Ultra-deep Frontier Fields and Legacy Observations (BUFFALO) is a 101 orbit + 101 parallel Cycle 25 Hubble Space Telescope Treasury program taking data from 2018-2020. BUFFALO will expand existing coverage of the Hubble Frontier Fields (HFF) in WFC3/IR F105W, F125W, and F160W and ACS/WFC F606W and F814W around each of the six HFF clusters and flanking fields. This additional area has not been observed by HST but is already covered by deep multi-wavelength datasets, including Spitzer and Chandra. As with the original HFF program, BUFFALO is designed to take advantage of gravitational lensing from massive clusters to simultaneously find high-redshift galaxies which would otherwise lie below HST detection limits and model foreground clusters to study properties of dark matter and galaxy assembly. The expanded area will provide a first opportunity to study both cosmic variance at high redshift and galaxy assembly in the outskirts of the large HFF clusters. Five additional orbits are reserved for transient followup. BUFFALO data including mosaics, value-added catalogs and cluster mass distribution models will be released via MAST on a regular basis, as the observations and analysis are completed for the six individual clusters.

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Deceptively cold dust in the massive starburst galaxy GN20 at $z\sim4$

We present new observations, carried out with IRAM NOEMA, of the atomic neutral carbon transitions [CI](1-0) at 492 GHz and [CI](2-1) at 809 GHz of GN20, a well-studied star-bursting galaxy at $z=4.05$. The high luminosity line ratio [CI](2-1)/[CI](1-0) implies an excitation temperature of $48^{+14}_{-9}$ K, which is significantly higher than the apparent dust temperature of $T_{\rm d}=33\pm2$ K ($β=1.9$) derived under the common assumption of an optically thin far-infrared dust emission, but fully consistent with $T_{\rm d}=52\pm5$ K of a general opacity model where the optical depth ($τ$) reaches unity at a wavelength of $λ_0=170\pm23$ $μ$m. Moreover, the general opacity solution returns a factor of $\sim 2\times$ lower dust mass and, hence, a lower molecular gas mass for a fixed gas-to-dust ratio, than with the optically thin dust model. The derived properties of GN20 thus provide an appealing solution to the puzzling discovery of starbursts appearing colder than main-sequence galaxies above $z>2.5$, in addition to a lower dust-to-stellar mass ratio that approaches the physical value predicted for starburst galaxies.

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The properties of the interstellar medium of galaxies across time as traced by the neutral atomic carbon [CI]

We report ALMA observations of the neutral atomic carbon transitions [CI] and multiple CO lines in a sample of $\sim30$ main sequence galaxies at $z\sim1$, including novel information on [CI](2-1) and CO(7-6) for 7 of such normal objects. We complement our observations with a collection of $>200$ galaxies with coverage of similar transitions, spanning the $z=0-4$ redshift interval and a variety of ambient conditions from local to high-redshift starbursts. We find systematic variations in the [CI]/IR and [CI]/high-$J$ ($J=7$) CO luminosity ratios among the various samples. We interpret these differences as increased dense molecular gas fractions and star formation efficiencies in the strongest high-redshift starbursts with respect to normal main sequence galaxies. We further report constant $L'_{\rm [CI]2-1}$/$L'_{\rm [CI]1-0}$ ratios across the galaxy populations and redshifts, suggesting that gas temperatures $T_{\rm exc}$ traced by [CI] do not strongly vary. We find only a mild correlation with $T_{\rm dust}$ and that, generally, $T_{\rm exc} \lesssim T_{\rm dust}$. We fit the line ratios with classical PDR models, retrieving consistently larger densities and intensities of the UV radiation fields in submm galaxies than in main sequence and local objects. However, these simple models fall short in representing the complexity of a multiphase interstellar medium and should be treated with caution. Finally, we compare our observations with the Santa Cruz semi-analytical model of galaxy evolution, recently extended to simulate submm emission. While we confirm the success in reproducing the CO lines, we find systematically larger [CI] luminosities at fixed IR luminosity than predicted theoretically. This highlights the necessity of improving our understanding of the mechanisms regulating the [CI] emission on galactic scales. We release our data compilation to the community.

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Quiescent galaxies 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang and their progenitors

We report two secure ($z=3.775, 4.012$) and one tentative ($z\approx3.767$) spectroscopic confirmations of massive and quiescent galaxies through $K$-band observations with Keck/MOSFIRE and VLT/X-Shooter. The stellar continuum emission, the absence of strong nebular emission lines and the lack of significant far-infrared detections confirm the passive nature of these objects, disfavoring the alternative solution of low-redshift dusty star-forming interlopers. We derive stellar masses of $\mathrm{log}(M_{\star}/M_\odot)\sim11$ and ongoing star formation rates placing these galaxies $\gtrsim 1-2$ dex below the main sequence at their redshifts. The adopted parametrization of the star formation history suggests that these sources experienced a strong ($\langle \rm SFR \rangle \sim 1200-3500\,M_\odot\,\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$) and short ($\sim 50$ Myr) burst of star formation, peaking $\sim 150-500$ Myr before the time of observation, all properties reminiscent of the characteristics of sub-millimeter galaxies (SMGs) at $z>4$. We investigate this connection by comparing the comoving number densities and the properties of these two populations. We find a fair agreement only with the deepest sub-mm surveys detecting not only the most extreme starbursts, but also more normal galaxies. We support these findings by further exploring the Illustris-TNG cosmological simulation, retrieving populations of both fully quenched massive galaxies at $z\sim3-4$ and SMGs at $z\sim4-5$, with number densities and properties in agreement with the observations at $z\sim3$, but in increasing tension at higher redshift. Nevertheless, as suggested by the observations, not all the progenitors of quiescent galaxies at these redshifts shine as bright SMGs in their past and, similarly, not all bright SMGs quench by $z\sim3$, both fractions depending on the threshold assumed to define the SMGs themselves.

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X-shooter Spectroscopy and HST Imaging of 15 Ultra Massive Quiescent Galaxies at $z\gtrsim2$

We present a detailed analysis of a large sample of spectroscopically confirmed ultra-massive quiescent galaxies (${\rm{log}}(M_{\ast}/M_{\odot})\sim11.5$) at $z\gtrsim2$. This sample comprises 15 galaxies selected in the COSMOS and UDS fields by their bright K-band magnitudes and followed up with VLT/X-shooter spectroscopy and HST/WFC3 $H_{F160W}$ imaging. These observations allow us to unambiguously confirm their redshifts ascertain their quiescent nature and stellar ages, and to reliably assess their internal kinematics and effective radii. We find that these galaxies are compact, consistent with the high mass end of the mass-size relation for quiescent galaxies at $z=2$. Moreover, the distribution of the measured stellar velocity dispersions of the sample is consistent with the most massive local early-type galaxies from the MASSIVE Survey showing that evolution in these galaxies, is dominated by changes in size. The HST images reveal, as surprisingly high, that $40\ \%$ of the sample have tidal features suggestive of mergers and companions in close proximity, including three galaxies experiencing ongoing major mergers. The absence of velocity dispersion evolution from $z=2$ to $0$, coupled with a doubling of the stellar mass, with a factor of four size increase and the observed disturbed stellar morphologies support dry minor mergers as the primary drivers of the evolution of the massive quiescent galaxies over the last 10 billion years.

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Physical Characterization of an Unlensed Dusty Star-Forming Galaxy at $z=5.85$

We present a physical characterization of MMJ100026.36+021527.9 (a.k.a. ``MAMBO-9''), a dusty star-forming galaxy (DSFG) at $z=5.850\pm0.001$. This is the highest redshift unlensed DSFG (and fourth most distant overall) found to-date, and is the first source identified in a new 2mm blank-field map in the COSMOS field. Though identified in prior samples of DSFGs at 850$μ$m-1.2mm with unknown redshift, the detection at 2mm prompted further follow-up as it indicated a much higher probability that the source was likely to sit at $z>4$. Deep observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter and submillimeter Array (ALMA) presented here confirm the redshift through the secure detection of $^{12}$CO($J\!=$6$\rightarrow$5) and p-H$_{2}$O(2$_{1,1}\!\rightarrow$2$_{0,2}$). MAMBO-9 is comprised of a pair of galaxies separated by 6kpc with corresponding star-formation rates of 590M$_\odot$yr$^{-1}$ and 220M$_\odot$yr$^{-1}$ total molecular hydrogen gas mass of (1.7$\pm$0.4)$\times10^{11}$M$_\odot$, dust mass of (1.3$\pm$0.3)$\times10^{9}$M$_\odot$ and stellar mass of (3.2$^{+1.0}_{-1.5}$)$\times10^{9}$M$_\odot$. The total halo mass, (3.3$\pm$0.8)$\times10^{12}$M$_\odot$, is predicted to exceed $>10^{15}$M$_\odot$ by $z=0$. The system is undergoing a merger-driven starburst which will increase the stellar mass of the system tenfold in $τ_{\rm depl}=40-80$Myr, converting its large molecular gas reservoir (gas fraction of 96$^{+1}_{-2}$%) into stars. MAMBO-9 evaded firm spectroscopic identification for a decade, following a pattern that has emerged for some of the highest redshift DSFGs found. And yet, the systematic identification of unlensed DSFGs like MAMBO-9 is key to measuring the global contribution of obscured star-formation to the star-formation rate density at $z>4$, the formation of the first massive galaxies, and the formation of interstellar dust at early times ($<$1Gyr).

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Automated Mining of the ALMA Archive in the COSMOS Field (A3COSMOS): II. Cold Molecular Gas Evolution out to Redshift 6

We present new measurements of the cosmic cold molecular gas evolution out to redshift 6 based on systematic mining of the ALMA public archive in the COSMOS deep field (A3COSMOS). Our A3COSMOS dataset contains ~700 galaxies (0.3 < z < 6) with high-confidence ALMA detections in the (sub-)millimeter continuum and multi-wavelength spectral energy distributions (SEDs). Multiple gas mass calibration methods are compared and biases in band conversions (from observed ALMA wavelength to rest-frame Rayleigh-Jeans(RJ)-tail continuum) have been tested. Combining our A3COSMOS sample with ~1,000 CO-observed galaxies at 0 < z < 4 (75% at z < 0.1), we parameterize galaxies' molecular gas depletion time and molecular gas to stellar mass ratio (gas fraction) each as a function of the stellar mass, offset from the star-forming main sequence (Delta MS) and cosmic age (or redshift). Our proposed functional form provides a statistically better fit to current data (than functional forms in the literature), and implies a "downsizing" effect (i.e., more-massive galaxies evolve earlier than less-massive ones) and "mass-quenching" (gas consumption slows down with cosmic time for massive galaxies but speeds up for low-mass ones). Adopting galaxy stellar mass functions and applying our function for gas mass calculation, we for the first time infer the cosmic cold molecular gas density evolution out to redshift 6 and find agreement with CO blind surveys as well as semi-analytic modeling. These together provide a coherent picture of cold molecular gas, SFR and stellar mass evolution in galaxies across cosmic time.

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