arXiv subjects

H. Flores

Publications and source records attributed to H. Flores.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2007

The origin of star formation since z=1

The use of multiple integral field units with FLAMES/GIRAFFE at VLT has revolutionized investigations of distant galaxy kinematics. This facility may recover the velocity fields of almost all emission line galaxies with I_(AB)<22.5 at z<0.8. We have gathered a unique sample of 63 velocity fields at z=0.4-0.75, which are representative of M_stellar > 1.5*10^10 M_sun emission line W_0([OII])>15 Ågalaxies, and are unaffected by cosmic variance. Taking into account all galaxies -with or without emission lines- in that redshift range, we find that 42+/-7% of them have anomalous kinematics, including 26+/-7% with complex kinematics, i.e. not supported by either rotation or by dispersion. The large fraction of complex velocity fields suggests a large impact of merging in shaping the galaxies in the intermediate mass range. We discuss how this can be accommodated within the frame of current scenarios of galaxy formation, including for the Milky Way and M31.

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arXiv2007

The direct oxygen abundances of metal-rich galaxies derived from electron temperature

We aim to derive the electron temperature Te in the gas of metal-rich star-forming galaxies, which can be obtained from their ratios of auroral lines [O II]7320,7330 to nebular lines [O II]3727, in order to establish a more robust mass-metallicity relationship, and compare the Te-based (O/H) abundances with those from empirical strong-line calibrations, such as R23. We obtained 27 spectra by stacking the spectra of several hundred (even several thousand) star-forming galaxies selected from the SDSS-DR4 in each of the 27 stellar mass bins from log(M*) ~8.0 to 10.6 (logMsun). This "stack" method sufficiently improves the signal-to-noise ratio of the auroral lines [O II]7320,7330, which allow us to reliably obtain the electron temperature t2 in the low ionization region from the ratio of [O II]7320,7330 to [O II]3727, then t3 in the high ionization region from t2 by using a relation, and then the direct (O/H) abundances from Te. The results show that the empirical R23 method will overestimate the log(O/H) by 0.2 to 0.6 dex for these moderate metal-rich galaxies. The new metal-mass relationship of the galaxies with moderate metallicities is fitted by a linear fit (12+log(O/H) =6.223+0.231*logM*) confirming that empirical methods significantly overestimate (O/H). We also derived their (N/O) abundance ratios on the basis of the Te method, which are consistent with the combination of the primary and secondary components of nitrogen. For actual use, we re-derive the relations of 12+log(O/H)(Bay) vs. logM* and 12+log(O/H)(Bay) vs. logR23 from the SDSS-DR4 data, which are a bit different from those derived from DR2.

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arXiv2007

Unravelling the morphologies of Luminous Compact Galaxies using the HST/ACS GOODS survey

(Abridged) Luminous Compact Galaxies (LCGs) (M_B < -20, R_{1/2} < 4.5kpc and EW_{0}(OII) >15Å) constitute one of the most rapidly evolving galaxy populations over the last ~8 Gyr history of the universe. Due to their inherently compact sizes, any detailed quantitative analysis of their morphologies has proved to be difficult in the past. In this work we use the high angular resolution imaging data, from the HST/ACS GOODS survey, to study the quantitative morphology of a complete sample of LCGs in the redshift range 0.5 < z < 1.2. We have derived structural parameters for a representative sample of 39 LCGs selected from the GOODS-S field, using full 2-dimensional surface brightness profile fitting of the galaxy images in each of the four filters available. B-z color maps are used as an aid in the morphological classification. We then use the rest frame B band bulge flux fraction (B/T) to determine the morphological class of the galaxies. Mergers were essentially identified visually by the presence of multiple maxima of comparable intensity in the rest frame B band images, aided by the color maps to distinguish them from HII regions. We derive the following morphological mix for our sample of intermediate redshift LCGs: Mergers: ~36%, Disk dominated: ~22%, S0: ~20%, Early types: ~7%, Irr/tadpole: ~15%. We establish that our sample LCGs are intermediate mass objects with a median stellar mass of Log(M/M_{\odot})=10.32. We also derive dust enshrouded SFR values ranging from a few to ~65 $M_{\odot}$/year using Spitzer 24$μm$ data. We estimate a factor ~11 fall in the comoving number density of blue LCGs from redshifts 0.5 < z < 1.2 to the current epoch. We finally discuss the evolutionary scenario of these LCGs which might give us some clues regarding their descendants in the local universe.

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arXiv2007

The Milky Way: An Exceptionally Quiet Galaxy; Implications for the formation of spiral galaxies

[Abridged]We compare both the Milky Way and M31 galaxies to local external disk galaxies within the same mass range, using their relative locations in the planes formed by V_flat versus M_K, j_disk, and the average Fe abundance of stars in the galaxy outskirts. We find, for all relationships, that the MW is systematically offset by ~ 1 sigma, showing a significant deficiency in stellar mass, in angular momentum, in disk radius and [Fe/H] in the stars in its outskirts at a given V_flat. On the basis of their location in the M_K, V_flat, and R_d volume, the fraction of spirals like the MW is 7+/-1%, while M31 appears to be a "typical'' spiral. Our Galaxy appears to have escaped any significant merger over the last ~10 Gyrs which may explain why it is deficient by a factor 2 to 3 in stellar mass, angular momentum and outskirts metallicity and then, unrepresentative of the typical spiral. As with M31, most local spirals show evidence for a history shaped mainly by relatively recent merging. We conclude that the standard scenario of secular evolution is generally unable to reproduce the properties of most (if not all) spiral galaxies. However, the so-called "spiral rebuilding'' scenario proposed by Hammer et al. 2005 is consistent with the properties of both distant galaxies and of their descendants - the local spirals.

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arXiv2007

3D Spectroscopy with VLT/GIRAFFE - IV: Angular Momentum and Dynamical Support of Intermediate Redshift Galaxies

[Abridged] One of the most outstanding problems related to numerical models of galaxy formation is the so-called ``angular momentum catastrophe''. We study the evolution of the angular momentum from z~0.6 to z=0 to further our understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the large angular momenta of disk galaxies observed today. This study is based on a complete sample of 32, 0.4<z<0.75 galaxies observed with FLAMES/GIRAFFE at the VLT. Their kinematics had been classified as rotating disks, perturbed rotators, or complex kinematics .We have computed the specific angular momentum of disks (j_disk) and the dynamical support of rotating disks through the V/sigma ratio. To study how angular momentum can be acquired dynamically, we have compared the properties of distant and local galaxies. We find that distant rotating disks have essentially the same properties (j_disk and R_d) as local disks, while distant galaxies with more complex kinematics have a significantly higher scatter in the j_disk--V_max and R_d--V_max planes. On average, distant galaxies show lower values of V/sigma than local galaxies. We found observational evidence for a non-linear random walk evolution of the angular momentum in galaxies during the last 8 Gyr. The evolution related to galaxies with complex kinematics can be attributed to mergers. If galaxies observed at intermediate redshift are related to present-day spirals, then our results fit quite well with the ``spiral rebuilding'' scenario proposed by Hammer et al. (2005)

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arXiv2006

531 new spectroscopic redshifts from the CDFS and a test on the cosmological relevance of the GOODS-South field

(Abbrev.) This paper prepares a series of papers analysing the Intermediate MAss Galaxy Evolution Sequence (IMAGES) up to z=1. Intermediate mass galaxies (MJ <=-20.3) are selected from the Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS) for which we identify a serious lack of spectroscopically determined redshifts..... We have spectroscopically identified 691 objects including 580 gal., 7 QSOs, and 104 stars. This study provides 531 new redshifts in the CDFS. It confirms the presence of several large scale structures in the CDFS. To test the impact of these structures in the GOODS-South field, we ... compare the evolution of rest-frame U, B, V and K galaxy luminosity densities to that derived from the CFRS. The CDFS field shows a significant excess of luminosity densities in the z=0.5-0.75 range, which increases with the wavelength, reaching up to 0.5 dex at 2.1 um. Stellar mass and specific star formation evolutions might be significantly affected by the presence of the peculiar large scale structures at z= 0.668 and at z= 0.735, that contain a significant excess of evolved, massive galaxies when compared to other fields. This leads to a clear warning to results based on the CDFS/GOODS South fields, especially those related to the evolution of red luminosity densities, i.e. stellar mass density and specific star formation rate. Photometric redshift techniques, when applied to that field, are producing quantities which are apparently less affected by cosmic variance (0.25 dex at 2.1 um), however at the cost of the difficulty in disentangling between evolutionary and cosmic variance effects.

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arXiv2006

Empirical strong-line oxygen abundance calibrations from galaxies with electron temperature measurements

We determine the gas-phase oxygen abundance for a sample of 695 galaxies and H II regions with reliable detections of [O III]4363, using the temperature-sensitive Te method. Our aims are to estimate the validity of empirical methods such as R23, R23-P, log([N II]/Halpha) (N2), log[([O III]/Hbeta)/([N II]/Halpha)] (O3N2), and log([S II]/Halpha) (S2), and especially to re-derive (or add) the calibrations of R23, N2, O3N2 and S2 indices for oxygen abundances on the basis of this large sample of galaxies with Te-based abundances. We select 531 star-forming galaxies from the SDSS-DR4, and 164 galaxies and H II regions from literature for such study. Their (O/H) abundances obtained from Te are within 7.1<12+log(O/H)<8.5 mostly. For roughly half of the SDSS samples, the Bayesian abundances obtained by the MPA/JHU group are overestimated by ~0.34 dex compared with the Te-based (O/H) measurements, possibly due to the treatment of nitrogen enrichment in the models they used. R23 and R23-P methods systematically overestimate the O/H abundance by a factor of ~0.20 dex and ~0.06 dex, respectively. The N2 index, rather than the O3N2 index, provides relatively consistent O/H abundances with the Te-method, but with some scatter. The relations of N2, O3N2, S2 with log(O/H) are consistent with the photoionization model calculations of Kewley & Doptita (2002), but R23 does not match well. Then we derive analytical calibrations for O/H from R23, N2, O3N2 and S2 indices on the basis of this large sample of galaxies, especially including the excitation parameter P as an additional parameter in the N2 calibration. These can be used as calibration references in the future studies about metallicities of galaxies.

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arXiv2006

The oxygen abundance calibrations and N/O abundance ratios of ~40,000 SDSS star-forming galaxies

Using a large sample of 38,478 star-forming galaxies selected from the Second Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey database (SDSS-DR2), we derive analytical calibrations for oxygen abundances from several metallicity-sensitive emission-line ratios: [N II]/H_alpha, [O III]/[N II], [N II]/[O II], [N II]/[S II], [S II]/H_alpha, and [O III]/H_beta. This consistent set of strong-line oxygen abundance calibrations will be useful for future abundance studies. Among these calibrations, [N II]/[O II] is the best for metal-rich galaxies due to its independence on ionization parameter and low scatter. Dust extinction must be considered properly at first. These calibrations are more suitable for metal-rich galaxies (8.4<12+log(O/H)<9.3), and for the nuclear regions of galaxies. The observed relations are consistent with those expected from the photoionization models of Kewley & Dopita (2002). However, most of the observational data spread in a range of ionization parameter q from 1*10^7 to 8*10^7 cm s^{-1}, corresponding to logU= -3.5 to -2.5, narrower than that suggested by the models. We also estimate the (N/O) abundance ratios of this large sample of galaxies, and these are consistent with the combination of a "primary" and a dominant "secondary" components of nitrogen.

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arXiv2006

The star formation history of luminous infrared galaxies

We constrain the past star formation histories of a sample of 25 distant (z~0.7) luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) detected with the mid infrared cameras ISOCAM and MIPS onboard the ISO and Spitzer satellites. We use high resolution VLT-FORS2 spectroscopy in addition to a comprehensive library of 200,000 model optical spectra to derive Bayesian likelihood estimates of the star formation histories of these galaxies based on the analysis of Balmer absorption lines and the 4000 A break. The locus of distant LIRGs in the diagram defined by Hdelta_A and D4000 is roughly comparable to that of local LIRGs observed with IRAS, suggesting that no trend for an evolution is detected between the local and distant LIRGs. We obtain similar results when using either the H8 or the H$δ_A$ Balmer absorption-line indices in combination with D4000. We compute a birthrate parameter (b=SFR/ ) of 4\pm1, confirming that the distant LIRGs are currently experiencing a major phase of star formation. The most likely duration of the bursts is 0.10 Gyr, during which the LIRGs produce 5-10 % of their current stellar mass. No evidence is found for successive starbursts on the scale of a few times $10^7$ yr, such as those predicted by some numerical simulations of major mergers. However, the large number density of those galaxies suggest that they could experience between two and four LIRG phases until the present epoch.

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arXiv2006

Detection of Wolf-Rayet stars in host galaxies of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs): are GRBs produced by runaway massive stars ejected from high stellar density regions ?

We have obtained deep spectroscopic observations of several nearby gamma-ray burst (GRB) host galaxies revealing for the first time the presence of Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars and numerous O stars located in rich and compact clusters or star forming regions. Surprisingly, high spatial resolution imaging shows that the GRBs and the associated supernovae did not occur in these regions, but several hundreds of parsec away. Considering various scenarios for GRB progenitors, we do not find any simple explanation of why they should be preferentially born in regions with low stellar densities. All the examined GRBs and associated SNe have occurred 400 to 800 pc from very high density stellar environments including large numbers of WR stars. Such distances can be travelled through at velocities of 100 km/s or larger, assuming the travel time to be the typical life time of WR stars. It leads us to suggest that GRB progenitors may be runaway massive stars ejected from compact massive star clusters. The ejection from such super star clusters may lead to a spin-up of these stars, producing the loss of the hydrogen and/or helium envelopes leading to the origin of the type Ibc supernovae associated with GRBs. If this scenario applies tocd text/Sc all GRBs, it provides a natural explanation of the very small fraction of massive stars that emit a GRB at the end of their life. An alternative to this scenario could be a binary origin for GRBs, but this still requires an explanation of why it would preferentially occur in low stellar density regions.

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arXiv2006

3D spectroscopy with VLT/GIRAFFE: I- the true Tully Fisher relationship at z~0.6

A precise derivation of the evolution of the Tully Fisher is crucial to understand the interplay between dark matter and baryonic matter in cosmological models, Using 15 deployable integral field units of FLAMES/GIRAFFE at VLT, we have recovered the velocity fields of 35 galaxies at intermediate redshift (0.4 < z < 0.75). This facility is able to recover the velocity fields of almost all the emission line galaxies with Iab <=22.5 and W_0(OII)>=15A In our sample, we find only 35% rotating disks. These rotating disks produce a Tully-Fisher relationship (stellar mass or M_K versus V_max) which has apparently not evolved in slope, zero point and scatter since z=0.6. The only evolution found is a brightening of the B band luminosity of a third of the disks, possibly due to an enhancement of the star formation. The very large scatters found in previously reported Tully-Fisher relationships at moderate redshifts are caused by the numerous (65%) galaxies with perturbed or complex kinematics. Those galaxies include minor or major mergers, merger remnants and/or inflow/outflows and their kinematics can be easily misidentified by slit spectroscopy. Their presence suggests a strong evolution in the dynamical properties of galaxies during the last 7 Gyrs.

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arXiv2006

3D spectroscopy with VLT/GIRAFFE - II: Are Luminous Compact Galaxies merger remnants ?

Luminous Compact Galaxies are enigmatic sources by many aspects. They can reach the luminosity of the Milky Way within a radius of only a few kpc. They also represent one of the most rapidly evolving populations of galaxies since they represent up to 1/5 of the luminous galaxies at redshift z= 0.7 while being almost absent in the local Universe. The measurement of their dynamics is crucial to our understanding of LCGs since this has the potential of telling us which physical process(es) that drives them, and ultimately to link them to the existing present-day galaxies. Here we derive the 3 dimensional velocity fields and velocity dispersion (sigma) maps of 17 Luminous Compact Galaxies selected from the Canada France Redshift Survey and the Hubble Deep Field South with redshifts ranging from z=0.4 to z=0.75. We find that only 18% of them show rotational velocity fields typical of rotating disks, the others showing more complex kinematics. Assuming that LCGs are not too far from equilibrium, about half of LCGs then appear to be either non-relaxed objects, or objects that are not supported by velocity dispersion alone. This supports the view that an important fraction of LCGs are probably mergers. It brings additional support to the ``spiral rebuilding scenario'' in which LCGs correspond to a previous or post-merger phase before the disk re-building.

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arXiv2006

3D spectroscopy with VLT/GIRAFFE - III: Mapping electron densities in distant galaxies

We used the moderately high spectral resolution of FLAMES/GIRAFFE (R=10000) to derive electron densities from [OII] line ratios in 6 galaxies at z~0.55. These measurements have been done through the GIRAFFE multiple integral field units and are the very first mapping of electron densities in such distant objects. This allows us to confirm an outflow and identify the role of giant HII regions in galactic disks. Such measurements could be used in the future to investigate the nature of the physical processes responsible for the high star formations rates observed in galaxies between z~0.4 and z~1.

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arXiv2005

Multiwavelength Observations of one Galaxy in Marano Field

We report the multiwavelength observations of one intermediate redshift (z=0.3884) galaxy in the Marano Field. These data include ISOCAM middle infrared, VLT/FORS2 spectroscopic and photometric data, associated with the ATCA 1.4 GHz radio and ROSAT PSPC X-ray observations from literature. The Spectral Energy Distribution obtained by VLT spectroscopy exhibits its early-type galaxy property, while, in the same time, it has obvious [OIII]5007 emission line. The diagnostic diagram from the optical emission line ratios shows its Seyfert galaxy property. Its infrared-radio relation follows the correlation of sources detected at 15 μand radio. It has a high X-ray luminosity of 1.26*10^{43} ergs/s, which is much higher than the general elliptical galaxies s with the similar B band luminosity, and is about 2 orders of magnitude higher than the derived value from the star forming tracer, the FIR luminosity. This means that the X-ray sources of this galaxy are not stellar components, but the AGN is the dominant component.

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arXiv2005

Significant evolution of the stellar mass-metallicity relation since z~0.65

We present the stellar mass-metallicity relation for 34 0.4<z<1 galaxies selected from CFRS and Marano fields, and compare it to those derived from three local samples of galaxies (NFGS, KISS and SDSS). Our metal abundance estimates account for extinction effects, as estimated from IR/optical ratios and Balmer line ratios. All three comparisons show that the intermediate mass galaxies at z~0.65 are more metal-deficient by 0.3 dex at a given M_K or stellar mass relative to z=0. We find no evidence that this discrepancy could be related to different methods used to derive mass and metallicity. Assuming a closed box model predicts a gas fraction converted into stars of 20-25% since z~0.65, if the gas fraction is 10-20% in present-day galaxies with intermediate masses. This result is in excellent agreement with previous findings that most of the decline of the cosmic star formation density is related to the population of intermediate mass galaxies, which is composed of 75% spirals today. We find no evidence for a change of the slope of the M_{\star}-Z relation from z~0.65 to z=0 within the intermediate mass range (10.5<log(M_{\star}) < 11.5).

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arXiv2005

HST/WFPC2 morphologies and bar structures of field galaxies at 0.4<z<1

To address how the galaxy Hubble sequence is established and what physical processes are involved, we studied morphological properties and internal structures of field galaxies in the past (0.4 =10^11 L_sun). Here we presented morphological classification of a parallel 75 non-LIRG sample. Our examination revealed that a significant fraction of the galaxies shows remarkable morphological evolution, most likely related to the present-day spiral galaxies. Comparison of the morphological properties between LIRGs and non-LIRGs shows that the LIRGs contain a higher fraction of ongoing major mergers and systems with signs of merging/interaction. This suggests that the merging process is one of the major mechanisms to trigger star formation. We found that spiral LIRGs probably host much fewer bars than spiral non-LIRGs, suggesting that a bar is not efficient in triggering violent star formation. Differing from Abraham et al. (1999), no dramatic change of the bar frequency is detected up to redshift ~0.8. The bar frequency of the distant spirals is similar to (and may be higher than) the present-day spirals in the rest-frame $B$ band. We conclude that bar-driven secular evolution is not a major mechanism to drive morphological evolution of field galaxies, especially their bulge formation, which is more likely related to multiple intense star formation episodes during which the galaxies appear as LIRGs (Hammer et al. 2005).

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arXiv2005

The Luminosity and Metallicity Relation of distant luminous infrared galaxies

Oxygen abundances [12+log(O/H)] in the interstellar medium of a large sample of distant (z>0.4) luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) were estimated from their extinction corrected emission-line ratios, on the basis of the VLT/FORS2 spectra with good S/N and moderate resolution. These LIRGs were selected from ISOCAM deep survey fields (CFRS, UDSR, UDSF). They show oxygen abundances ranging from 8.36 to 8.93, with a median value of 8.67, which is 0.5 lower than that of the local bright disks (i.e., L*) at the given magnitude. A significant fraction of distant large disks are indeed LIRGs. Such massive disks could have formed ~50% of their metals and stellar masses since z~1.

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arXiv2005

The Luminosity-Metallicity Relation of distant luminous infrared galaxies

One hundred and five 15mu selected objects in three ISO deep survey fields (CFRS 3h, UDSR and UDSF) are studied on the basis of the high quality optical spectra with resolution R>1000 from VLT/FORS2. Ninety two objects (88%) have secure redshifts, ranging from 0 to 1.16 with a median value of 0.587. Considerable care is taken in estimating the extinction property of individual galaxy, which can seriously affect diagnostic diagrams and estimates of star formation rates and of metal abundances. Two independent methods have been adopted to estimate extinction, e.g. Balmer line ratio (A_V(Balmer)) and energy balance between IR and Hbeta luminosities (A_V(IR)). For most of the z>0.4 luminous IR galaxies (LIRGs), the two extinction coefficients are consistent well, with median values of A_V(IR) = 2.36. These distant LIRGs show many properties strikingly in common with those of local (IRAS) LIRGs studied by Veilleux et al. (1995). Our sample can provide a good representation of LIRGs in the distant Universe. Most (>77%) ISO 15mu selected sample galaxies are dominated by star formation. Oxygen abundances (12+log(O/H), derived from R23 and O32) in ISM in the distant LIRGs range from 8.36 to 8.93 with a median value of 8.67. Distant LIRGs present a metal content less than half of that of the local bright disks (i.e. L*). The Pegase2 models predict that total masses (gas + stars) of the distant LIRGs are from 10^{11} Msun to <=10^{12} Msun. A significant fraction of distant large disks are indeed LIRGs. Such massive disks could have formed ~50% of their metals and stellar masses since z~1.

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