arXiv subjects

I-hui Li

Publications and source records attributed to I-hui Li.

21 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2009

The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey: Survey Design and First Data Release

The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey is a survey of 240,000 emission line galaxies in the distant universe, measured with the AAOmega spectrograph on the 3.9-m Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT). The target galaxies are selected using ultraviolet photometry from the GALEX satellite, with a flux limit of NUV<22.8 mag. The redshift range containing 90% of the galaxies is 0.2<z<1.0. The primary aim of the survey is to precisely measure the scale of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) imprinted on the spatial distribution of these galaxies at look-back times of 4-8 Gyrs. Detailed forecasts indicate the survey will measure the BAO scale to better than 2% and the tangential and radial acoustic wave scales to approximately 3% and 5%, respectively. This paper provides a detailed description of the survey and its design, as well as the spectroscopic observations, data reduction, and redshift measurement techniques employed. It also presents an analysis of the properties of the target galaxies, including emission line diagnostics which show that they are mostly extreme starburst galaxies, and Hubble Space Telescope images, which show they contain a high fraction of interacting or distorted systems. In conjunction with this paper, we make a public data release of data for the first 100,000 galaxies measured for the project.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

The M_bh-sigma diagram, and the offset nature of barred active galaxies

From a sample of 50 predominantly inactive galaxies with direct supermassive black hole mass measurements, it has recently been established that barred galaxies tend to reside rightward of the M_bh-sigma relation defined by non-barred galaxies. Either black holes in barred galaxies tend to be anaemic or the central velocity dispersions in these galaxies have a tendency to be elevated by the presence of the bar. The latter option is in accord with studies connecting larger velocity dispersions in galaxies with old bars, while the former scenario is at odds with the observation that barred galaxies do not deviate from the M_bh-luminosity relation. Using a sample of 88 galaxies with active galactic nuclei, whose supermassive black hole masses have been estimated from their associated emission lines, we reveal for the first time that they also display this same general behavior in the M_bh-sigma diagram depending on the presence of a bar or not. A new symmetrical and non-symmetrical "barless" M_bh-sigma relation is derived using 82 non-barred galaxies. The barred galaxies are shown to reside on or up to ~1 dex below this relation. This may explain why narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies appear offset from the "barless" M_bh-sigma relation, and has far reaching implications given that over half of the disk galaxy population are barred.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2008

Finding Galaxy Groups In Photometric Redshift Space: the Probability Friends-of-Friends (pFoF) Algorithm

We present a structure finding algorithm designed to identify galaxy groups in photometric redshift data sets: the probability friends-of-friends (pFoF) algorithm. This algorithm is derived by combining the friends-of-friends algorithm in the transverse direction and the photometric redshift probability densities in the radial dimension. The innovative characteristic of our group-finding algorithm is the improvement of redshift estimation via the constraints given by the transversely connected galaxies in a group, based on the assumption that all galaxies in a group have the same redshift. Tests using the Virgo Consortium Millennium Simulation mock catalogs allow us to show that the recovery rate of the pFoF algorithm is larger than 80% for mock groups of at least $2\times10^{13}M_{\sun}$, while the false detection rate is about 10% for pFoF groups containing at least $\sim8$ net members. Applying the algorithm to the CNOC2 group catalogs gives results which are consistent with the mock catalog tests. From all these results, we conclude that our group-finding algorithm offers an effective yet simple way to identify galaxy groups in photometric redshift catalogs.

astro-ph↗