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James E. Geach

Publications and source records attributed to James E. Geach.

57 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

The clustering and evolution of H-alpha emitters at z~1 from HiZELS

(Abridged) The clustering properties of a well-defined sample of 734 H-alpha emitters at z=0.84 obtained as part of the Hi-z Emission Line Survey (HiZELS) are investigated. The spatial correlation function is very well-described by (r/r_0)^-1.8, with r_0=2.7+-0.3Mpc/h. The correlation length r_0 increases strongly with H-alpha luminosity, L_H-alpha, from r_0~2Mpc/h for the most quiescent galaxies (star-formation rates of ~4M_sun/yr), up to r_0>5Mpc/h for the brightest galaxies in H-alpha. The correlation length also increases with increasing rest-frame K-band luminosity (M_K), but the r_0-L_H-alpha correlation maintains its full statistical significance at fixed M_K. At z=0.84, star-forming galaxies classified as irregulars or mergers are much more clustered than discs and non-mergers, but once the samples are matched in L_H-alpha and M_K, the differences vanish, implying that the clustering is independent of morphological type at z~1. The typical H-alpha emitters found at z=0.84 reside in dark-matter haloes of ~10^12M_sun, but those with the highest SFRs reside in more massive haloes of ~10^13M_sun. Comparing the results with those of H-alpha surveys at different redshifts, it is seen that although the break of the H-alpha luminosity function, L*, evolves by a factor of ~30 from z=0.24 to z=2.23, galaxies with the same L_H-alpha/L*(z) are found in dark matter haloes of similar masses, independently of cosmic time. This not only confirms that star-formation is more efficient at higher redshift, but also suggests a fundamental connection between the strong decrease of L* since z=2.23 and the quenching of star-formation in galaxies residing within dark-matter haloes significantly more massive than 10^12M_sun at any given epoch.

astro-ph.CO↗

Obscured star formation at z = 0.84 with HiZELS: the relationship between star formation rate and H-alpha or ultra-violet dust extinction

[Abridged] We compare H-alpha, ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) indicators of star formation rate (SFR) for a sample of z = 0.84 galaxies from the High-z Emission Line Survey (HiZELS). Using multi-wavelength diagnostics, we estimate that 5 - 11 per cent of H-alpha emitters at this redshift are active galactic nuclei. We detect 35 per cent of the H-alpha emitters individually at 24 microns, and stack the star-forming emitters on deep 24-micron images in order to calculate the typical SFRs of our galaxies. These are compared to the observed H-alpha line fluxes in order to estimate the extinction at z = 0.84, and we find a significant increase in dust extinction for galaxies with higher SFRs. We demonstrate that the local relationship between SFR and extinction is suitable for our sample, and attribute the overall increase in dust extinction for z = 0.84 galaxies to an increase in the average SFR, rather than to a change in dust properties. We calculate the UV extinction, and find a similar dependence on SFR, but no evidence for a 2175 angstrom UV bump in the dust attenuation law. We calculate the conversion between the dust attenuation of nebular and stellar radiation, gamma, and show that gamma = 0.50 +/- 0.14. The extinction / SFR relationship is shown to be applicable to galaxies with a range of morphologies and bulge-to-disk ratios, to both merging and non-merging galaxies, and to galaxies within high- and low-density environments, implying that it is a fundamental property of star-forming regions. In order to allow future studies to correct for a SFR-dependent amount of dust extinction, we present an equation to predict the extinction of a galaxy, based solely upon its observed H-alpha luminosity, and use this to recalculate the H-alpha luminosity function and star formation rate density at z = 0.84.

astro-ph.CO↗

CO interferometry of gas-rich spiral galaxies in the outskirts of an intermediate redshift cluster

We present IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer 3mm observations of CO(1-0) emission in two 24um-selected starburst galaxies in the outskirts (2-3xR_virial) of the rich cluster Cl0024+16 (z=0.395). The galaxies' inferred far-infrared luminosities place them in the luminous infrared galaxy class (LIRGs, L_FIR>10^11 L_Sun), with star formation rates of ~60 M_Sun/yr. Strong CO(1-0) emission is detected in both galaxies, and we use the CO line luminosity to estimate the mass of cold molecular gas, M(H_2). Assuming M(H_2)/L'_CO = 0.8 M_Sun/(K km^-1 pc^2), we estimate M(H_2) = (5.4-9.1)x10^9 M_Sun for the two galaxies. We estimate the galaxies' dynamical masses from their CO line-widths, M_dyn~1-3x10^10 M_Sun, implying large cold gas fractions in the galaxies' central regions. At their current rates they will complete the assembly of M_Stars~10^10 M_Sun and double their stellar mass within as little as ~150Myr. If these galaxies are destined to evolve into S0s, then the short time-scale for stellar mass assembly implies that their major episode of bulge growth occurs while they are still in the cluster outskirts, long before they reach the core regions. Subsequent fading of the disc component relative to the stellar bulge after the gas reservoirs have been exhausted could complete the transformation of spiral-to-S0.

astro-ph.CO↗