arXiv subjects

Joao Calhau

Publications and source records attributed to Joao Calhau.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2021

The Large Early Galaxy Astrophysics Census (LEGA-C) Data Release 3: 3000 High-Quality Spectra of $K_s$-selected galaxies at $z>0.6$

We present the third and final data release of the Large Early Galaxy Astrophysics Census (LEGA-C), an ESO/VLT public spectroscopic survey targeting $0.6 < z < 1.0$, Ks-selected galaxies. The data release contains 3528 spectra with measured stellar velocity dispersions and stellar population properties, a 25-fold increase in sample size compared to previous work. This $K_s$-selected sample probes the galaxy population down to $\sim0.3 L^*$, for all colors and morphological types. Along with the spectra we publish a value-added catalog with stellar and ionized gas velocity dispersions, stellar absorption line indices, emission line fluxes and equivalent widths, complemented with structural parameters measured from HST/ACS imaging. With its combination of high precision and large sample size, LEGA-C provides a new benchmark for galaxy evolution studies.

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arXiv2018

The clustering of typical Ly$α$ emitters from $z \sim 2.5 - 6$: host halo masses depend on Ly$α$ and UV luminosities

We investigate the clustering and halo properties of $\sim 5000$ Ly$α$-selected emission line galaxies (LAEs) from the Slicing COSMOS 4K (SC4K) and from archival NB497 imaging of SA22 split in 15 discrete redshift slices between $z \sim 2.5 - 6$. We measure clustering lengths of $r_0 \sim 3 - 6\ h^{-1}$ Mpc and typical halo masses of $\sim 10^{11}$ M$_\odot$ for our narrowband-selected LAEs with typical $L_{\rm{Ly}α} \sim 10^{42 - 43}$ erg s$^{-1}$. The intermediate band-selected LAEs are observed to have $r_0 \sim 3.5 - 15\ h^{-1}$ Mpc with typical halo masses of $\sim 10^{11 - 12}$ M$_\odot$ and typical $L_{\rm{Ly}α} \sim 10^{43 - 43.6}$ erg s$^{-1}$. We find a strong, redshift-independent correlation between halo mass and Ly$α$ luminosity normalized by the characteristic Ly$α$ luminosity, $L^\star(z)$. The faintest LAEs ($L \sim 0.1\ L^\star(z)$) typically identified by deep narrowband surveys are found in $10^{10}$ M$_\odot$ halos and the brightest LAEs ($L \sim 7\ L^\star(z)$) are found in $\sim 5 \times 10^{12}$ M$_\odot$ halos. A dependency on the rest-frame 1500 Å~UV luminosity, M$_\rm{UV}$, is also observed where the halo masses increase from $10^{11}$ to $10^{13}$ M$_\odot$ for M$_\rm{UV} \sim -19$ to $-23.5$ mag. Halo mass is also observed to increase from $10^{9.8}$ to $10^{12.3}$ M$_\odot$ for dust-corrected UV star formation rates from $\sim 0.6$ to $10$ M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$ and continues to increase up to $10^{13.5}$ M$_\odot$ in halo mass, where the majority of those sources are AGN. All the trends we observe are found to be redshift-independent. Our results reveal that LAEs are the likely progenitors of a wide range of galaxies depending on their luminosity, from dwarf-like, to Milky Way-type, to bright cluster galaxies. LAEs therefore provide unique insight into the early formation and evolution of the galaxies we observe in the local Universe.

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arXiv2018

The Large Early Galaxy Astrophysics Census (LEGA-C) Data Release II: dynamical and stellar population properties of z ~< 1 galaxies in the COSMOS field

We present the second data release of the Large Early Galaxy Astrophysics Census (LEGA-C), an ESO 130-night public spectroscopic survey conducted with VIMOS on the Very Large Telescope. We release 1988 spectra with typical continuum S / N ~= 20 /Angstrom of galaxies at 0.6 ~< z ~< 1.0, each observed for ~20 hours and fully reduced with a custom-built pipeline. We also release a catalog with spectroscopic redshifts, emission line fluxes, Lick/IDS indices, and observed stellar and gas velocity dispersions that are spatially integrated quantities including both rotational motions and genuine dispersion. To illustrate the new parameter space in the intermediate redshift regime probed by LEGA-C we explore relationships between dynamical and stellar population properties. The star-forming galaxies typically have observed stellar velocity dispersions of ~150 km/s and strong Hdelta absorption (Hd_A ~ 5 Angstrom), while passive galaxies have higher observed stellar velocity dispersions ~200 km/s and weak Hdelta absortion (Hd_A ~ 0 Angstrom). Strong [O III]5007 / Hbeta ratios tend to occur mostly for galaxies with weak Hd_A or galaxies with higher observed velocity dispersion. Beyond these broad trends, we find a large diversity of possible combinations of rest-frame colors, absorption line strengths and emission line detections, illustrating the utility of spectroscopic measurements to more accurately understand galaxy evolution. By making the spectra and value-added catalogs publicly available we encourage the community to take advantage of this very substantial investment in telescope time provided by ESO.

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arXiv2018

SFHs OF $Z\sim1$ Galaxies in LEGA-C

Using high resolution spectra from the VLT LEGA-C program, we reconstruct the star formation histories (SFHs) of 607 galaxies at redshifts $z = 0.6-1.0$ and stellar masses $\gtrsim10^{10}$M$_{\odot}$ using a custom full spectrum fitting algorithm that incorporates the emcee and FSPS packages. We show that the mass-weighted age of a galaxy correlates strongly with stellar velocity dispersion ($σ_*$) and ongoing star-formation (SF) activity, with the stellar content in higher-$σ_*$ galaxies having formed earlier and faster. The SFHs of quiescent galaxies are generally consistent with passive evolution since their main SF epoch, but a minority show clear evidence of a rejuvenation event in their recent past. The mean age of stars in galaxies that are star-forming is generally significantly younger, with SF peaking after $z<1.5$ for almost all star-forming galaxies in the sample: many of these still have either constant or rising SFRs on timescales $>100$Myrs. This indicates that $z>2$ progenitors of $z\sim1$ star-forming galaxies are generally far less massive. Finally, despite considerable variance in the individual SFHs, we show that the current SF activity of massive galaxies ($>$L$_*$) at $z\sim1$ correlates with SF levels at least $3$Gyrs prior: SFHs retain `memory' on a large fraction of the Hubble time. Our results illustrate a novel approach to resolve the formation phase of galaxies, and in identifying their individual evolutionary paths, connects progenitors and descendants across cosmic time. This is uniquely enabled by the high-quality continuum spectroscopy provided by the LEGA-C survey.

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arXiv2018

Spatially Resolved Stellar Kinematics from LEGA-C: Increased Rotational Support in z~0.8 Quiescent Galaxies

We present stellar rotation curves and velocity dispersion profiles for 104 quiescent galaxies at $z=0.6-1$ from the Large Early Galaxy Astrophysics Census (LEGA-C) spectroscopic survey. Rotation is typically probed across 10-20kpc, or to an average of 2.7${\rm R_e}$. Combined with central stellar velocity dispersions ($σ_0$) this provides the first determination of the dynamical state of a sample selected by a lack of star formation activity at large lookback time. The most massive galaxies ($M_{\star}>2\times10^{11}\,M_{\odot}$) generally show no or little rotation measured at 5kpc ($|V_5|/σ_0<0.2$ in 8 of 10 cases), while ${\sim}64\%$ of less massive galaxies show significant rotation. This is reminiscent of local fast- and slow-rotating ellipticals and implies that low- and high-redshift quiescent galaxies have qualitatively similar dynamical structures. We compare $|V_5|/σ_0$ distributions at $z\sim0.8$ and the present day by re-binning and smoothing the kinematic maps of 91 low-redshift quiescent galaxies from the CALIFA survey and find evidence for a decrease in rotational support since $z\sim1$. This result is especially strong when galaxies are compared at fixed velocity dispersion; if velocity dispersion does not evolve for individual galaxies then the rotational velocity at 5kpc was an average of ${94\pm22\%}$ higher in $z\sim0.8$ quiescent galaxies than today. Considering that the number of quiescent galaxies grows with time and that new additions to the population descend from rotationally-supported star-forming galaxies, our results imply that quiescent galaxies must lose angular momentum between $z\sim1$ and the present, presumably through dissipationless merging, and/or that the mechanism that transforms star-forming galaxies also reduces their rotational support.

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arXiv2018

Stellar Populations of over one thousand $z\sim0.8$ Galaxies from LEGA-C: Ages and Star Formation Histories from D$_n$4000 and H$δ$

Drawing from the LEGA-C dataset, we present the spectroscopic view of the stellar population across a large volume- and mass-selected sample of galaxies at large lookback time. We measure the 4000Å break (D$_n$4000) and Balmer absorption line strengths (probed by H$δ$) from 1019 high-quality spectra of $z=0.6 - 1.0$ galaxies with $M_\ast = 2 \times 10^{10} M_\odot - 3 \times 10^{11} M_\odot$. Our analysis serves as a first illustration of the power of high-resolution, high-S/N continuum spectroscopy at intermediate redshifts as a qualitatively new tool to constrain galaxy formation models. The observed D$_n$4000-EW(H$δ$) distribution of our sample overlaps with the distribution traced by present-day galaxies, but $z\sim 0.8$ galaxies populate that locus in a fundamentally different manner. While old galaxies dominate the present-day population at all stellar masses $> 2\times10^{10} M_\odot$, we see a bimodal D$_n$4000-EW(H$δ$) distribution at $z\sim0.8$, implying a bimodal light-weighted age distribution. The light-weighted age depends strongly on stellar mass, with the most massive galaxies $>1\times10^{11}M_\odot$ being almost all older than 2 Gyr. At the same time we estimate that galaxies in this high mass range are only $\sim3$ Gyr younger than their $z\sim0.1$ counterparts, at odd with pure passive evolution given a difference in lookback time of $>5$ Gyr; younger galaxies must grow to $>10^{11}M_\odot$ in the meantime, and/or small amounts of young stars must keep the light-weighted ages young. Star-forming galaxies at $z\sim0.8$ have stronger H$δ$ absorption than present-day galaxies with the same D$_n$4000, implying larger short-term variations in star-formation activity.

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