arXiv subjects

K. Kraljic

Publications and source records attributed to K. Kraljic.

36 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

Radio AGN in nearby dwarf galaxies: the important role of AGN in dwarf-galaxy evolution

We combine deep optical and radio data, from the Hyper Suprime-Cam and the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) respectively, to study 78 radio AGN in nearby (z<0.5) dwarf galaxies. Comparison to a control sample, matched in stellar mass and redshift, indicates that the AGN and controls reside in similar environments, show similar star-formation rates (which trace gas availability) and exhibit a comparable incidence of tidal features (which indicate recent interactions). We explore the AGN properties by combining the predicted gas conditions in dwarfs from a cosmological hydrodynamical simulation with a Monte-Carlo suite of simulated radio sources, based on a semi-analytical model for radio-galaxy evolution. In the subset of LOFAR-detectable simulated sources, which have a similar distribution of radio luminosities as our observed AGN, the median jet powers, ages and accretion rates are $\sim 10^{35}$ W, $\sim 5$ Myr and $\sim 10^{-3.4}$ M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$ respectively. The median mechanical energy output of these sources is $\sim100$ times larger than the median binding energy expected in dwarf gas reservoirs, making AGN feedback plausible. Since special circumstances (in terms of environment, gas availability and interactions) are not necessary for the presence of AGN, and the central gas masses are predicted to be an order of magnitude larger than that required to fuel the AGN, AGN triggering in dwarfs is likely to be stochastic and a common phenomenon. Together with the plausibility of energetic feedback, this suggests that AGN could be important drivers of dwarf-galaxy evolution, as is the case in massive galaxies.

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arXiv2021

Cosmic filaments delay quenching inside clusters

We investigate how large-scale cosmic filaments impact the quenching of galaxies within one virial radius of 324 simulated clusters from The Three Hundred project. We track cosmic filaments with the versatile, observation-friendly program DisPerSE and identify halos hosting galaxies with VELOCIRaptor. We find that cluster galaxies close to filaments tend to be more star-forming, bluer, and contain more cold gas than their counterparts further away from filaments. This effect is recovered at all stellar masses. This is in stark contrast with galaxies residing outside of clusters, where galaxies close to filaments show clear signs of density related pre-processing. We first show that the density contrast of filaments is reduced inside the intra-cluster medium. Moreover, examination of flows around and into cluster galaxies shows that the gas flows in intra-cluster filaments are colder and tend to stream along with galaxies in their midst, partially shielding them from strangulation by the hot, dense intra-cluster medium. This also preserves accretion onto satellites and limit ram pressure.

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arXiv2021

Buckling bars in nearly face-on galaxies observed with MaNGA

Over half of disk galaxies are barred, yet the mechanisms for bar formation and the life-time of bar buckling remain poorly understood. In simulations, a thin bar undergoes a rapid (<1 Gyr) event called "buckling," during which the inner part of the bar is asymmetrically bent out of the galaxy plane and eventually thickens, developing a peanut/X-shaped profile when viewed side-on. Through analyzing stellar kinematics of N-body model snapshots of a galaxy before, during, and after the buckling phase, we confirm a distinct quadrupolar pattern of out-of-plane stellar velocities in nearly face-on galaxies. This kinematic signature of buckling allows us to identify five candidates of currently buckling bars among 434 barred galaxies in the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) Survey, an integral field unit (IFU) spectroscopic survey that measures the composition and kinematic structure of nearby galaxies. The frequency of buckling events detected is consistent with the 0.5-1 Gyr timescale predicted by simulations. The five candidates we present more than double the total number of candidate buckling bars, and are the only ones found using the kinematic signature.

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arXiv2021

Dark-matter-deficient dwarf galaxies form via tidal stripping of dark matter in interactions with massive companions

In the standard Lambda-CDM paradigm, dwarf galaxies are expected to be dark-matter-rich, as baryonic feedback is thought to quickly drive gas out of their shallow potential wells and quench star formation at early epochs. Recent observations of local dwarfs with extremely low dark matter content appear to contradict this picture, potentially bringing the validity of the standard model into question. We use NewHorizon, a high-resolution cosmological simulation, to demonstrate that sustained stripping of dark matter, in tidal interactions between a massive galaxy and a dwarf satellite, naturally produces dwarfs that are dark-matter-deficient, even though their initial dark matter fractions are normal. The process of dark matter stripping is responsible for the large scatter in the halo-to-stellar mass relation in the dwarf regime. The degree of stripping is driven by the closeness of the orbit of the dwarf around its massive companion and, in extreme cases, produces dwarfs with halo-to-stellar mass ratios as low as unity, consistent with the findings of recent observational studies. ~30 per cent of dwarfs show some deviation from normal dark matter fractions due to dark matter stripping, with 10 per cent showing high levels of dark matter deficiency (Mhalo/M*<10). Given their close orbits, a significant fraction of dark-matter-deficient dwarfs merge with their massive companions (e.g. ~70 per cent merge over timescales of ~3.5 Gyrs), with the dark-matter-deficient population being constantly replenished by new interactions between dwarfs and massive companions. The creation of these galaxies is, therefore, a natural by-product of galaxy evolution and their existence is not in tension with the standard paradigm.

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arXiv2021

The origin of low-surface-brightness galaxies in the dwarf regime

Low-surface-brightness galaxies (LSBGs) -- defined as systems that are fainter than the surface-brightness limits of past wide-area surveys -- form the overwhelming majority of galaxies in the dwarf regime (M* < 10^9 MSun). Using NewHorizon, a high-resolution cosmological simulation, we study the origin of LSBGs and explain why LSBGs at similar stellar mass show the large observed spread in surface brightness. New Horizon galaxies populate a well-defined locus in the surface brightness -- stellar mass plane, with a spread of ~3 mag arcsec^-2, in agreement with deep SDSS Stripe data. Galaxies with fainter surface brightnesses today are born in regions of higher dark-matter density. This results in faster gas accretion and more intense star formation at early epochs. The stronger resultant supernova feedback flattens gas profiles at a faster rate which, in turn, creates shallower stellar profiles (i.e. more diffuse systems) more rapidly. As star formation declines towards late epochs (z<1), the larger tidal perturbations and ram pressure experienced by these systems (due to their denser local environments) accelerate the divergence in surface brightness, by increasing their effective radii and reducing star formation respectively. A small minority of dwarfs depart from the main locus towards high surface brightnesses, making them detectable in past wide surveys. These systems have anomalously high star-formation rates, triggered by recent, fly-by or merger-driven starbursts. We note that objects considered extreme/anomalous at the depth of current datasets, e.g. `ultra-diffuse galaxies', actually dominate the predicted dwarf population and will be routinely visible in future surveys like LSST.

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arXiv2020

The role of mergers and interactions in driving the evolution of dwarf galaxies over cosmic time

Dwarf galaxies (M*<10^9 Msun) are key drivers of mass assembly in high mass galaxies, but relatively little is understood about the assembly of dwarf galaxies themselves. Using the \textsc{NewHorizon} cosmological simulation (40 pc spatial resolution), we investigate how mergers and fly-bys drive the mass assembly and structural evolution of around 1000 field and group dwarfs up to z=0.5. We find that, while dwarf galaxies often exhibit disturbed morphologies (5 and 20 per cent are disturbed at z=1 and z=3 respectively), only a small proportion of the morphological disturbances seen in dwarf galaxies are driven by mergers at any redshift (for 10^9 Msun, mergers drive only 20 per cent morphological disturbances). They are instead primarily the result of interactions that do not end in a merger (e.g. fly-bys). Given the large fraction of apparently morphologically disturbed dwarf galaxies which are not, in fact, merging, this finding is particularly important to future studies identifying dwarf mergers and post-mergers morphologically at intermediate and high redshifts. Dwarfs typically undergo one major and one minor merger between z=5 and z=0.5, accounting for 10 per cent of their total stellar mass. Mergers can also drive moderate star formation enhancements at lower redshifts (3 or 4 times at z=1), but this accounts for only a few per cent of stellar mass in the dwarf regime given their infrequency. Non-merger interactions drive significantly smaller star formation enhancements (around two times), but their preponderance relative to mergers means they account for around 10 per cent of stellar mass formed in the dwarf regime.

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arXiv2020

Knocking on giants' doors: I. The evolution of the dust-to-stellar mass ratio in distant dusty galaxies

The dust-to-stellar mass ratio ($M_{\rm dust}$/$M_{\rm \star}$) is a crucial yet poorly constrained quantity to understand the production mechanisms of dust, metals and stars in galaxy evolution. In this work we explore and interpret the nature of $M_{\rm dust}$/$M_{\rm \star}$ in 300 massive ($M_{\star}>10^{10}M_{\odot}$), dusty star-forming galaxies detected with ALMA up to $z\approx5$. We find that $M_{\rm dust}$/$M_{\rm \star}$ evolves with redshift, stellar mass, specific SFR and integrated dust size, differently for main sequence and starburst galaxies. In both galaxy populations $M_{\rm dust}$/$M_{\rm \star}$ rises until $z\sim2$ followed by a roughly flat trend towards higher redshifts. We show that the inverse relation between $M_{\rm dust}$/$M_{\rm \star}$ and $M_{\star}$ holds up to $z\approx5$ and can be interpreted as an evolutionary transition from early to late starburst phases. We demonstrate that $M_{\rm dust}$/$M_{\rm \star}$ in starbursts mirrors the increase in molecular gas fraction with redshift, and is enhanced in objects with the most compact dusty star-formation. The state-of-the-art cosmological simulation SIMBA broadly matches the evolution of $M_{\rm dust}$/$M_{\rm \star}$ in main sequence galaxies, but underestimates it in starbursts. The latter is found to be linked to lower gas-phase metallicities and longer dust growth timescales relative to data. Our data are well reproduced by analytical model that includes recipes for rapid metal enrichment, strongly suggesting that high $M_{\rm dust}$/$M_{\rm \star}$ is due to fast grain growth in metal enriched ISM. Our work highlights multifold benefits of using $M_{\rm dust}$/$M_{\rm \star}$ as a diagnostic tool for: (1) separating main sequence and starburst galaxies until $z\sim5$; (2) probing the evolutionary phases of dusty galaxies, and (3) refining the treatment of dust life cycle in simulations.

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arXiv2020

PhotoWeb redshift: boosting photometric redshift accuracy with large spectroscopic surveys

Improving distance measurements in large imaging surveys is a major challenge to better reveal the distribution of galaxies on a large scale and to link galaxy properties with their environments. Photometric redshifts can be efficiently combined with the cosmic web (CW) extracted from overlapping spectroscopic surveys to improve their accuracy. We apply a similar method using a new generation of photometric redshifts based on a convolution neural network (CNN). The CNN is trained on the SDSS images with the main galaxy sample (SDSS-MGS, $r \leq 17.8$) and the GAMA spectroscopic redshifts up tor $\sim 19.8$. The mapping of the CW is obtained with 680,000 spectroscopic redshifts from the MGS and BOSS surveys. The redshift probability distribution functions (PDF), which are well calibrated (unbiased and narrow, $\leq 120$ Mpc), intercept a few CW structure along the line of sight. Combining these PDFs with the density field distribution provides new photometric redshifts, $z_{web}$, whose accuracy is improved by a factor of two (i.e.,$σ \sim 0.004(1+z)$) for galaxies with $r \leq 17.8$. For half of them, the distance accuracy is better than 10 cMpc. The narrower the original PDF, the larger the boost in accuracy. No gain is observed for original PDFs wider than 0.03. The final $z_{web}$ PDFs also appear well calibrated. The method performs slightly better for passive galaxies than star-forming ones, and for galaxies in massive groups since these populations better trace the underlying large-scale structure. Reducing the spectroscopic sampling by a factor of 8 still improves the photometric redshift accuracy by 25%. Extending the method to galaxies fainter than the MGS limit still improves the redshift estimates for 70% of the galaxies, with a gain in accuracy of 20% at low $z$ where the resolution of the CW is the highest.

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arXiv2019

Redistribution of Stars and Gas in the Star Formation Deserts of Barred Galaxies

Bars strongly influence the distribution of gas and stars within the central regions of their host galaxies. This is particularly pronounced in the star formation desert (SFD) which is defined as two symmetrical regions either side of the bar that show a deficit in young stars. Previous studies proposed that, if star formation is truncated because of the influence of the bar, then the age distribution of stars within the SFD could be used to determine the epoch of bar formation. To test this, we study the properties of SFDs in 6 galaxies from zoom-in cosmological re-simulations. Age maps reveal old regions on both sides of the bars, with a lack of stars younger than 10 Myr, confirming the SFD phenomenon. Local star formation is truncated in the SFDs because after the bar forms, gas in these regions is removed on 1 Gyr timescales. However, the overall age distribution of stars in the SFD does not show a sharp truncation after bar formation but rather a gradual downturn in comparison to that of the bar. This more subtle signature may still give information on bar formation epochs in observed galaxies, but the interpretation will be more difficult than originally hoped. The gradual drop in the SFD age distribution, instead of a truncation, is due to radial migration of stars born in the disk. The SFD is thus one of the only regions where an uncontaminated sample of stars only affected by radial migration can be studied.

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arXiv2019

Group connectivity in COSMOS: a tracer of mass assembly history

Cosmic filaments are the channel through which galaxy groups assemble their mass. Cosmic connectivity, namely the number of filaments connected to a given group, is therefore expected to be an important ingredient in shaping group properties. The local connectivity is measured in COSMOS around X-Ray detected groups between redshift 0.5 and 1.2. To this end, large-scale filaments are extracted using the accurate photometric redshifts of the COSMOS2015 catalogue in two-dimensional slices of thickness 120 comoving Mpc centred on the group's redshift. The link between connectivity, group mass and the properties of the brightest group galaxy (BGG) is investigated. The same measurement is carried out on mocks extracted from the lightcone of the hydrodynamical simulation Horizon-AGN in order to control systematics. More massive groups are on average more connected. At fixed group mass in low-mass groups, BGG mass is slightly enhanced at high connectivity, while in high mass groups BGG mass is lower at higher connectivity. Groups with a star-forming BGG have on average a lower connectivity at given mass. From the analysis of the Horizon-AGN simulation, we postulate that different connectivities trace different paths of group mass assembly: at high group mass, groups with higher connectivity are more likely to have grown through a recent major merger, which might be in turn the reason for the quenching of the BGG. Future large-field photometric surveys, such as Euclid and LSST, will be able to confirm and extend these results by probing a wider mass range and a larger variety of environment.

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arXiv2018

Galaxies flowing in the oriented saddle frame of the cosmic web

The strikingly anisotropic large-scale distribution of matter made of an extended network of voids delimited by sheets, themselves segmented by filaments, within which matter flows towards compact nodes where they intersect, imprints its geometry on the dynamics of cosmic flows, ultimately shaping the distribution of galaxies and the redshift evolution of their properties. The (filament-type) saddle points of this cosmic web provide a local frame in which to quantify the induced physical and morphological evolution of galaxies on large scales. The properties of virtual galaxies within the Horizon-AGN simulation are stacked in such a frame. The iso-contours of the galactic number density, mass, specific star formation rate (sSFR), kinematics and age are clearly aligned with the filament axis with steep gradients perpendicular to the filaments. A comparison to a simulation without feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGN) illustrates its impact on quenching star formation of centrals away from the saddles. The redshift evolution of the properties of galaxies and their age distribution are consistent with the geometry of the bulk flow within that frame. They compare well with expectations from constrained Gaussian random fields and the scaling with the mass of non-linearity, modulo the redshift dependent impact of feedback processes. Physical properties such as sSFR and kinematics seem not to depend only on mean halo mass and density: the residuals trace the geometry of the saddle, which could point to other environment-sensitive physical processes, such as spin advection, and AGN feedback at high mass.

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arXiv2018

Group quenching and galactic conformity at low redshift

We quantify the quenching impact of the group environment using the spectroscopic survey Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) to z=0.2. The fraction of red (quiescent) galaxies, whether in groups or isolated, increases with both stellar mass and large-scale (5 Mpc) density. At fixed stellar mass, the red fraction is on average higher for satellites of red centrals than of blue (star-forming) centrals, a galactic conformity effect that increases with density. Most of the signal originates from groups that have the highest stellar mass, reside in the densest environments, and have massive, red only centrals. Assuming a color-dependent halo-to-stellar-mass ratio, whereby red central galaxies inhabit significantly more massive halos than blue ones of the same stellar mass, two regimes emerge more distinctly: at log(Mhalo/Msol) < 13, central quenching is still ongoing, conformity is no longer existent, and satellites and group centrals exhibit the same quenching excess over field galaxies at all mass and density, in agreement with the concept of "group quenching"; at log(Mhalo/Msol) > 13, a cutoff that sets apart massive (log(M*/Msol) > 11), fully quenched group centrals, conformity is meaningless, and satellites undergo significantly more quenching than their counterparts in smaller halos. The latter effect strongly increases with density, giving rise to the density-dependent conformity signal when both regimes are mixed. The star-formation of blue satellites in massive halos is also suppressed compared to blue field galaxies, while blue group centrals and the majority of blue satellites, which reside in low mass halos, show no deviation from the color-stellar mass relation of blue field galaxies.

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arXiv2017

Galaxy evolution in the metric of the Cosmic Web

The role of the cosmic web in shaping galaxy properties is investigated in the GAMA spectroscopic survey in the redshift range $0.03 \leq z \leq 0.25$. The stellar mass, $u - r$ dust corrected colour and specific star formation rate (sSFR) of galaxies are analysed as a function of their distances to the 3D cosmic web features, such as nodes, filaments and walls, as reconstructed by DisPerSE. Significant mass and type/colour gradients are found for the whole population, with more massive and/or passive galaxies being located closer to the filament and wall than their less massive and/or star-forming counterparts. Mass segregation persists among the star-forming population alone. The red fraction of galaxies increases when closing in on nodes, and on filaments regardless of the distance to nodes. Similarly, the star-forming population reddens (or lowers its sSFR) at fixed mass when closing in on filament, implying that some quenching takes place. Comparable trends are also found in the state-of-the-art hydrodynamical simulation Horizon-AGN. These results suggest that on top of stellar mass and large-scale density, the traceless component of the tides from the anisotropic large-scale environment also shapes galactic properties. An extension of excursion theory accounting for filamentary tides provides a qualitative explanation in terms of anisotropic assembly bias: at a given mass, the accretion rate varies with the orientation and distance to filaments. It also explains the absence of type/colour gradients in the data on smaller, non-linear scales.

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arXiv2017

Morphology and enhanced star formation in a Cartwheel-like ring galaxy

We use hydrodynamical simulations of a Cartwheel-like ring galaxy, modelled as a nearly head-on collision of a small companion with a larger disc galaxy, to probe the evolution of the gaseous structures and flows, and to explore the physical conditions setting the star formation activity. Star formation is first quenched by tides as the companion approaches, before being enhanced shortly after the collision. The ring ploughs the disc material as it radially extends, and almost simultaneously depletes its stellar and gaseous reservoir into the central region, through the spokes, and finally dissolve 200 Myr after the collision. Most of star formation first occurs in the ring before this activity is transferred to the spokes and then the nucleus. We thus propose that the location of star formation traces the dynamical stage of ring galaxies, and could help constrain their star formation histories. The ring hosts tidal compression associated with strong turbulence. This compression yields an azimuthal asymmetry, with maxima reached in the side furthest away from the nucleus, which matches the star formation activity distribution in our models and in observed ring systems. The interaction triggers the formation of star clusters significantly more massive than before the collision, but less numerous than in more classical galaxy interactions. The peculiar geometry of Cartwheel-like objects thus yields a star (cluster) formation activity comparable to other interacting objects, but with notable second order differences in the nature of turbulence, the enhancement of the star formation rate, and the number of massive clusters formed.

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arXiv2017

How does the cosmic web impact assembly bias?

The mass, accretion rate and formation time of dark matter haloes near proto-filaments (identified as saddle points of the potential) are analytically predicted using a conditional version of the excursion set approach in its so-called "upcrossing" approximation. The model predicts that at fixed mass, mass accretion rate and formation time vary with orientation and distance from the saddle, demonstrating that assembly bias is indeed influenced by the tides imposed by the cosmic web. Starved, early forming haloes of smaller mass lie preferentially along the main axis of filaments, while more massive and younger haloes are found closer to the nodes. Distinct gradients for distinct tracers such as typical mass and accretion rate occur because the saddle condition is anisotropic, and because the statistics of these observables depend on both the conditional means and their covariances. The theory is extended to other critical points of the potential field. The response of the mass function to variations of the matter density field (the so-called large scale bias) is computed, and its trend with accretion rate is shown to invert along the filament. The signature of this model should correspond at low redshift to an excess of reddened galactic hosts at fixed mass along preferred directions, as recently reported in spectroscopic and photometric surveys and in hydrodynamical simulations. The anisotropy of the cosmic web emerges therefore as a significant ingredient to describe jointly the dynamics and physics of galaxies, e.g. in the context of intrinsic alignments or morphological diversity.

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arXiv2016

The VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey (VIPERS): Galaxy segregation inside filaments at $z \simeq 0.7$

We present the first quantitative detection of large-scale filamentary structure at $z \simeq 0.7$ in the large cosmological volume probed by the VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey (VIPERS). We use simulations to show the capability of VIPERS to recover robust topological features in the galaxy distribution, in particular the filamentary network. We then investigate how galaxies with different stellar masses and stellar activities are distributed around the filaments and find a significant segregation, with the most massive or quiescent galaxies being closer to the filament axis than less massive or active galaxies. The signal persists even after down-weighting the contribution of peak regions. Our results suggest that massive and quiescent galaxies assemble their stellar mass through successive mergers during their migration along filaments towards the nodes of the cosmic web. On the other hand, low-mass star-forming galaxies prefer the outer edge of filaments, a vorticity rich region dominated by smooth accretion, as predicted by the recent spin alignment theory. This emphasizes the role of large scale cosmic flows in shaping galaxy properties.

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arXiv2015

Environmental regulation of cloud and star formation in galactic bars

The strong time-dependence of the dynamics of galactic bars yields a complex and rapidly evolving distribution of dense gas and star forming regions. Although bars mainly host regions void of any star formation activity, their extremities can gather the physical conditions for the formation of molecular complexes and mini-starbursts. Using a sub-parsec resolution hydrodynamical simulation of a Milky Way-like galaxy, we probe these conditions to explore how and where bar (hydro-)dynamics favours the formation or destruction of molecular clouds and stars. The interplay between the kpc-scale dynamics (gas flows, shear) and the parsec-scale (turbulence) is key to this problem. We find a strong dichotomy between the leading and trailing sides of the bar, in term of cloud fragmentation and in the age distribution of the young stars. After orbiting along the bar edge, these young structures slow down at the extremities of the bar, where orbital crowding increases the probability of cloud-cloud collision. We find that such events increase the Mach number of the cloud, leading to an enhanced star formation efficiency and finally the formation of massive stellar associations, in a fashion similar to galaxy-galaxy interactions. We highlight the role of bar dynamics in decoupling young stars from the clouds in which they form, and discuss the implications on the injection of feedback into the interstellar medium, in particular in the context of galaxy formation.

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arXiv2013

A sub-parsec resolution simulation of the Milky Way: Global structure of the ISM and properties of molecular clouds

We present a self-consistent hydrodynamical simulation of a Milky Way-like galaxy, at the resolution of 0.05 pc. The model includes star formation and a new implementation of stellar feedback through photo-ionization, radiative pressure and supernovae. The simulation resolves the structure of the interstellar medium at subparsec resolution for a few cloud lifetimes, and at 0.05 pc for about a cloud crossing time. Turbulence cascade and gravitation from the kpc scales are de facto included in smaller structures like molecular clouds. We show that the formation of a bar influences the dynamics of the central ~100 pc by creating resonances. At larger radii, the spiral arms host the formation of regularly spaced clouds: beads on a string and spurs. These instabilities pump turbulent energy into the gas, generally in the supersonic regime. Because of asymmetric drift, the supernovae explode outside of their gaseous nursery, which diminishes the effect of feedback on the structure of clouds. The evolution of clouds is thus mostly due to fragmentation and gas consumption, regulated mainly by supersonic turbulence. The transition from turbulence supported to self-gravitating gas is detected in the gas density probability distribution function at ~2000 cm^-3. The power spectrum density suggests that gravitation governs the hierarchical organisation of structures from the galactic scale down to a few parsecs.

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