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Katrina Litke

Publications and source records attributed to Katrina Litke.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Megaparsec-scale structure around the proto-cluster core SPT2349$-$56 at $z\,{=}\,4.3$

We present an extensive ALMA spectroscopic follow-up programme of the $z\,{=}\,4.3$ structure SPT2349$-$56, one of the most actively star-forming proto-cluster cores known, to identify additional members using their [C{\sc ii}] 158\,$μ$m and \mbox{CO(4--3)} lines. In addition to robustly detecting the 14 previously published galaxies in this structure, we identify a further 15 associated galaxies at $z\,{=}\,4.3$, resolving 55$\,{\pm}\,$5\,per cent of the 870-$μ$m flux density at 0.5\,arcsec resolution compared to 21\,arcsec single-dish data. These galaxies are distributed into a central core containing 23 galaxies extending out to 300\,kpc in diameter, and a northern extension, offset from the core by 400\,kpc, containing three galaxies. We discovered three additional galaxies in a red {\it Herschel\/}-SPIRE source 1.5\,Mpc from the main structure, suggesting the existence of many other sources at the same redshift as SPT2349$-$56 that are not yet detected in the limited coverage of our data. An analysis of the velocity distribution of the central galaxies indicates that this region may be virialized with a mass of (9$\pm$5)$\,{\times}\,$10$^{12}$\,M$_{\odot}$, while the two offset galaxy groups are about 30 and 60\,per cent less massive and show significant velocity offsets from the central group. We calculate the [C{\sc ii}] and far-infrared number counts, and find evidence for a break in the [C{\sc ii}] luminosity function. We estimate the average SFR density within the region of SPT2349$-$56 containing single-dish emission (a proper diametre of 720\,kpc), assuming spherical symmetry, to be roughly 4$\,{\times}\,10^4$\,M$_{\odot}$\,yr$^{-1}$\,Mpc$^{-3}$; this may be an order of magnitude greater than the most extreme examples seen in simulations.

astro-ph.GA

Imaging the Molecular Interstellar Medium in a Gravitationally Lensed Star-forming Galaxy at z=5.7

Aims: We present and study spatially resolved imaging obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) of multiple $^{12}$CO($J=$6$-$5, 8$-$7 and 9$-$8) and two H$_2$O(2$_{02}-$1$_{11}$ and 2$_{11}-$2$_{02}$) emission lines and cold dust continuum toward the gravitationally lensed dusty star forming galaxy SPT0346-52 at z=$5.656$. Methods: Using a visibility-domain source-plane reconstruction we probe the structure and dynamics of the different components of the interstellar medium (ISM) in this galaxy down to scales of 1 kpc in the source plane. Results: Measurements of the intrinsic sizes of the different CO emission lines indicate that the higher J transitions trace more compact regions in the galaxy. Similarly, we find smaller dust continuum intrinsic sizes with decreasing wavelength, based on observations at rest-frame 130, 300 and 450$μ$m. The source shows significant velocity structure, and clear asymmetry where an elongated structure is observed in the source plane with significant variations in their reconstructed sizes. This could be attributed to a compact merger or turbulent disk rotation. The differences in velocity structure through the different line tracers, however, hint at the former scenario in agreement with previous [CII] line imaging results. Measurements of the CO line ratios and magnifications yield significant variations as a function of velocity, suggesting that modeling of the ISM using integrated values could be misinterpreted. Modeling of the ISM in SPT0346-52 based on delensed fluxes indicate a highly dense and warm medium, qualitatively similar to that observed in high redshift quasar hosts.

astro-ph.GA

ALMA Imaging and Gravitational Lens Models of South Pole Telescope-Selected Dusty, Star-Forming Galaxies at High Redshifts

The South Pole Telescope has discovered one hundred gravitationally lensed, high-redshift, dusty, star-forming galaxies (DSFGs). We present 0.5" resolution 870um Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array imaging of a sample of 47 DSFGs spanning z=1.9-5.7, and construct gravitational lens models of these sources. Our visibility-based lens modeling incorporates several sources of residual interferometric calibration uncertainty, allowing us to properly account for noise in the observations. At least 70% of the sources are strongly lensed by foreground galaxies (mu_870um > 2), with a median magnification mu_870um = 6.3, extending to mu_870um > 30. We compare the intrinsic size distribution of the strongly lensed sources to a similar number of unlensed DSFGs and find no significant differences in spite of a bias between the magnification and intrinsic source size. This may indicate that the true size distribution of DSFGs is relatively narrow. We use the source sizes to constrain the wavelength at which the dust optical depth is unity and find this wavelength to be correlated with the dust temperature. This correlation leads to discrepancies in dust mass estimates of a factor of 2 compared to estimates using a single value for this wavelength. We investigate the relationship between the [CII] line and the far-infrared luminosity and find that the same correlation between the [CII]L_FIR ratio and Sigma_FIR found for low-redshift star-forming galaxies applies to high-redshift galaxies and extends at least two orders of magnitude higher in Sigma_FIR. This lends further credence to the claim that the compactness of the IR-emitting region is the controlling parameter in establishing the "[CII] deficit."

astro-ph.GA