SearcharxivSearch

arXiv subjects

Kevin Pimbblet

Publications and source records attributed to Kevin Pimbblet.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

$\texttt{SPINE}$: Symbolic Models to Predict the Evolution of the $\Lambda$CDM Nonlinear Power Spectrum

We present $\texttt{SPINE}$ and $\texttt{SPINEX}$, a pair of analytical emulators developed to predict the nonlinear power spectrum based on its linear counterpart and several essential cosmological parameters within the range of $0.01\;h\;\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1} <k< 2\;h\;\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1} $. The primary difference between the two models is their parameterisation. Our methodology is grounded in the mapping originally proposed by Peacock and Dodds (1996). Both models are defined by clear mathematical expressions derived from symbolic regression, a machine learning technique that utilises genetic programming to identify analytical equations that accurately represent the underlying data. This approach provides a more interpretable and efficient alternative to conventional numerical methods that should also exhibit superior extrapolation behaviour beyond the training range. The emulators have been trained on the $\Lambda$CDM Quijote Latin Hypercube simulations. We provide fits for both emulators across three distinct scenarios: cosmologies within 20$\sigma$ of the Planck-2018 observations, a designated fiducial cosmology, and a broader range of cosmologies sampled from the Quijote simulations. Our findings indicate that $\texttt{SPINE}$ and $\texttt{SPINEX}$ maintain an accuracy of better than 5% in the majority of cases. These emulators provide a rapid alternative to numerical methods, and future initiatives will focus on developing expressions that incorporate galaxy bias and redshift-space distortions. This advancement aims to enhance the modelling of redshift space power spectra across multiple redshifts, enabling their application in large-scale cosmological surveys.

astro-ph.CO

Extended Structure in E+A Galaxies Via Image Stacking

Small-scale interactions such as minor mergers, flybys and harassment are considered common driving mechanisms that can both initiate and quench star-forming processes within post-starburst (PSB) galaxies. PSBs have been linked to disturbed morphologies and faint tidal features in numerous works. We aim to independently study these features in E+A galaxies found in the Galaxy and Mass Assembly Fourth Data Release (GAMA DR4). Using image stacking techniques, we derive the averaged radial surface brightness profiles of E+A image stacks alongside the S\'ersic parameters that best fit these profiles. These E+A stacks consist of 57 images extracted from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) in g, r & i bands. The E+A stacks are shown to have brighter extended regions than similar non-PSB galaxies, which is indicative of faint tidal features that could be caused by small-scale interactions. Additionally, we make use of Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Legacy Survey imaging, which is deeper than SDSS, to further support our conclusions and find that the Legacy Survey images independently strengthen the evidence for excess light at extended radii relative to the comparison samples. We discuss these findings in the context of future surveys such as the Vera C. Rubin Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) survey.

astro-ph.GA

SARS: A Novel Face and Body Shape and Appearance Aware 3D Reconstruction System extends Morphable Models

Morphable Models (3DMMs) are a type of morphable model that takes 2D images as inputs and recreates the structure and physical appearance of 3D objects, especially human faces and bodies. 3DMM combines identity and expression blendshapes with a basic face mesh to create a detailed 3D model. The variability in the 3D Morphable models can be controlled by tuning diverse parameters. They are high-level image descriptors, such as shape, texture, illumination, and camera parameters. Previous research in 3D human reconstruction concentrated solely on global face structure or geometry, ignoring face semantic features such as age, gender, and facial landmarks characterizing facial boundaries, curves, dips, and wrinkles. In order to accommodate changes in these high-level facial characteristics, this work introduces a shape and appearance-aware 3D reconstruction system (named SARS by us), a c modular pipeline that extracts body and face information from a single image to properly rebuild the 3D model of the human full body.

cs.CV

Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA): The Properties of Quasar Host Galaxies: Star Formation Histories and Stellar Populations

We investigated the star formation history and stellar populations of a sample of 205 Type I quasar host galaxies (0.1$<$z$<$0.35) and compared with normal (non-active) galaxies of the same mass and redshift within the volume of the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) redshift survey. We find that quasar host galaxies tend to be star-forming galaxies ($\sim$ 80%) lying on the star-forming MS; the fraction of quasar host galaxies that are quiescent ($\sim$ 20%) is lower than the fraction of quiescent galaxies in the comparison sample of normal galaxies (54%). We find that the mean star formation rate of quasar host galaxies has increased over the past 100 Myr by a factor of 2--3, but these galaxies were star-forming at all times previously. Our data are more consistent with quasar activity originating together with an increase in the star formation rate of otherwise normal galaxies, similar to episodic star formation in normal spirals. We argue that this indicates that secular processes and minor mergers may be the favored triggers of nuclear activity in the local Universe.

astro-ph.GA

Identification of Anomalous E+A Galaxies in GAMA Using an Isolation Forest

We implement an outlier detection model, an Isolation Foest (iForest), to uncover anomalous objects in the Galaxy and Mass Assembly Fourth Data Release (GAMA DR4). The iForest algorithm is an unsupervise Machine Learning (ML) technique. The data used is the spectroscopic and photometric data from GAMA DR4, which compiless information for over 300000 objects. We select two samples of galaxies to isolate, high signal-to-noise galaxies, to analyse the iForest's robustness, and E+A galaxies, to study the extremes of their population. This results in six-subsamples of spectroscopic, photometric and combined data isolations, finding 101 anomalous objects, half of which have not been identified as outliers in other works. We also find a number of fringing errors and false emission lines, displaying the iForest's potential in detecting these errors. Finding anomalous E+A galaxies, that although selected in a normal manner, using low [OII] and strong H{\delta} absorption, are still star-forming, with strong H{\alpha} emission. We propose two solutions to why these E+A galaxies are still star-forming but also question if these galaxies can be truly classified as E+A galaxies. We suggest that small-scale interactions on the galaxies causes small star bursts. The radiative pressure when forming high mass stars form expels the accreting material quicker than it can be accreted. We also suggest that the Jeans limit in our anomalous E+A galaxies is so low that it is simply not possible to form O and B class stars, but not low enough to fully prevent star-formation.

astro-ph.GA

The Loneliest Galaxies in the Universe: A GAMA and GalaxyZoo Study on Void Galaxy Morphology

The large-scale structure (LSS) of the Universe is comprised of galaxy filaments, tendrils, and voids. The majority of the Universe's volume is taken up by these voids, which exist as underdense, but not empty, regions. The galaxies found inside these voids are expected to be some of the most isolated objects in the Universe. This study, using the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) and Galaxy Zoo surveys, aims to investigate basic physical properties and morphology of void galaxies versus field (filament and tendril) galaxies. We use void galaxies with stellar masses of $9.35 < log(M/M_\odot) < 11.25$, and this sample is split by identifying two redshift-limited regions, 0 < z < 0.075, and, $0.075 < z < 0.15$. To find comparable objects in the sample of field galaxies from GAMA and Galaxy Zoo, we identify "twins" of void galaxies as field galaxies within $\pm$0.05 dex and $\pm$0.15 dex of M and specific star formation rate. We determine the statistical significance of our results using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) test. We see that void galaxies, in contrast with field galaxies, seem to be disk-dominated and have predominantly round bulges (with > 50 percent of the Galaxy Zoo citizen scientists agreeing that bulges are present).

astro-ph.GA

Merger Histories and Environments of Dwarf AGN in IllustrisTNG

The relationship between active galactic nuclei activity and environment has been long discussed, but it is unclear if these relations extend into the dwarf galaxy mass regime -- in part due to the limits in both observations and simulations. We aim to investigate if the merger histories and environments are significantly different between AGN and non-AGN dwarf galaxies in cosmological simulations, which may be indicative of the importance of these for AGN activity in dwarf galaxies, and whether these results are in line with observations. Using the IllustrisTNG flagship TNG100-1 run, 6\,771 dwarf galaxies are found with 3\,863 ($\sim$57 per cent) having some level of AGN activity. In order to quantify `environment', two measures are used: 1) the distance to a galaxy's 10th nearest neighbour at 6 redshifts and 2) the time since last merger for three different minimum merger mass ratios. A similar analysis is run on TNG50-1 and Illustris-1 to test for the robustness of the findings. Both measures yield significantly different distributions between AGN and non-AGN galaxies; more non-AGN than AGN galaxies have long term residence in dense environments while recent ($\leq 4 \text{ Gyr}$) minor mergers are more common for intermediate AGN activity. While no statements are made about the micro- or macrophysics from these results, it is nevertheless indicative of a non-neglible role of mergers and environments.

astro-ph.GA

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) Survey: The Merging Potential of Brightest Group Galaxies

Using a volume-limited sample of 550 groups from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) Galaxy Group Catalogue spanning the halo mass range $12.8 < \log [M_{h}/M] < 14.2$, we investigate the merging potential of central Brightest Group Galaxies (BGGs). We use spectroscopically-confirmed close-companion galaxies as an indication of the potential stellar mass build-up of low-redshift BGGs, $z \leq 0.2$. We identify 17 close-companion galaxies with projected separations $r_{p} < 30$ kpc, relative velocities $\Delta v \leq 300$ km s$^{-1}$, and stellar-mass ratios $M_{BGG}/M_{CC} \leq 4$ relative to the BGG. These close-companion galaxies yield a total pair fraction of $0.03 \pm 0.01$. Overall, we find that BGGs in our sample have the potential to grow in stellar mass due to mergers by $2.2 \pm 1.5\%$ Gyr$^{-1}$. This is lower than the stellar mass growth predicted by current galaxy evolution models.

astro-ph.GA

Environments of dwarf galaxies with optical AGN characteristics

This study aims to explore the relation between dwarf galaxies ($M_* \leq 5\times10^9 M_\odot$) with AGNs and their environment by comparing neighbourhood parameters of AGN and non-AGN samples. Using the NASA-Sloan Atlas, both the local environment and the immediate environment of dwarf galaxies with $z \leq 0.055$ are analysed. Of the 145,155 galaxies in the catalogue, 62,258 of them are classified as dwarf galaxies, and by employing two AGN selection methods based on emission line fluxes (BPT and WHAN), 4,476 are found to have AGN characteristics in their optical spectra. Regardless of selection method, this study finds no discernible differences in environment between AGN and non-AGN host dwarf galaxies and these results indicate that environment is not an important factor in triggering AGN activity in dwarf galaxies. This is in line with existing literature on environments of regular galaxies with AGNs and suggests universality in terms of reaction to environment across the mass regime. The biases of AGN selection in low-mass galaxies, and the biases of different measures of environment are also considered. It is found that there are several mass-trends in emission line ratios and that the SDSS fiber covers galaxies non-uniformly with redshift. These biases should be accounted for in future work by possibly including other wavelength regimes or mass-weighting of emission line ratios. Lastly, a discussion of the environment estimation methods is included since they may not gauge the desired properties due to factors such as time delay or using loosely constrained proxy parameters.

astro-ph.GA

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): Properties and evolution of red spiral galaxies

We use multi-wavelength data from the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey to explore the cause of red optical colours in nearby (0.002 = 47% of all spirals in our sample. Furthermore, for a small subsample of our spiral galaxies which are detected in HI, we find that the SFR of gas-rich red spiral galaxies is lower by ~1 dex than their blue counterparts.

astro-ph.GA

The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey: Final Data Release and the Metallicity of UV-Luminous Galaxies

The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey measured the redshifts of over 200,000 UV-selected (NUV<22.8 mag) galaxies on the Anglo-Australian Telescope. The survey detected the baryon acoustic oscillation signal in the large scale distribution of galaxies over the redshift range 0.2<z<1.0, confirming the acceleration of the expansion of the Universe and measuring the rate of structure growth within it. Here we present the final data release of the survey: a catalogue of 225415 galaxies and individual files of the galaxy spectra. We analyse the emission-line properties of these UV-luminous Lyman-break galaxies by stacking the spectra in bins of luminosity, redshift, and stellar mass. The most luminous (-25 mag < MFUV <-22 mag) galaxies have very broad H-beta emission from active nuclei, as well as a broad second component to the [OIII] (495.9 nm, 500.7 nm) doublet lines that is blue shifted by 100 km/s, indicating the presence of gas outflows in these galaxies. The composite spectra allow us to detect and measure the temperature-sensitive [OIII] (436.3 nm) line and obtain metallicities using the direct method. The metallicities of intermediate stellar mass (8.8<log(M*/Msun)<10) WiggleZ galaxies are consistent with normal emission-line galaxies at the same masses. In contrast, the metallicities of high stellar mass (10<log(M*/Msun)<12) WiggleZ galaxies are significantly lower than for normal emission-line galaxies at the same masses. This is not an effect of evolution as the metallicities do not vary with redshift; it is most likely a property specific to the extremely UV-luminous WiggleZ galaxies.

astro-ph.GA

Evolution of the Stellar Mass Function and Infrared Luminosity Function of Galaxies since $z = 1.2$

We measured evolution of the $K$-band luminosity function and stellar mass function for red and blue galaxies at $z<1.2$ using a sample of 353 594 $I<24$ galaxies in 8.26 square degrees of Boötes. We addressed several sources of systematic and random error in measurements of total galaxy light, photometric redshift and absolute magnitude. We have found that the $K$-band luminosity density for both red and blue galaxies increased by a factor of 1.2 from $z\sim1.1$ to $z\sim0.3$, while the most luminous red (blue) galaxies decreased in luminosity by 0.19 (0.33) mag or $\times0.83 (0.74)$. These results are consistent with $z<0.2$ studies while our large sample size and area result in smaller Poisson and cosmic variance uncertainties than most $z >0.4$ luminosity and mass function measurements. Using an evolving relation for $K$-band mass to light ratios as a function of $(B-V)$ color, we found a slowly decreasing rate of growth in red galaxy stellar mass density of $\times2.3$ from $z\sim1.1$ to $z\sim0.3$, indicating a slowly decreasing rate of migration from the blue cloud to the red sequence. Unlike some studies of the stellar mass function, we find that massive red galaxies grow by a factor of $\times1.7$ from $z\sim1.1$ to $z\sim0.3$, with the rate of growth due to mergers decreasing with time. These results are comparable with measurements of merger rates and clustering, and they are also consistent with the red galaxy stellar mass growth implied by comparing $K$-band luminosity evolution with the fading of passive stellar population models.

astro-ph.GA

The Taipan Galaxy Survey: Scientific Goals and Observing Strategy

Taipan is a multi-object spectroscopic galaxy survey starting in 2017 that will cover 2pi steradians over the southern sky, and obtain optical spectra for about two million galaxies out to z<0.4. Taipan will use the newly-refurbished 1.2m UK Schmidt Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory with the new TAIPAN instrument, which includes an innovative 'Starbugs' positioning system capable of rapidly and simultaneously deploying up to 150 spectroscopic fibres (and up to 300 with a proposed upgrade) over the 6-deg diameter focal plane, and a purpose-built spectrograph operating from 370 to 870nm with resolving power R>2000. The main scientific goals of Taipan are: (i) to measure the distance scale of the Universe (primarily governed by the local expansion rate, H_0) to 1% precision, and the structure growth rate of structure to 5%; (ii) to make the most extensive map yet constructed of the mass distribution and motions in the local Universe, using peculiar velocities based on improved Fundamental Plane distances, which will enable sensitive tests of gravitational physics; and (iii) to deliver a legacy sample of low-redshift galaxies as a unique laboratory for studying galaxy evolution as a function of mass and environment. The final survey, which will be completed within 5 years, will consist of a complete magnitude-limited sample (i<17) of about 1.2x10^6 galaxies, supplemented by an extension to higher redshifts and fainter magnitudes (i<18.1) of a luminous red galaxy sample of about 0.8x10^6 galaxies. Observations and data processing will be carried out remotely and in a fully-automated way, using a purpose-built automated 'virtual observer' software and an automated data reduction pipeline. The Taipan survey is deliberately designed to maximise its legacy value, by complementing and enhancing current and planned surveys of the southern sky at wavelengths from the optical to the radio.

astro-ph.GA

Multiple Mechanisms Quench Passive Spiral Galaxies

We examine the properties of a sample of 35 nearby passive spiral galaxies in order to determine their dominant quenching mechanism(s). All five low mass ($\textrm{M}_{\star} < 1 \times 10^{10} \textrm{M}_{\odot}$) passive spiral galaxies are located in the rich Virgo cluster. This is in contrast to low mass spiral galaxies with star formation, which inhabit a range of environments. We postulate that cluster-scale gas stripping and heating mechanisms operating only in rich clusters are required to quench low mass passive spirals, and ram-pressure stripping and strangulation are obvious candidates. For higher mass passive spirals, while trends are present, the story is less clear. The passive spiral bar fraction is high: 74$\pm$15%, compared with 36$\pm$5% for a mass, redshift, and T-type matched comparison sample of star forming spiral galaxies. The high mass passive spirals occur mostly, but not exclusively, in groups, and can be central or satellite galaxies. The passive spiral group fraction of 74$\pm$15% is similar to that of the comparison sample of star forming galaxies at 61$\pm$7%. We find evidence for both quenching via internal structure and environment in our passive spiral sample, though some galaxies have evidence of neither. From this, we conclude no one mechanism is responsible for quenching star formation in passive spiral galaxies - rather, a mixture of mechanisms are required to produce the passive spiral distribution we see today.

astro-ph.GA

GAMA/G10-COSMOS/3D-HST: The 0<z<5 cosmic star-formation history, stellar- and dust-mass densities

We use the energy-balance code MAGPHYS to determine stellar and dust masses, and dust corrected star-formation rates for over 200,000 GAMA galaxies, 170,000 G10-COSMOS galaxies and 200,000 3D-HST galaxies. Our values agree well with previously reported measurements and constitute a representative and homogeneous dataset spanning a broad range in stellar mass (10^8---10^12 Msol), dust mass (10^6---10^9 Msol), and star-formation rates (0.01---100 Msol per yr), and over a broad redshift range (0.0 < z < 5.0). We combine these data to measure the cosmic star-formation history (CSFH), the stellar-mass density (SMD), and the dust-mass density (DMD) over a 12 Gyr timeline. The data mostly agree with previous estimates, where they exist, and provide a quasi-homogeneous dataset using consistent mass and star-formation estimators with consistent underlying assumptions over the full time range. As a consequence our formal errors are significantly reduced when compared to the historic literature. Integrating our cosmic star-formation history we precisely reproduce the stellar-mass density with an ISM replenishment factor of 0.50 +/- 0.07, consistent with our choice of Chabrier IMF plus some modest amount of stripped stellar mass. Exploring the cosmic dust density evolution, we find a gradual increase in dust density with lookback time. We build a simple phenomenological model from the CSFH to account for the dust mass evolution, and infer two key conclusions: (1) For every unit of stellar mass which is formed 0.0065---0.004 units of dust mass is also formed; (2) Over the history of the Universe approximately 90 to 95 per cent of all dust formed has been destroyed and/or ejected.

astro-ph.GA

Galaxy And Mass Assembly: search for a population of high-entropy galaxy groups

Observations with the Chandra X-ray Observatory are used to examine the hot gas properties within a sample of 10 galaxy groups selected from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly survey's optical Friends-of-Friends group catalogue. Our groups have been screened to eliminate spurious and unrelaxed systems, and the effectiveness of this procedure is demonstrated by the detection of intergalactic hot gas in 80 per cent of our sample. However, we find that 9 of the 10 are X-ray underluminous by a mean factor of $\sim$4 compared to typical X-ray-selected samples. Consistent with this, the majority of our groups have gas fractions that are lower and gas entropies somewhat higher than those seen in typical X-ray-selected samples. Two groups, which have high 2σ lower limits on their gas entropy, are candidates for the population of high-entropy groups predicted by some active galactic nucleus feedback models.

astro-ph.GA

A Study of Central Galaxy Rotation with Stellar Mass and Environment

We present a pilot analysis of the influence of galaxy stellar mass and cluster environment on the probability of slow rotation in 22 central galaxies at mean redshift $z=0.07$. This includes new integral-field observations of 5 central galaxies selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, observed with the SPIRAL integral-field spectrograph on the Anglo-Australian Telescope. The composite sample presented here spans a wide range of stellar masses, $10.9<$log(M$_{*}/$M$_{\odot})<12.0$, and are embedded in halos ranging from groups to clusters, $12.9<$log(M$_{200}/$M$_{\odot})<15.6$. We find a mean probability of slow rotation in our sample of P(SR)$=54\pm7$percent. Our results show an increasing probability of slow rotation in central galaxies with increasing stellar mass. However, when we examine the dependence of slow rotation on host cluster halo mass we do not see a significant relationship. We also explore the influence of cluster dominance on slow rotation in central galaxies. Clusters with low dominance are associated with dynamically younger systems. We find that cluster dominance has no significant effect on the probability of slow rotation in central galaxies. These results conflict with a paradigm in which halo mass alone predetermines central galaxy properties.

astro-ph.GA

GAMA/WiggleZ: The 1.4GHz radio luminosity functions of high- and low-excitation radio galaxies and their redshift evolution to z=0.75

We present radio Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) luminosity functions over the redshift range 0.005 < z < 0.75. The sample from which the luminosity functions are constructed is an optical spectroscopic survey of radio galaxies, identified from matched Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-cm survey (FIRST) sources and Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) images.The radio AGN are separated into Low Excitation Radio Galaxies (LERGs) and High Excitation Radio Galaxies (HERGs) using the optical spectra. We derive radio luminosity functions for LERGs and HERGs separately in the three redshift bins (0.005 < z < 0.3, 0.3 < z < 0.5 and 0.5 < z <0.75). The radio luminosity functions can be well described by a double power-law. Assuming this double power-law shape the LERG population displays little or no evolution over this redshift range evolving as ~$(1+z)^{0.06}$ assuming pure density evolution or ~ $(1+z)^{0.46}$ assuming pure luminosity evolution. In contrast, the HERG population evolves more rapidly, best fitted by ~$(1+z)^{2.93}$ assuming a double power-law shape and pure density evolution. If a pure luminosity model is assumed the best fitting HERG evolution is parameterised by ~$(1+z)^{7.41}$. The characteristic break in the radio luminosity function occurs at a significantly higher power (~1 dex) for the HERG population in comparison to the LERGs. This is consistent with the two populations representing fundamentally different accretion modes.

astro-ph.GA