arXiv subjects

Matthew D. Lehnert

Publications and source records attributed to Matthew D. Lehnert.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Massive galaxies on the road to quenching: ALMA observations of powerful high redshift radio galaxies

We present 0.3" (band 6) and 1.5" (band 3) ALMA observations of the (sub)millimeter dust continuum emission for 25 radio galaxies at 1<z<5.2. Our survey reaches a rms flux density of ~50$μ$Jy in band 6 and ~20$μ$Jy in band 3. This is an order of magnitude deeper than single-dish 850 $μ$m observations, and reaches fluxes where synchrotron and thermal dust emission are expected to be of the same order of magnitude. Combining our sensitive ALMA observations with radio data from ATCA, VLA, and IR photometry from Herschel and Spitzer, we have disentangled the synchrotron and thermal dust emission. We determine the star-formation rates (SFR) and AGN IR luminosities using our newly developed spectral energy distribution fitting code MrMoose. We find that synchrotron emission contributes substantially at ~1 mm. Through our sensitive flux limits and accounting for a contribution from synchrotron emission in the mm, we revise downward the median SFR by a factor of 7 compared to previous estimates based solely on Herschel and Spitzer data. The hosts of these radio-loud AGN appear predominantly below the main sequence of star-forming galaxies, indicating that the star formation in many of the host galaxies has been quenched. Future growth of the host galaxies without substantial black hole mass growth will be needed to bring these objects on the local relation between the supermassive black holes and their host galaxies. Given the mismatch in the timescales of any star formation that took place in the host galaxies and lifetime of the AGN, we hypothesize that a key role is played by star formation in depleting the gas before the action of the powerful radio jets quickly drives out the remaining gas. This positive feedback loop of efficient star formation rapidly consuming the gas coupled to the action of the radio jets in removing the residual gas is how massive galaxies are rapidly quenched.

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arXiv2018

Neutral versus ionized gas kinematics at z~2.6: The AGN-host starburst galaxy PKS 0529-549

We present a multiwavelength study of the AGN-host starburst galaxy PKS 0529-549 at z~2.6. We use (1) new ALMA observations of the dust continuum and of the [CI] 370 um line, tracing molecular gas, (2) SINFONI spectroscopy of the [OIII] 5007 Ang line, tracing ionized gas, and (3) ATCA radio continuum images, tracing synchrotron emission. Both [CI] and [OIII] show regular velocity gradients, but their systemic velocities and position angles differ by ~300 km/s and ~30 degrees, respectively. The [CI] is consistent with a rotating disc, aligned with the dust and stellar continuum, while the [OIII] likely traces an outflow, aligned with two AGN-driven radio lobes. We model the [CI] cube using 3D disc models, which give best-fit rotation velocities V~310 km/s and velocity dispersions sigma<30 km/s. Hence, the [CI] disc has V/sigma>10 and is not particularly turbulent, similar to local galaxy discs. The dynamical mass (~10^11 Msun) is comparable to the baryonic mass within the errors. This suggests that baryons dominate the inner galaxy dynamics, similar to massive galaxies at z=0. Remarkably, PKS 0529-549 lies on the local baryonic Tully-Fisher relation, indicating that at least some massive galaxies are already in place and kinematically relaxed at z~2.6. This work highlights the potential of the [CI] line to trace galaxy dynamics at high z, as well as the importance of multiwavelength data to interpret gas kinematics.

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arXiv2016

O VI Emission Imaging of a Galaxy with the Hubble Space Telescope: a Warm Gas Halo Surrounding the Intense Starburst SDSS J115630.63+500822.1

We report results from a new HST study of the OVI 1032,1038Å doublet in emission around intensely star-forming galaxies. The programme aims to characterize the energy balance in starburst galaxies and gas cooling in the difficult-to-map coronal temperature regime of 2-5 x $10^5$K. We present the first resolved image of gas emission in the OVI line. Our target, SDSS J1156+5008, is very compact in the continuum but displays OVI emission to radii of 23 kpc. The surface brightness profile is well fit by an exponential with a scale of 7.5kpc. This is ten times the size of the photoionized gas, and we estimate that 1/6 the total OVI luminosity comes from resonantly scattered continuum radiation. Spectroscopy - which closely resembles a stacked sample of archival spectra - confirms the OVI emission, and determines the column density and outflow velocity from blueshifted absorption. The combination of measurements enables several new calculations with few assumptions. The OVI regions fill only ~$10^{-3}$ of the volume. By comparing the cooling time with the cloud sound-crossing time, the cooling distance with the size, and the pressure in the OVI and nebular gas, we conclude that the OVI-bearing gas cannot have been lifted to the scale height at this temperature, and must be cooling in situ through this coronal temperature regime. The coronal phase contains ~1% of the ionized mass, and its kinetic energy is currently ~1% of the budget set by supernova feedback. However a much larger amount of the gas must have cooled through this phase during the star formation episode. The outflow exceeds the escape velocity and the gas may become unbound, but it will recombine before it escapes and become visible to Lyman (and OI) spectroscopy. The mapping of this gas represents a crucial step in further constraining galaxy formation scenarios and guiding the development of future satellites.

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arXiv2015

The Mysterious Morphology of MRC0943-242 as Revealed by ALMA and MUSE

We present a pilot study of the z=2.923 radio galaxy MRC0943-242, where we for the first time combine information from ALMA and MUSE data cubes. Even with modest integration times, we disentangle an AGN and a starburst dominated set of components. These data reveal a highly complex morphology, as the AGN, starburst, and molecular gas components show up as widely separated sources in dust continuum, optical continuum and CO line emission observations. CO(1-0) and CO(8-7) line emission suggest that there is a molecular gas reservoir offset from both the dust and the optical continuum that is located ~90kpc from the AGN. The UV line emission has a complex structure in emission and absorption. The line emission is mostly due to i) a large scale ionisation cone energised by the AGN, ii) a Ly-alpha emitting bridge of gas between the radio galaxy and a heavily star-forming set of components. Strangely, the ionisation cone has no Ly-alpha emission. We find this is due to an optically thick layer of neutral gas with unity covering fraction spread out over a region of at least ~100kpc from the AGN. Other, less thick absorption components are associated with Ly-alpha emitting gas within a few tens of kpc from the radio galaxy and are connected by a bridge of emission. We speculate that this linear structure of dust, Ly-alpha and CO emission, and the redshifted absorption seen in the circum-nuclear region may represent an accretion flow feeding gas into this massive AGN host galaxy.

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arXiv2015

The Galaxy Population In Voids: Are All Voids The Same?

The influence of under-dense environments on the formation and evolution of galaxies is studied by analysing the photometric properties of ~200 galaxies residing in voids, taken from our SDSS DR10 void catalogue up to z ~0.055. We split void galaxies into two subsamples based on the luminosity density contrast of their host voids: 'sparse void' δ_s = δ < -0.95 and 'populous void' δ_p = δ > -0.87. We find that galaxies in sparse voids are less massive than galaxies in populous voids. The luminosity distribution of galaxies in populous voids follows the same distribution observed across the SDSS survey in the same redshift range. Galaxies in the sparse voids are also bluer suggesting that they may be going through a relatively slow and continuous star formation. Additionally, we find that the luminosity function of galaxies in populous voids is represented with the Schechter function whereas the same does not hold for sparse voids. Our analysis suggests that the properties of a host void plays a significant role in the formation and evolution of the void galaxies and determining the large scale evolution of voids is an important step to understand what processes regulate the evolution of galaxies.

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arXiv2014

The Milky Way as a High Redshift Galaxy: The Importance of Thick Disk Formation in Galaxies

We compare the star-formation history and dynamics of the Milky Way (MW) with the properties of distant disk galaxies. During the first ~4 Gyr of its evolution, the MW formed stars with a high star-formation intensity (SFI), Sigma_SFR~0.6 Msun/yr/kpc2 and as a result, generated outflows and high turbulence in its interstellar medium. This intense phase of star formation corresponds to the formation of the thick disk. The formation of the thick disk is a crucial phase which enables the MW to have formed approximately half of its total stellar mass by z~1 which is similar to "MW progenitor galaxies" selected by abundance matching. This agreement suggests that the formation of the thick disk may be a generic evolutionary phase in disk galaxies. Using a simple energy injection-kinetic energy relationship between the 1-D velocity dispersion and SFI, we can reproduce the average perpendicular dispersion in stellar velocities of the MW with age. This relationship, its inferred evolution, and required efficiency are consistent with observations of galaxies from z~0-3. The high turbulence generated by intense star formation naturally resulted in a thick disk, a chemically well-mixed ISM, and is the mechanism that links the evolution of MW to the observed characteristics of distant disk galaxies.

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arXiv2014

The dominant epoch of star formation in the Milky Way formed the thick disc

We report the first robust measurement of the Milky Way star formation history using the imprint left on chemical abundances of long-lived stars. The formation of the Galactic thick disc occurs during an intense star formation phase between 9.0 (z~1.5) and 12.5 Gyr (z~4.5) ago and is followed by a dip (at z~1.1) lasting about 1 Gyr. Our results imply that the thick disc is as massive as the Milky Way's thin disc, suggesting a fundamental role of this component in the genesis of our Galaxy, something that had been largely unrecognized. This new picture implies that huge quantities of gas necessary to feed the building of the thick disc must have been present at these epochs, in contradiction with the long-term infall assumed by chemical evolution models in the last two decades. These results allow us to fit the Milky Way within the emerging features of the evolution of disc galaxies in the early Universe.

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arXiv2011

Can Cosmological Accretion be Observed in H-alpha at z~2?

In previous studies, it has been shown that the large line widths observed in high surface brightness H-alpha emitters at low and high redshifts are likely due to the mechanical energy injected by intense star formation. Here we discuss the possibility that the high surface brightnesses observed are not due to star formation, but due to cosmological gas accretion. We assume that all of the accretion energy is dissipated as shocks from the accreting gas. We show that in order to explain the high surface brightnesses both the mass accretion rate and energy would have to be much higher than expected from simulations or from equating the star formation with the accretion rate. We also investigate scaling relations between the surface brightness expected from accretion and for star formation through mechanical heating and photo-ionization, trying to identify a regime where such accretion may become evident in galaxies. Unfortunately, the surface brightness necessary to detect the gas in optical line emission is about an order of magnitude lower than what has currently been achieved with near-infrared observations of distant galaxies.

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arXiv2011

Characteristics of thick disks formed through minor mergers: stellar excesses and scale lengths

By means of N-body/SPH simulations we investigate the morphological properties of thick disks formed through minor mergers. We show that the vertical surface density profile of the post-merger thick disk follows a sech function and has an excess in the regions far from the disk mid-plane (z>2kpc). This stellar excess also follows a sech function with a larger scale height than the main thick disk component, and it is usually dominated by stars from the primary galaxy. Stars in the excess have a rotational velocity lower than that of stars in the thick disk, and they may thus be confused with stars in the inner galactic halo. The thick disk scale height increases with radius and the rate of its increase is smaller for more gas rich primary galaxies. On the contrary, the scale height of the stellar excess is independent of both radius and gas fraction. We also find that the post-merger thick disk has a radial scale length which is 10-50% larger than that of the thin disk. Two consecutive mergers have basically the same effect on heating the stellar disk as a single merger of the same total mass. To investigate how thick disks produced through secular processes may differ from those produced by minor mergers, we also simulated gravitationally unstable gas-rich disks. These disks do not produce either a stellar excess or a ratio of thick to thin disk scale lengths greater than one. Our simulation results are consistent with observations of the ratio of thick to thin disk scale lengths of the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, and with the Toomre diagram of the Milky Way. We conclude that minor mergers are a viable mechanism for the creation of galactic thick disks and investigating stars at several kpc above the mid-plane of the Milky Way and other galaxies may provide a quantitative method for studying the minor merger history of galaxies.

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arXiv2010

Constraining the Thermal Dust Content of Lyman-Break Galaxies in an Overdense Field at z~5

We have carried out 870 micron observations in the J1040.7-1155 field, known to host an overdensity of Lyman break galaxies at z=5.16 +/- 0.05. We do not detect any individual source at the S(870)=3.0 mJy/beam (2 sigma) level. A stack of nine spectroscopically confirmed z>5 galaxies also yields a non-detection, constraining the submillimeter flux from a typical galaxy at this redshift to S(870)<0.85 mJy, which corresponds to a mass limit M(dust)<1.2x10^8 M_sun (2 sigma). This constrains the mass of thermal dust in distant Lyman break galaxies to less than one tenth of their typical stellar mass. We see no evidence for strong submillimeter galaxies associated with the ultraviolet-selected galaxy overdensity, but cannot rule out the presence of fainter, less massive sources.

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arXiv2008

Young star clusters in interacting galaxies - NGC 1487 and NGC 4038/4039

We estimate the dynamical masses of several young (~10 Myr) massive star clusters in two interacting galaxies, NGC 4038/4039 ("The Antennae") and NGC 1487, under the assumption of virial equilibrium. These are compared with photometric mass estimates from K-band photometry and assuming a standard Kroupa IMF. The clusters were selected to have near-infrared colors dominated by red supergiants, and hence to be old enough to have survived the earliest phases of cluster evolution when the interstellar medium is rapidly swept out from the cluster, supported by the fact that there is no obvious Halpha emission associated with the clusters. All but one of the Antennae clusters have dynamical and photometric mass estimates which are within a factor ~2 of one another, implying both that standard IMFs provide a good approximation to the IMF of these clusters, and that there is no significant extra-virial motion, as would be expected if they were rapidly dispersing. These results suggest that almost all of the Antennae clusters in our sample have survived the gas removal phase as bound or marginally bound objects. Two of the three NGC 1487 clusters studied here have M_dyn estimates which are significantly larger than the photometric mass estimates. At least one of these two clusters, and one in the Antennae, may be actively in the process of dissolving. The process of dissolution contributes a component of non-virial motion to the integrated velocity measurements, resulting in an estimated M_dyn which is too high relative to the amount of measured stellar light. The dissolution candidates in both galaxies are amongst the clusters with the lowest pressures/densities measured in our sample.

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arXiv2008

A Limit on the Number Density of Bright z~7 Galaxies

We present a survey of bright optical dropout sources in two deep, multiwavelength surveys comprising eleven widely-separated fields, aimed at constraining the galaxy luminosity function at z~7 for sources at 5-10L*(z=6). Our combined survey area is 225 arcmin^2 to a depth of J=24.2 (AB, 3 sigma) and 135 arcmin^2 to J=25.3 (AB, 4 sigma). We find that infrared data longwards of 2 microns is essential for classifying optical dropout sources, and in particular for identifying cool Galactic star contaminants. Our limits on the number density of high redshift sources are consistent with current estimates of the Lyman break galaxy luminosity function at z=6.

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arXiv2007

The missing metals problem. III How many metals are expelled from galaxies?

[Abridged] We revisit the metal budget at z~2. In the first two papers of this series, we already showed that ~30% (to <60% if extrapolating the LF) of the metals are observed in all z~2.5 galaxies detected in current surveys. Here, we extend our analysis to the metals outside galaxies, i.e. in intergalactic medium (IGM), using observational data and analytical calculations. Our results for the two are strikingly similar: (1) Observationally, we find that, besides the small (5%) contribution of DLAs, the forest and sub-DLAs contribute subtantially to make <30--45% of the metal budget, but neither of these appear to be sufficient to close the metal budget. The forest accounts for 15--30% depending on the UV background, and sub-DLAs for >2% to <17% depending on the ionization fraction. Together, the `missing metals' problem is substantially eased. (2) We perform analytical calculations based on the effective yield--mass relation. At z=2, we find that the method predicts that 2$--50% of the metals have been ejected from galaxies into the IGM, consistent with the observations. The metal ejection is predominantly by L<1/3L_B^*(z=2) galaxies, which are responsible for 90% the metal enrichment, while the 50 percentile is at L~1/10L^*_B(z=2). As a consequence, if indeed 50% of the metals have been ejected from galaxies, 3--5 bursts of star formation are required per galaxy prior to z=2. The ratio between the mass of metals outside galaxies to those in stars has changed from z=2 to z=0: it was 2:1 or 1:1 and is now 1:8 or 1:9. This evolution implies that a significant fraction of the IGM metals will cool and fall back into galaxies.

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arXiv2007

Lyman-break galaxies at z~5 -I. First significant stellar mass assembly in galaxies that are not simply z~3 LBGs at higher redshift

We determine the ensemble properties of z~5 Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) selected as V-band dropouts to i(AB)<26.3 in the Chandra Deep Field South using their rest-frame UV-to-visible SEDs. By matching the selection and performing the same analysis that has been used for z~3 samples, we show clear differences in the properties of two samples of LBGs which are separated by ~1Gyr in lookback time. We find that z~5 LBGs are typically much younger (<100Myr) and have lower stellar masses (10^9Msol) than their z~3 counterparts. The difference in mass is significant even when considering the presence of an older, underlying population in both samples. Such young and moderately massive systems dominate the luminous z~5 LBG population (>70%), whereas they comprise <30% of LBG samples at z~3. This result is robust under all reasonable modelling assumptions. These intense starbursts appear to be experiencing their first (few) generations of large-scale star formation and are accumulating their first significant stellar mass. Their dominance in luminous LBG samples suggests that z~5 witnesses a period of wide-spread, recent galaxy formation. As such, z~5 LBGs are the likely progenitors of the spheroidal components of present-day massive galaxies. This is supported by their high stellar mass surface densities, their core phase-space densities, as well as the ages of stars in the bulge of our Galaxy and other massive systems. Their high star formation rates per unit area suggest that these systems host outflows or winds that enrich the intra- and inter-galactic media with metals. Their estimated young ages are consistent with inefficient metal-mixing on galaxy-wide scales. Therefore these galaxies may contain a significant fraction of metal-free stars as has been proposed for z~3 LBGs (Jimenez & Haiman 2006). [Abridged]

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arXiv2007

Discovery of a single faint AGN in a large sample of z>5 Lyman break galaxies

As part of a large spectroscopic survey of z>5 Lyman break galaxies (LBGs), we have identified a single source which is clearly hosting an AGN. Out of a sample of more than fifty spectroscopically-confirmed R-band dropout galaxies at z~5 and above, only J104048.6-115550.2 at z=5.44 shows evidence for a high ionisation-potential emission-line indicating the presence of a hard ionising continuum from an AGN. Like most objects in our sample the rest-frame-UV spectrum shows the UV continuum breaking across a Ly_alpha line. Uniquely within this sample of LBGs, emission from NV is also detected, a clear signature of AGN photo-ionisation. The object is spatially resolved in HST imaging. This, and the comparatively high Ly_alpha/NV flux ratio indicates that the majority of the Ly_alpha (and the UV continuum longward of it) originates from stellar photo-ionisation, a product of the ongoing starburst in the Lyman break galaxy. Even without the AGN emission, this object would have been photometrically-selected and spectroscopically-confirmed as a Lyman break in our survey. The measured optical flux (I(AB)=26.1) is therefore an upper limit to that from the AGN and is of order 100 times fainter than the majority of known quasars at these redshifts. The detection of a single object in our survey volume is consistent with the best current models of high redshift AGN luminosity function, providing a substantial fraction of such AGN are found within luminous starbursting galaxies. We discuss the cosmological implications of this discovery.

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arXiv2005

Star-formation in NGC 4038/4039 from broad- and narrow band photometry: Cluster Destruction?

Accurately determining the star formation history in NGC 4038/4039 -- ``The Antennae'' is hampered by extinction. We therefore used near infrared images obtained with ISAAC at the VLT and with SOFI at the NTT to determine the recent star formation history in this merger. In combination with archival HST data, we determined ages, extinction and other parameters for single star clusters, and properties of the cluster population as a whole. About 70% of the K_s-band detected star clusters with masses >= 10^5 M_sun are younger than 10 Myrs (approximately an e-folding time for cluster ages), which we interpret as evidence for rapid dissolution but not free expansion. The total mass of K-band selected clusters is about 5-10x10^8 M_sun and represents about 3-6% of the total molecular gas. This takes into account only the detected clusters and in view of the rapid dissolution means that this is only a lower limit to the total mass of stars produced in clusters during the burst. Studies of cluster formation in other galaxies recently suggested short cluster dissolution timescales, too, which means that star formation rates may have been severely underestimated in the past. Extinction is strongly variable and very high in some regions, but around A_V=1.3 mag on average. Even though most clusters are detected at least in I-band, only the information about individual cluster ages and extinction allows to avoid uncertainties of orders of magnitude in star formation rate estimates determined from optical fluxes. From the distribution of individual cluster extinction vs. age, which is significantly higher for clusters below 8-9 Myr than for older clusters, we infer that this is the time by which a typical cluster blows free of its native dust cocoon.

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arXiv2004

A Compact Starburst Core in the Dusty Lyman Break Galaxy Westphal-MD11

Using the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer, we have searched for CO(3-2) emission from the dusty Lyman break galaxy Westphal-MD11 at z = 2.98. Our sensitive upper limit is surprisingly low relative to the system's 850 um flux density and implies a far-IR/CO luminosity ratio as elevated as those seen in local ultraluminous mergers. We conclude that the observed dust emission must originate in a compact structure radiating near its blackbody limit and that a relatively modest molecular gas reservoir must be fuelling an intense nuclear starburst (and/or deeply buried active nucleus) that may have been triggered by a major merger. In this regard, Westphal-MD11 contrasts strikingly with the lensed Lyman break galaxy MS1512-cB58, which is being observed apparently midway through an extended episode of more quiescent disk star formation.

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arXiv2003

Molecular Gas in the Lensed Lyman Break Galaxy cB58

We have used the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer to map CO(3-2) emission from the gravitationally lensed Lyman break galaxy MS1512-cB58. This is the first detection of a molecular emission line in any Lyman break system; its integrated intensity implies a total molecular gas mass of 6.6e9 Msun, while its width implies a dynamical mass of 1.0e10 csc^2i Msun (for a flat Lambda=0.7 cosmology). These estimates are in excellent concordance with nearly all parameters of the system measured at other wavelengths, and yield a consistent picture of past and future star formation with no obvious discrepancies requiring explanation by differential lensing. In particular, we find that the age and remaining lifetime of the current episode of star formation are likely to be similar; the surface densities of star formation and molecular gas mass are related by a Schmidt law; and the fraction of baryonic mass already converted into stars is sufficient to account for the observed enrichment of the interstellar medium to 0.4 Zsun. Barring substantial gas inflow or a major merger, the stars forming in the current episode will have mass and coevality at z=0 similar to those of a spiral bulge. Assuming cB58 is a typical Lyman break galaxy apart from its magnification, its global parameters suggest that the prescriptions for star formation used in some semi-analytic models of galaxy evolution require moderate revision, although the general prediction that gas mass fraction should increase with redshift is validated. [abridged]

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