arXiv subjects

Misha Haywood

Publications and source records attributed to Misha Haywood.

52 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Phylogeny of the Milky Way's inner disk and bulge populations: Implications for gas accretion, (the lack of) inside-out thick disk formation, and quenching

We show that the bulge and the disk of the Milky Way (MW) at R$\lesssim$7~kpc are well described by a unique chemical evolution and a two-phase star-formation history (SFH). We argue that the populations within this inner disk, not the entire disk, are the same, and that the outer Lindblad resonance (OLR) of the bar plays a key role in explaining this uniformity. In our model of a two-phase star formation history, the metallicity, [$α$/Fe] and [$α$/H] distributions, and age-metallicity relation are all compatible with the observations of both the inner disk and bulge. The dip at [Fe/H]$\sim$0 dex seen in the metallicity distributions of the bulge and inner disk reflects the quenching episode in the SFH of the inner MW at age $\sim$8 Gyr, and the common evolution of the bulge and inner disk stars. We show that at z$\le$1.5, when the MW was starting to quench, transitioning between the end of the $α$-enhanced thick disk formation to the start of the thin disk, and yet was still gas rich, the gas accretion rate could not have been significant. The [$α$/Fe] abundance ratio before and after this quenching phase would be different, which is not observed. The present analysis suggests that Milky Way history, and in particular at the transition from the thick to the thin disk -- the epoch of the quenching -- must have been driven by a decrease of the star formation efficiency. We argue that the decline in the intensity of gas accretion, the formation of the bar, and the quenching of the SFR at the same epoch may be causally connected thus explaining their temporal coincidence (abridged).

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arXiv2017

The Canada-France Imaging Survey: First results from the u-band component

The Canada-France Imaging Survey (CFIS) will map the northern high Galactic latitude sky in the $u$-band ("CFIS-u", 10,000$\, {\rm deg^2}$) and in the $r$-band ("CFIS-r", 5,000$\, {\rm deg^2}$), enabling a host of stand-alone science investigations, and providing some of the ground-based data necessary for photometric redshift determination for the Euclid mission. In this first contribution we present the $u$-band component of the survey, describe the observational strategy, and discuss some first highlight results, based on approximately one third of the final area. We show that the Galactic anticenter structure is distributed continuously along the line of sight, out to beyond 20 kpc, and possesses a metallicity distribution that is essentially identical to that of the outer disk sampled by APOGEE. This suggests that it is probably a buckled disk of old metal-rich stars, rather than a stream or a flare. We also discuss the future potential for CFIS-u in discovering star-forming dwarf galaxies around the Local Group, the characterization of the white dwarf and blue straggler population of the Milky Way, as well as its sensitivity to low-surface brightness structures in external galaxies.

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arXiv2017

Chemical Mapping of the Milky Way With The Canada-France Imaging Survey: A Non-parametric Metallicity-Distance Decomposition of the Galaxy

We present the chemical distribution of the Milky Way, based on 2,900$\, {\rm deg^2}$ of $u$-band photometry taken as part of the Canada-France Imaging Survey. When complete, this survey will cover 10,000$\, {\rm deg^2}$ of the Northern sky. By combing the CFHT $u$-band photometry together with SDSS and Pan-STARRS $g,r,$ and $i$, we demonstrate that we are able to measure reliably the metallicities of individual stars to $\sim 0.2$ dex, and hence additionally obtain good photometric distance estimates. This survey thus permits the measurement of metallicities and distances of the dominant main-sequence population out to approximately 30 kpc, and provides much higher number of stars at large extraplanar distances than have been available from previous surveys. We develop a non-parametric distance-metallicity decomposition algorithm and apply it to the sky at $30°< |b| < 70°$ and to the North Galactic Cap. We find that the metallicity-distance distribution is well-represented by three populations whose metallicity distributions do not vary significantly with vertical height above the disk. As traced in main-sequence stars, the stellar halo component shows a vertical density profile that is close to exponential, with a scale height of around 3 kpc. This may indicate that the inner halo was formed partly from disk stars ejected in an ancient minor merger.

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arXiv2016

A Milky Way with a massive, centrally concentrated thick disc: new Galactic mass models for orbit computations

In this work, two new axisymmetric models for the Galactic mass distribution are presented. Motivated by recent results, these two models include the contribution of a stellar thin disc and of a thick disc, as massive as the thin counterpart but with a shorter scale-length. Both models satisfy a number of observational constraints: stellar densities at the solar vicinity, thin and thick disc scale lengths and heights, rotation curve(s), and the absolute value of the perpendicular force Kz as a function of distance to the Galactic centre. We numerically integrate into these new models the motion of all Galactic globular clusters for which distances, proper motions, and radial velocities are available, and the orbits of about one thousand stars in the solar vicinity. The retrieved orbital characteristics are compared to those obtained by integrating the clusters and stellar orbits in pure thin disc models. We find that, due to the possible presence of a thick disc, the computed orbital parameters of disc stars can vary by as much as 30-40%. We also show that the systematic uncertainties that affect the rotation curve still plague computed orbital parameters of globular clusters by similar amounts.

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arXiv2016

The Detailed Science Case for the Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer: the Composition and Dynamics of the Faint Universe

MSE is an 11.25m aperture observatory with a 1.5 square degree field of view that will be fully dedicated to multi-object spectroscopy. More than 3200 fibres will feed spectrographs operating at low (R ~ 2000 - 3500) and moderate (R ~ 6000) spectral resolution, and approximately 1000 fibers will feed spectrographs operating at high (R ~ 40000) resolution. MSE is designed to enable transformational science in areas as diverse as tomographic mapping of the interstellar and intergalactic media; the in-situ chemical tagging of thick disk and halo stars; connecting galaxies to their large scale structure; measuring the mass functions of cold dark matter sub-halos in galaxy and cluster-scale hosts; reverberation mapping of supermassive black holes in quasars; next generation cosmological surveys using redshift space distortions and peculiar velocities. MSE is an essential follow-up facility to current and next generations of multi-wavelength imaging surveys, including LSST, Gaia, Euclid, WFIRST, PLATO, and the SKA, and is designed to complement and go beyond the science goals of other planned and current spectroscopic capabilities like VISTA/4MOST, WHT/WEAVE, AAT/HERMES and Subaru/PFS. It is an ideal feeder facility for E-ELT, TMT and GMT, and provides the missing link between wide field imaging and small field precision astronomy. MSE is optimized for high throughput, high signal-to-noise observations of the faintest sources in the Universe with high quality calibration and stability being ensured through the dedicated operational mode of the observatory. (abridged)

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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

Galactic chemical evolution revisited

Standard chemical evolution models based on long-term infall are affected by a number of problems, evidenced by the analysis of the most recent data. Among these: (1) models rely on the local metallicity distribution, assuming its shape is valid for the entire Galaxy, which it is not; (2) they assume that the solar vicinity abundance patterns resulted from a unique chemical evolution, which it does not; (3) they assume the disk is a single structure with chemical properties that are a smooth function of the distance to the galactic center, which it is not. Moreover, new results point to a thick disk being as massive as the thin disk, leading to a change of paradigm in the way we see the formation of these structures. I discuss these various issues, and, commenting on Snaith et al. (2014), how a closed box model offers an interesting approximation to the galactic chemical evolution, by providing the conditions in which large amounts of gas are available in the disk at high redshift. The novel way presented in Snaith et al. (2014) to derive SFH from stellar abundances is also discussed, providing a measurement of the SFH of old populations that is valid for the entire Galaxy. The derived SFH shows that the formation of the thick disk has been the dominant epoch of star formation in our Galaxy.

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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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arXiv2013

On the origin of the clumpy streams of Palomar 5

In this paper we report a study (see Mastrobuono-Battisti et al., 2012) about the formation and characteristics of the tidal tails around Palomar 5 along its orbit in the Milky Way potential, by means of direct N-body simulations and simplified numerical models. Unlike previous findings, we are able to reproduce the substructures observed in the stellar streams of this cluster, without including any lumpiness in the dark matter halo. We show that overdensities similar to those observed in Palomar 5 can be reproduced by the epicyclic motion of stars along its tails, i.e. a simple local accumulation of orbits of stars that escaped from the cluster with very similar positions and velocities. This process is able to form stellar clumps at distances of several kiloparsecs from the cluster, so it is not a phenomenon confined to the inner part of Palomar 5's tails, as previously suggested.

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arXiv2012

Clumpy streams in a smooth dark halo: the case of Palomar 5

By means of direct N-body simulations and simplified numerical models, we study the formation and characteristics of the tidal tails around Palomar 5, along its orbit in the Milky Way potential. Unlike previous findings, we are able to reproduce the substructures observed in the stellar streams of this cluster, without including any lumpiness in the dark matter halo. We show that overdensities similar to those observed in Palomar 5 can be reproduced by the epicyclic motion of stars along its tails, i.e. a simple local accumulation of orbits of stars that escaped from the cluster with very similar positions and velocities. This process is able to form stellar clumps at distances of several kiloparsecs from the cluster, so it is not a phenomenon confined to the inner part of Palomar 5's tails, as previously suggested. Our models can reproduce the density contrast between the clumps and the surrounding tails found in the observed streams, without including any lumpiness in the dark halo, suggesting new upper limits on its granularity.

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arXiv2011

The Milky Way stellar populations in CFHTLS fields

We investigate the characteristics of the thick disk in the Canada - France - Hawaii - Telescope Legacy Survey (CFHTLS) fields, complemented at bright magnitudes with Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data. The ([Fe/H], Z) distributions are derived in the W1 and W3 fields, and compared with simulated maps produced using the Besançon model. It is shown that the thick disk, represented in star-count models by a distinct component, is not an adequate description of the observed ([Fe/H], Z) distributions in these fields.

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arXiv2009

Radial mixing in the outer Milky Way disk caused by an orbiting satellite

Using test particle simulations we examine the structure of the outer Galactic disk as it is perturbed by a satellite in a tight eccentric orbit about the Galaxy. A satellite of mass a few times 10^9 Msol can heat the outer Galactic disk, excite spiral structure and a warp and induce streams in the velocity distribution. We examine particle eccentricity versus the change in mean radius between initial and current orbits. Correlations between these quantities are reduced after a few satellite pericenter passages. Stars born in the outer galaxy can be moved in radius from their birth positions and be placed in low eccentricity orbits inside their birth radii. We propose that mergers and perturbations from satellite galaxies and subhalos can induce radial mixing in the stellar metallicity distribution.

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arXiv2008

Radial mixing and the transition between the thick and thin Galactic discs

The analysis of the kinematics of solar neighbourhood stars shows that the low and high metallicity tails of the thin disc are populated by objects which orbital properties suggest an origin in the outer and inner galactic disc, respectively. Signatures of radial migration are identified in various recent samples, and are shown to be responsible for the high metallicity dispersion in the age-metallicity distribution. Most importantly, it is shown that the population of low metallicity wanderers of the thin disc (-0.7<[Fe/H]<-0.3 dex) is also responsible for the apparent hiatus in metallicity with the thick disc (which terminal metallicity is about -0.2 dex). It implies that the thin disc at the solar circle has started to form stars at about this same metallicity. This is also consistent with the fact that 'transition' objects, which have alpha-element abundance intermediate between that of the thick and thin discs, are found in the range [-0.4,-0.2] dex. Once the metal-poor thin disc stars are recognised for what they are - wanderers from the outer thin disc - the parenthood between the two discs can be identified on stars genuinely formed at the solar circle through an evolutionary sequence in [alpha/Fe] and [Fe/H] . Another consequence is that stars that can be considered as truly resulting of the chemical evolution at the solar circle have a metallicity restricted to about [-0.2,+0.2] dex, confirming an old idea that most chemical evolution in the Milky Way have preceded the thin disc formation.

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arXiv2008

A peculiarity of metal-poor stars with planets ?

Stars with planets at intermediate metallicities ([-0.7,-0.2] dex) exhibit properties that differ from the general field stars. Thirteen stars with planets reported in this metallicity range belong to the thick disc, while only one planet have been detected among stars of the thin disc. Although this statistics is weak, it contradicts the known correlation between the presence of planet and metallicity. We relate this finding to the specific property of the thin disc in this metallicity range, where stars are shown to rotate around the Galaxy faster than the Sun. Their orbital parameters are conveniently explained if they are contaminants coming from the outer Galactic disc, as a result of radial mixing. This must be considered together with the fact that metal-rich stars ([Fe/H]>+0.1 dex) found in the solar neighbourhood, which are the hosts of most of the detected planets, are suspected of being wanderers from the inner Galactic disc. It is then questionned why stars that originate in the inner and outer thin disc show respectively the highest and lowest rate of detected planets. It is suggested that the presence of giant planets might be primarily a function of a parameter linked to galactocentric radius, but not metallicity. Combined with the existing radial metallicity gradient, then radial mixing explains the correlation at high metallicity observed locally, but also the peculiarity found at low metallicity, which cannot be accounted for by a simple correlation between metallicity and planet probability.

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arXiv2001

A revision of the solar neighbourhood metallicity distribution

We present a revised metallicity distribution of dwarfs in the solar neighbourhood. This distribution is centred on solar metallicity. We show that previous metallicity distributions, selected on the basis of spectral type, are biased against stars with solar metallicity or higher. A selection of G-dwarf stars is inherently biased against metal rich stars and is not representative of the solar neighbourhood metallicity distribution. Using a sample selected on colour, we obtain a distribution where approximately half the stars in the solar neighbourhood has a metallicity higher than [Fe/H]=0. The percentage of mid-metal-poor stars ([Fe/H]$<$-0.5) is approximately 4 per cent, in agreement with present estimates of the thick disc. In order to have a metallicity distribution comparable to chemical evolution model predictions, we convert the star fraction to mass fraction, and show that another bias against metal-rich stars affects dwarf metallicity distributions, due to the colour (or spectral type) limits of the samples. Reconsidering the corrections due to the increasing thickness of the stellar disc with age, we show that the Simple Closed-Box model with no instantaneous recycling approximation gives a reasonable fit to the observed distribution. Comparisons with the age-metallicity relation and abundance ratios suggest that the Simple Closed-Box model may be a viable model of the chemical evolution of the Galaxy at solar radius.

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arXiv1995

The thick disc of the Galaxy: Sequel of a merging event

Accurate characterization of thick disc properties from recent kinematic and photometric surveys provides converging evidences that this intermediate population is a sequel of the violent heating of early disc populations by a merging satellite galaxy. The thick disc population is revisited under the light of new data in a number of galactic sample fields. Various thick disc hypotheses are fitted to observational data through a maximum likelihood technique. The resulting characteristics of the thick disc are the following : a scale height of 760 $\pm$ 50 pc, with a local density of 5.6 $\pm$ 1 \% of the thin disc. The scale length is constrained to be 2.8 $\pm$ 0.8 kpc, well in agreement with the disc scale length (2.5 $\pm$ 0.3 kpc). The mean metallicity of the thick disc is found to be -0.7 $\pm$ 0.2 dex, with no {significant} metallicity gradients. These photometric constraints in combination with kinematic data give new constraints on the thick disc formation. We show that thick disc characteristics are {hardly compatible with a top-down formation scenario} but fully compatible with a violent merging event arising at the early thin disc life time as described by Quinn, Hernquist \& Fullagar (1993).

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