arXiv subjects

Rohan G. Varadaraj

Publications and source records attributed to Rohan G. Varadaraj.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

MIGHTEE-HI / LADUMA: Investigating the link between baryons and dynamics with 130 resolved HI-selected galaxies

The baryonic Tully-Fisher relation (bTFR) and the radial acceleration relation (RAR) link the observed dynamics in galaxies to that expected from their baryonic mass distributions. The relations' small intrinsic scatters place strong constraints on galaxy formation models, dark matter properties and theories of modified dynamics, yet detailed measurements beyond the very local Universe remain limited. We use 130 purely HI-selected galaxies with resolved HI kinematics and baryonic mass profiles to measure the bTFR and RAR up to $z\approx0.09$. We measure a tight RAR with an acceleration scale $a_0=(1.50\pm0.05)\times10^{-10},{\rm m,s^{-2}}$ and an intrinsic scatter of $0.096\pm0.006$ dex, consistent with local results. We fit the bTFR in the `inverse' direction, conditioning on $M_{\rm bar}$ to mitigate HI flux-related selection effects, measuring a logarithmic slope of $0.27\pm0.01$ (corresponding to a forward slope of $3.72\pm0.16$), with vertical intrinsic scatter $\sigma_\perp\approx0.05$ dex. Fitting the general $\delta$-family of MOND interpolating functions to the RAR, we infer $\delta=4.10^{+1.4}_{-0.68}$, consistent with the value required by Solar System gravitational constraints and a null Wide Binary Test. We find no significant redshift evolution in the RAR acceleration scale for our pure HI-selected sample. However, the bTFR zero-point shows an apparent evolutionary trend that is strongly dependent on the fit direction: the traditional forward fit yields an $8.7\sigma$ preference for $z$ evolution, while for our fiducial inverse fit, this reduces to $3.4\sigma$, within $\approx2\sigma$ of the RAR evolution constraint. This suggests selection effects bias the forward fit; a careful consideration of such effects will be required in future endeavours to robustly measure the redshift evolution of dynamical scaling relations.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2026

A MIGHTEE robust measurement of the star formation rate-radio correlation

Determining the relationship between star-formation rate (SFR) and the radio luminosity ($L_{1.4}$) is critical if we are to trace the star-formation history of the Universe dust-agnostically using current and future radio facilities. However, until now, such work has relied on potentially biased binary classifications of sources to remove contaminating active galactic nuclei (AGN). We present a new, statistically-driven methodology for deriving the SFR -- $L_{1.4}$ relation, removing the need for problematic cuts. We use a Bayesian hierarchical mixture model fit to the radio-detected sources in the deep MIGHTEE COSMOS DR1 catalogue, incorporating the full SFR posterior probability distributions generated by state-of-the-art spectral energy distribution fitting code \texttt{GRAHSP}. This allows us to probabilistically determine a mean SFR -- $L_{1.4}$ relation for the SF dominated galaxies, whilst accounting for changing fractions of SF dominated sources across redshift, radio luminosity and stellar mass ranges. We find that the SFR -- radio luminosity correlation exhibits a significant dependence on redshift, but a stellar mass dependence that is weaker than previous studies. Our resultant SFR-radio correlation is $\log_{10}(\text{SFR}/M_{\odot}\,\text{yr}^{-1}) = 0.790\times(\log _{10}(L_{1.4}/\text{W\,Hz}^{-1})-23) + 1.244 \times(1+z)^{0.122} -0.033 \times (\log_{10}(M_*/M_{\odot})-10)$, with an intrinsic scatter of 0.178 dex. We show that this redshift evolution could be explained by a moderate evolution in the radio spectral index of SF galaxies. We attribute the lack of observed strong dependence on stellar mass, compared to recent studies, to the novel statistical approach that does not rely on cuts to remove AGN.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

Galaxy Size and Mass Build-up in the First 2 Gyrs of Cosmic History from Multi-Wavelength JWST NIRCam Imaging

The evolution of galaxy sizes in different wavelengths provides unique insights on galaxy build-up across cosmic epochs. Such measurements can now finally be done at $z>3$ thanks to the exquisite spatial resolution and multi-wavelength capability of the JWST. With the public data from the CEERS, PRIMER-UDS, and PRIMER-COSMOS surveys, we measure the sizes of $\sim 3500$ star-forming galaxies at $3 \leqslant z<9$, in 7 NIRCam bands using the multi-wavelength model fitting code GalfitM. The size-mass relation is measured in four redshift bins, across all NIRCam bands. We find that, the slope and intrinsic scatter of the rest-optical size-mass relation are constant across this redshift range and consistent with previous HST-based studies at low-z. When comparing the relations across different wavelengths, the average rest-optical and rest-UV relations are consistent with each other up to $z=6$, but the intrinsic scatter is largest in rest-UV wavelengths compared to rest-optical and redder bands. This behaviour is independent of redshift and we speculate that it is driven by bursty star-formation in $z>4$ galaxies. Additionally, for $3\leqslant z<4$ star-forming galaxies at $\rm M_* > 10^{10} M_{\odot}$, we find smaller rest-$\rm 1\rm\,μm$ sizes in comparison to rest-optical (and rest-UV) sizes, suggestive of colour gradients. When comparing to simulations, we find agreement over $\rm M_* \approx 10^{9} - 10^{10} M_{\odot}$ but beyond this mass, the observed size-mass relation is significantly steeper. Our results show the power of JWST/NIRCam to provide new constraints on galaxy formation models.

astro-ph.GA↗