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S. Khochfar

Publications and source records attributed to S. Khochfar.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2010

High-Redshift Star-Forming Galaxies: Angular Momentum and Baryon Fraction, Turbulent Pressure Effects and the Origin of Turbulence

The structure of a sample of high-redshift (z=2), rotating galaxies with high star formation rates and turbulent gas velocities of sigma=40-80 km/s is investigated. Fitting the observed disk rotational velocities and radii with a Mo, Mao, White (1998) (MMW) model requires unusually large disk spin parameters lambda_d>0.1 and disk-to-dark halo mass fraction m_d=0.2, close to the cosmic baryon fraction. The galaxies segregate into dispersion-dominated systems with 1 200 km/s, vmax/sigma>3 and rd=4-8 kpc. For the dispersion-dominated sample, radial pressure gradients partly compensate the gravitational force, reducing the rotational velocities. Including this pressure effect in the MMW model, dispersion-dominated galaxies can be fitted well with spin parameters lf lambda_d=0.03-0.05 for high disk mass fractions of m_d=0.2 and with lambda_d=0.01-0.03 for m_d=0.05. These values are in good agreement with cosmological expectations. For the rotation-dominated sample however pressure effects are small and better agreement with theoretically expected disk spin parameters can only be achieved if the dark halo mass contribution in the visible disk regime (2-3*rd) is smaller than predicted by the MMW model. We argue that these galaxies can still be embedded in standard cold dark matter halos if the halos did not contract adiabatically in response to disk formation. It is shown that the observed high turbulent gas motions of the galaxies are consistent with a Toomre instability parameter Q=1 which is equal to the critical value, expected for gravitational disk instability to be the major driver of turbulence. The dominant energy source of turbulence is then the potential energy of the gas in the disk.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2010

Composite star formation histories of early-type galaxies from minor mergers: prospects for WFC3

The star formation history of nearby early-type galaxies is investigated via numerical modelling. Idealized hydrodynamical N-body simulations with a star formation prescription are used to study the minor merger process between a giant galaxy (host) and a less massive spiral galaxy (satellite) with reasonable assumptions for the ages and metallicities of the merger progenitors. We find that the evolution of the star formation rate is extended over several dynamical times and shows peaks which correspond to pericentre passages of the satellite. The newly formed stars are mainly located in the central part of the satellite remnant while the older stars of the initial disk are deposited at larger radii in shell-like structures. After the final plunge of the satellite, star formation in the central part of the remnant can continue for several Gyrs depending on the star formation efficiency. Although the mass fraction in new stars is small, we find that the half-mass radius differs from the half-light radius in the V and H bands. Moreover synthetic 2D images in J, H, NUV, Hb and V bands, using the characteristic filters of the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), reveal that residual star formation induced by gas-rich minor mergers can be clearly observed during and after the final plunge, especially in the NUV band, for interacting systems at (z<0.023) over moderate numbers of orbits (~2 orbits correspond to typical exposure times of ~3600 sec). This suggests that WFC3 has the potential to resolve these substructures, characterize plausible past merger episodes, and give clues to the formation of early-type galaxies.

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arXiv2010

A Census of Nuclear Stellar Disks in Early-type Galaxies

Nuclear Stellar Disks (NSDs), of a few tens to hundreds of parsec across, are a common and yet poorly studied feature of early-type galaxies. Still, such small disks represent a powerful tool to constrain the assembling history of galaxies, since they can be used to trace to the epoch when galaxies experienced their last major merger event. By studying the fraction and stellar age of NSDs it is thus possible to test the predictions for the assembly history of early-type galaxies according the current hierarchical paradigm for galaxy formation. In this paper we have produced the most comprehensive census of NSDs in nearby early-type galaxies by searching for such disks in objects within 100 Mpc and by using archival images from the Hubble Space Telescope. We found that NSDs are present in approximately 20% of early-type galaxies, and that the fraction of galaxies with NSDs does not depend on their Hubble type nor on their galactic environment, whereas the incidence of NSDs appears to decline in the most massive systems. Furthermore, we have separated the light contribution of twelve such disks from that of their surrounding stellar bulge in order to extract their physical properties. This doubles the number of decomposed NSDs and although the derived values for their central surface brightness and scale-length are consistent with previous studies they also give a hint of possible different characteristics due to different formation scenario between nuclear disks and other kinds of large galactic disks.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2010

On the evolution of the intrinsic scatter in black hole versus galaxy mass relations

We present results on the evolution of the intrinsic scatter of black hole masses considering different implementations of a model in which black holes only grow via mergers. We demonstrate how merger driven growth affects the correlations between black hole mass and host bulge mass. The simple case of an initially log-normal distributed scatter in black hole and bulge masses combined with random merging within the galaxy population results in a decreasing scatter with merging generation/number as predicted by the Central-limit theorem. In general we find that the decrease in scatter σ is well approximated by σmerg(m) = σini \times (m + 1)^(-a/2) with a = 0.42 for a range of mean number of mergers m < 50. For a large mean number of mergers (m > 100) we find a convergence to a = 0.61. This is valid for a wide range of different initial distributions, refill-scenarios or merger mass-ratios. Growth scenarios based on halo merger trees of a (100 Mpc)^3 dark matter LambdaCDM-simulation show a similar behaviour with a scatter decrease of a = 0.30 with typical number of mergers m < 50 consistent with random merging (best matching model: a = 0.34). Assuming a present day scatter of 0.3 dex in black hole mass and a mean number of mergers not exceeding m = 50 our results imply a scatter of 0.6 dex at z = 3 and thus a possible scenario in which overmassive (and undermassive) black holes at high redshift are a consequence of a larger intrinsic scatter in black hole mass. A simple toy model connecting the growth of black holes to the growth of LambdaCDM dark matter halos via mergers, neglecting any contribution from accretion, yields a consistent M\cdot -MBulge relation at z = 0 - if we assume the correct initial relation.

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arXiv2010

Formation of slowly rotating early-type galaxies via major mergers: a Resolution Study

We study resolution effects in numerical simulations of gas-rich and gas-poor major mergers, and show that the formation of slowly-rotating elliptical galaxies often requires a resolution that is beyond the present-day standards to be properly modelled. Our sample of equal-mass merger models encompasses various masses and spatial resolutions, ranging from about 200pc and 10^5 particles per component, typical of some recently published major merger simulations, to up to 32pc and 10^3 M_sun in simulations using 2.4 x 10^7 collisionless particles and 1.2 x 10^7 gas particles, among the highest resolutions reached so far for gas-rich major merger of massive disc galaxies. We find that the formation of fast-rotating early-type galaxies, that are flattened by a significant residual rotation, is overall correctly reproduced at all such resolutions. However, the formation of slow-rotating early-type galaxies, which have a low residual angular momentum and are supported mostly by anisotropic velocity dispersions, is strongly resolution-dependent. The evacuation of angular momentum from the main stellar body is largely missed at standard resolution, and systems that should be slow rotators are then found to be fast rotators. The effect is most important for gas-rich mergers, but is also witnessed in mergers with an absent or modest gas component. The effect is robust with respect to our initial conditions and interaction orbits, and originates in the physical treatment of the relaxation process during the coalescence of the galaxies. Our findings show that a high-enough resolution is required to accurately model the global properties of merger remnants and the evolution of their angular momentum. The role of gas-rich mergers of spiral galaxies in the formation of slow-rotating ellipticals may therefore have been underestimated.

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arXiv2010

The transition from population III to population II-I star formation

We present results from the first cosmological simulations which study the onset of primordial, metal-free (population III), cosmic star formation and the transition to the present-day, metal-rich star formation (population II-I), including molecular (H$_2$, HD, etc.) evolution, tracing the injection of metals by supernovæ into the surrounding intergalactic medium and following the change in the initial stellar mass function (IMF) according to the metallicity of the corresponding stellar population. Our investigation addresses the role of a wide variety of parameters (critical metallicity for the transition, IMF slope and range, SN/pair-instability SN metal yields, star formation threshold, resolution, etc.) on the metal-enrichment history and the associated transition in the star formation mode. All simulations present common trends. Metal enrichment is very patchy, with rare, unpolluted regions surviving at all redshifts, inducing the simultaneous presence of metal-free and metal-rich star formation regimes. As a result of the rapid pollution within high-density regions due to the first SN/pair-instability SN, local metallicity is quickly boosted above the critical metallicity for the transition. The population III regime lasts for a very short period during the first stages of star formation ($\sim 10^7\,\rm yr$), and its average contribution to the total star formation rate density drops rapidly below $\sim 10^{-3}-10^{-2}$.

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arXiv2009

An HI view of the on-going assembly of early-type galaxies: present and future observations

We present a preliminary analysis of the HI properties of early-type galaxies in the ATLAS3D sample. Using WSRT data for ~100 galaxies outside the Virgo cluster and data from the Alfalfa project for galaxies inside Virgo, we discuss the dependence of HI properties on environment. We detect HI in about half of the galaxies outside Virgo. For these systems, the HI morphology and kinematics change as a function of environment, going from regular, rotating systems around isolated galaxies to progressively more disturbed structures for galaxies with neighbours or in groups. In denser environment, inside Virgo, nearly none of the galaxies contains HI. We discuss future work in this field which will be enabled by next-generation, pre-SKA radio instruments. We present a simulated Apertif HI observation of an ATLAS3D early-type galaxy, showing how its appearance and detection level vary as a function of redshift.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2009

Simulation of the Cosmic Evolution of Atomic and Molecular Hydrogen in Galaxies

We present a simulation of the cosmic evolution of the atomic and molecular phases of the cold hydrogen gas in about 3e7 galaxies, obtained by post-processing the virtual galaxy catalog produced by (De Lucia et al. 2007) on the Millennium Simulation of cosmic structure (Springel et al. 2005). Our method uses a set of physical prescriptions to assign neutral atomic hydrogen (HI) and molecular hydrogen (H2) to galaxies, based on their total cold gas masses and a few additional galaxy properties. These prescriptions are specially designed for large cosmological simulations, where, given current computational limitations, individual galaxies can only be represented by simplistic model-objects with a few global properties. Our recipes allow us to (i) split total cold gas masses between HI, H2, and Helium, (ii) assign realistic sizes to both the HI- and H2-disks, and (iii) evaluate the corresponding velocity profiles and shapes of the characteristic radio emission lines. The results presented in this paper include the local HI- and H2-mass functions, the CO-luminosity function, the cold gas mass--diameter relation, and the Tully-Fisher relation (TFR), which all match recent observational data from the local Universe. We also present high-redshift predictions of cold gas diameters and the TFR, both of which appear to evolve markedly with redshift.

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arXiv2009

Modeling The Star Forming Universe at z=2: Impact of Cold Accretion Flows

We present results of a semi-analytic model (SAM) that includes cold accretion and a porosity-based prescription for star formation. We can recover the puzzling observational results of low $V/σ$ seen in various massive disk or disk-like galaxies, if we allow 18 % of the accretion energy from cold flows to drive turbulence in gaseous disks at $z=2$. The increase of gas mass through cold flows is by itself not sufficient to increase the star formation rate sufficiently to recover the number density of $\dot{M}_*>120$ M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$ galaxies in our model. In addition, it is necessary to increase the star formation efficiency. This can be achieved naturally in the porosity model, where star formation efficiency scales $\propto σ$, which scales as cloud velocity dispersion. As cold accretion is the main driver for gas velocity dispersion in our model, star formation efficiency parallels cold accretion rates, and allows fast conversion into stars. At $z\sim 2$, we find a space density $~10^{-4}$ Mpc$^{-3}$ in star-forming galaxies with $\dot{M}_*>120$ M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$, in better agreement than earlier estimates form SAMs. However, the fundamental relation between $\dot{M}_*$ and $M_*$ is still offset from the observed relation, indicating the need for possibly more efficient star formation at high z perhaps associated with a role for AGN triggering.

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arXiv2009

Dry Mergers: A Crucial Test for Galaxy Formation

We investigate the role that dry mergers play in the build-up of massive galaxies within the cold dark matter paradigm. Implementing an empirical shut-off mass scale for star formation, we find a nearly constant dry merger rate of $ \sim 6 \times 10^{-5}$ Mpc$^{-3}$ Gyr$^{-1}$ at $z \leq 1$ and a steep decline at larger z. Less than half of these mergers are between two galaxies that are morphologically classified as early-types, and the other half is mostly between an early-type and late-type galaxy. Latter are prime candidates for the origin of tidal features around red elliptical galaxies. The introduction of a transition mass scale for star formation has a strong impact on the evolution of galaxies, allowing them to grow above a characteristic mass scale of $M_{*,c} \sim 6.3 \times 10^{10}$ M$_{\odot}$ by mergers only. As a consequence of this transition, we find that around $M_{*,c}$, the fraction of 1:1 mergers is enhanced with respect to unequal mass major mergers. This suggest that it is possible to detect the existence of a transition mass scale by measuring the relative contribution of equal mass mergers to unequal mass mergers as a function of galaxy mass. The evolution of the high-mass end of the luminosity function is mainly driven by dry mergers at low z. We however find that only $10% -20%$ of galaxies more massive than $M_{*,c}$ experience dry major mergers within their last Gyr at any given redshift $z \le 1$.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2009

Merger History of Galaxies and Disk+Bulge Formation

We discuss the transitions of galaxy morphologies within the CDM paradigm under the assumption of bulge formation in mergers and disk growth via cooling of gas and subsequent star formation. Based on the relative importance of these two competing processes it is possible to make predictions on the expected morphological mix of galaxies. In particular we here discuss the generation of massive disk galaxies with low bulge-to-total mass ratios. Our results indicate that it is difficult to generate enough massive disk galaxies with B/T $< 0.2$ via major mergers and subsequent disk re-growth, if during the major merger progenitor disks get disrupted completely. On average low B/T galaxies must have had there last major merger at $z \ge 2$. The main limiting factor is the ability to re-grow massive disks at late times after the last major merger of a galaxy. Taking into account the contribution from minor mergers ($4 \ge M_1/M_2$, $M_1 \ge M_2$) to the formation of bulges, we recover the right fraction of massive low B/T disk galaxies, indicating that minor mergers play an important role in the formation of massive low B/T disk galaxies.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2009

Modeling the High-z Universe: Probing Galaxy Formation

We discuss how the conditions at high redshift differ from those at low redshift, and what the impact is on the galaxy population. We focus in particular on the role of gaseous dissipation and its impact on sustaining high star formation rates as well as on driving star-bursts in mergers. Gas accretion onto galaxies at high redshifts occurs on a halo dynamical time allowing for very efficiently sustained star formation. In addition cold accretion flows are able to drive turbulence in high redshift disks at the level observed if at least 20% of the accretion energy is converted into random motion in the gaseous disk. In general we find that the fraction of gas involved in galaxy mergers is a strong function of time and increases with redshift. A model combining the role of dissipation during mergers and continued infall of satellite galaxies allows to reproduce the observed size-evolution of early-type galaxies with redshift. Furthermore we investigate how the evolution of the faint-end of the luminosity function can be explained in terms of the evolution of the underlying dark matter evolution.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2008

Adding Environmental Gas Physics to the Semi-Analytic Method for Galaxy Formation: Gravitational Heating

We present results of an attempt to include more detailed gas physics motivated from hydrodynamical simulations within semi-analytic models (SAM) of galaxy formation, focusing on the role that environmental effects play. The main difference to previous SAMs is that we include 'gravitational' heating of the intra-cluster medium (ICM) by the net surplus of gravitational potential energy released from gas that has been stripped from infalling satellites. Gravitational heating appears to be an efficient heating source able to prevent cooling in environments corresponding to dark matter halos more massive than $\sim 10^{13} $M$_{\odot}$. The energy release by gravitational heating can match that by AGN-feedback in massive galaxies and can exceed it in the most massive ones. However, there is a fundamental difference in the way the two processes operate. Gravitational heating becomes important at late times, when the peak activity of AGNs is already over, and it is very mass dependent. This mass dependency and time behaviour gives the right trend to recover down-sizing in the star-formation rate of massive galaxies. Abridged...

astro-ph↗
arXiv2007

UV-optical colours as probes of early-type galaxy evolution

We have studied ~2100 early-type galaxies in the SDSS DR3 which have been detected by the GALEX Medium Imaging Survey (MIS), in the redshift range 0 < z < 0.11. Combining GALEX UV photometry with corollary optical data from the SDSS, we find that, at a 95 percent confidence level, at least ~30 percent of galaxies in this sample have UV to optical colours consistent with some recent star formation within the last Gyr. In particular, galaxies with a NUV - r colour less than 5.5 are very likely to have experienced such recent star formation, taking into account the possibility of a contribution to NUV flux from the UV upturn phenomenon. We find quantitative agreement between the observations and the predictions of a semi-analytical LCDM hierarchical merger model and deduce that early-type galaxies in the redshift range 0 < z < 0.11 have ~1 to 3 percent of their stellar mass in stars less than 1 Gyr old. The average age of this recently formed population is ~300 to 500 Myrs. We also find that monolithically evolving galaxies, where recent star formation can be driven solely by recycled gas from stellar mass loss, cannot exhibit the blue colours (NUV - r < 5.5) seen in a significant fraction (~30 percent) of our observed sample.

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arXiv2007

The UV colours of high-redshift early-type galaxies: evidence for recent star formation and stellar mass assembly over the last 8 billion years

We combine deep UBVRIzJK photometry from the Multiwavelength Survey by Yale-Chile (MUSYC) with redshifts from the COMBO-17 survey to perform a large-scale study of the rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) properties of 674 high-redshift (0.5 -20.5) counterparts potentially forming 30-60 percent of their mass in the same redshift range. (abridged)

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arXiv2007

The hierarchical build-up of bulges in CDM

We investigate the hierarchical build-up of stars in bulges within the standard $Λ$-cold dark matter scenario. By separating the population into stars born during starbursts that accompany the formation of spheroids in major mergers ({\it starburst} component), and stars that are previously formed in discs of progenitor galaxies ({\it quiescent} component) and added to the spheroid by dynamical interaction. Our results are summarised as follows: bulges that form early have larger starburst fraction and hence should be smaller than their counter parts that form later. The quiescent fraction in bulges is an increasing function of bulge mass, becoming constant at $M_{\rm{q}}/M_{\rm{bul}} \sim 0.8$, mainly due to the infall of satellite galaxies that contribute disc stars to the bulge. Minor mergers are an order of magnitude more frequent than major mergers and must play a significant role in the evolution of bulges. Above the critical mass $M_{\rm{c}}\sim 3 \times 10^{10}$ M$_{\odot}$ most of the stars in the universe are in spheroids, which at high redshift are exclusively elliptical galaxies and at low redshifts partly bulges. Due to the enhanced evolution of galaxies ending up in high density environments, the starburst fraction and the surface mass densities of bulges below $M_{\rm{c}}$ should be enhanced with respect to field galaxies. Dissipation during the formation of massive bulges in present day early-type spirals is less important than for the formation of present day elliptical galaxies of the same mass thereby explaining the possible difference in phase-space densities between spiral galaxies and elliptical galaxies.

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