arXiv subjects

Xuchen Lin

Publications and source records attributed to Xuchen Lin.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

FEASTS and MHONGOOSE: HI Column Density Distribution at $z=0$ for $N_\mathrm{HI}>10^{17.8}\, \mathrm{cm}^{-2}$

We present the first $z=0$ HI column density distribution function, $f(N_\mathrm{HI})$, extending down to $\log (N_\mathrm{HI}/\mathrm{cm}^{-2})=17.8$. This was derived from high-sensitivity 21-cm emission-line imaging at $\sim$1 kpc resolution. At high-column-densities (19.8$< \log (N_\mathrm{HI}/\mathrm{cm}^{-2}) <$21.3), our results align with earlier $z=0$ studies but benefit from 100 times greater sensitivity. Comparisons with $z\sim3$ quasar absorption-line studies reveal that $f(N_\mathrm{HI})$ at $z=0$ is systematically lower by 0.1-0.4 dex for $19.2< \log (N_\mathrm{HI}/\mathrm{cm}^{-2}) <21$. However, the distributions become comparable at $17.8< \log (N_\mathrm{HI}/\mathrm{cm}^{-2}) <19.2$, suggesting weak evolution in this regime. Extrapolating the length incidence ($\mathrm{d}N/\mathrm{d}X$) for $\log (N_\mathrm{HI}/\mathrm{cm}^{-2}) >17.5$ implies a covering fraction ($f_\mathrm{cov}$) of $\sim0.7$ within 1-kpc-scale HI-detected pixels at $z=0$. Notably, for $17.8< \log (N_\mathrm{HI}/\mathrm{cm}^{-2}) <20$, impact parameters at a given $N_\mathrm{HI}$ are significantly lower than previous $z\sim0$ absorption-line results and TNG50 simulation predictions. This discrepancy indicates challenges in identifying galaxy counterparts for absorbers and in recovering low-column-density HI within cosmological simulations. Finally, we derive a covering fraction of 0.006 for $\log (N_\mathrm{HI}/\mathrm{cm}^{-2}) >17.8$ gas within the virial radius around Milky-Way-like galaxies. These findings provide new constraints on the baryonic flows and gaseous dynamics governing galaxy evolution.

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arXiv2025

FEASTS Compared with Simulations: Abnormally Irregular and Extended HI Morphologies at a Column Density of $10^{18}\,\text{cm}^{-2}$ in TNG50 and Auriga

With new atomic-hydrogen (HI) observations of FAST Extended Atlas of Selected Targets Survey (FEASTS), we present the first statistical comparison of HI morphology between observations and cosmological simulations, focusing on low-column density ($10^{18}\,\text{cm}^{-2}$) regions of Milky Way-like central galaxies. We select a 330-galaxy sample from IllustrisTNG50 (TNG50) matched to 33 FEASTS galaxies by stellar and HI masses, and mock observe them to the FAST resolution and depth at corresponding inclinations and distances for a fair comparison. In contrast to FEASTS, abnormally irregular and extended morphology is found in more than one-third of TNG50 galaxies, especially those massive and HI poor. Stellar feedback is the property that most significantly correlates with the HI morphological deviation from observations, although these deviations mostly occur at a high stellar or black-hole mass. These results indicate that in TNG50, stellar feedback significantly influences the HI morphology at $10^{18}\,\text{cm}^{-2}$, while active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback has not so direct a role as expected. With an additional sample from Auriga, we find that the magnetic field may help HI to be more regular in its morphology, while improving the mass resolution does not alleviate the discrepancy from observation. This study reveals the potential of constraining future simulations of galaxies by observing low-column density HI.

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arXiv2025

Decoding the Single-peaked HI Spectra of Low Redshift Post-starburst Galaxies

Recent observations with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) have revealed abundant reservoirs of neutral hydrogen (HI) in low redshift post-starburst galaxies (PSBs), raising the question of why star formation ceases rapidly in these systems. In this study, we present a detailed analysis of the shape of the integrated HI spectra of 67 PSBs. We find that PSBs exhibit significantly higher HI spectral concentration values ($K$) compared to a matched sample from xGASS, and are more comparable to those of starburst galaxies. By extending our analysis to spatially resolved HI data from THINGS and ATLAS$^{\rm 3D}$, we show that both centrally concentrated HI distributions and dynamically unsettled HI can effectively increase $K$, while non-axisymmetric structures only contribute to the scatter of the $K$ distribution. Distinguishing between central concentration and dynamically unsettled gas as the origin of high $K$ can be achieved by measuring the spectral asymmetry ($A_{\rm F}$), making the $K$-$A_{\rm F}$ plane a powerful diagnostic tool for identifying galaxies with unsettled HI using integrated spectra alone. Based on their location in the $K$-$A_{\rm F}$ plane, we find that most PSBs are not dominated by unsettled HI, but rather exhibit elevated central gas concentration. Both modes of gas redistribution in PSBs may eventually contribute to their quenching.

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arXiv2025

MeerKAT view of Hickson Compact Groups: II. HI deficiency in the core and surrounding regions

Hickson compact groups (HCGs) offer an ideal environment for investigating galaxy transformation as a result of interactions. It has been established that the evolutionary sequence of HCGs is marked by an intermediate stage characterised by a substantial amount of HI in their intragroup medium (IGrM) in the form of tidal tails and bridges (Phase 2), rapidly followed by a final stage where no IGrM gas is found and where their member galaxies are highly HI-deficient (Phase 3). Despite numerous single-dish and interferometric HI studies on the HCGs, a clear HI picture of the groups within their large-scale environment still remains to be uncovered. Taking advantage of the MeerKAT's high column density sensitivity and large field-of-view, we aim to investigate the rapid transformation of HCGs from the intermediate to late phases, and establish a picture of their gas content variations in the context of their large-scale environments. We performed MeerKAT observations of six HCGs selected to represent the intermediate and late phases of the proposed evolutionary sequence. Combining the HI observations with data from recent wide-field optical surveys, we evaluated the HI deficiencies of galaxies in a ~30' radius of the HCGs. We find that galaxies surrounding both phases exhibit similar distributions in their gas content. Similarly, galaxies making up the cores of Phase 2 HCGs are comparable to their neighbours in terms of HI deficiencies. However, Phase 3 groups are over an order of magnitude more deficient than their surroundings, supporting previous findings that late-phase HCG galaxies are more evolved than their large-scale environments.

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arXiv2025

FEASTS Combined with Interferometry (IV): Mapping HI Emission to a limit of $N_{\text{HI}}=10^{17.7} \text{cm}^{-2}$ in Seven Edge-on Galaxies

We present a statistical study of the neutral atomic hydrogen (HI) gas extending into the circumgalactic medium perpendicular to the disk for 7 edge-on galaxies with inclinations above $85^{\circ}$ from the FEASTS program with a $3\sigma$ ($20\,\text{km}\,\text{s}^{-1}$) column density ($N_{\text{HI}}$) depth of $5\times10^{17} \text{cm}^{-2}$. We develop two photometric methods to separate the extraplanar HI from the disk component, based on existing interferometric data and parametric modeling of the disk flux distribution respectively. With both methods, the FEASTS data exhibit clear extended wings beyond the disk along the minor axis. The extraplanar HI accounts for 5% to 20% of the total HI mass and extends to $20\text{-}50$ kpc at $N_{\text{HI}}=10^{18} \text{cm}^{-2}$. We find a tight positive correlation between vertical extensions of the extraplanar HI and total HI mass $M_\text{HI}$. The iso-density shape of HI at $N_{\text{HI}}=10^{18} \text{cm}^{-2}$ has an average axis ratio of $0.56\pm0.11$. The off-disk $N_{\text{HI}}$ profiles of these edge-on galaxies well represent the lower envelop of previous Lyman-$\alpha$ absorption measurements at low-redshift. Our results suggest that at $N_{\text{HI}}=5\times10^{17} \text{cm}^{-2}$, the HI extends considerably further than the known thin and thick disks in the vertical direction, but still remains much flattener than a spherical distribution, consistent with theoretical expectations that outflow, circulation, and accretion should have different impacts in these two directions. We show the tension of our results with Illustris and TNG predictions, highlighting the constraining power of our results for future simulations.

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arXiv2025

FEASTS Combined with Interferometry. III. The Low Column Density HI Around M51 and Possibility of Turbulent-mixing Gas Accretion

With a new joint-deconvolution pipeline, we combine the single-dish and interferometric atomic hydrogen (HI) data of M51 observed by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) (FEASTS program) and the Very Large Array (VLA) (THINGS). The product data cube has a typical line width of $13\,\text{km}\,\text{s}^{-1}$ and a $2\sigma$ line-of-sight (LOS) sensitivity of HI column density $N_\text{HI}\sim3.2\times10^{18}\,\text{cm}^{-2}$ at a spatial resolution of ${\sim}18''$ (${\sim}0.7\,\text{kpc}$). Among the HI-detected LOSs extending to ${\sim}50\,\text{kpc}$, ${\sim}89\%$ consist of diffuse HI only, which is missed by previous VLA observations. The distribution of dense HI is reproduced by previous hydrodynamical simulations of this system, but the diffuse component is not, likely due to unresolved physics related to the interaction between the circumgalactic and interstellar media. With simple models, we find that these low-$N_\text{HI}$ structures could survive the background ultraviolet photoionization, but are susceptible to the thermal evaporation. We find a positive correlation between LOS velocity dispersion ($\sigma_v$) and $N_\text{HI}$ with a logarithmic index of ${\sim}0.5$. Based on existing turbulent mixing layer (TML) theories and simulations, we propose a scenario of hot gas cooling and accreting onto the disk through a TML, which could reproduce the observed power index of ${\sim}0.5$. We estimate the related cooling and accretion rates to be roughly one-third to two-thirds of the star-formation rate. A typical column density of diffuse HI (${\sim}10^{19}\,\text{cm}^{-2}$) can be accreted within $300\,\text{Myr}$, the interaction time scale previously estimated for the system. Such a gas accretion channel has been overlooked before, and may be important for gas-rich interacting systems and for high redshift galaxy evolution.

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arXiv2025

FEASTS: The Fate of Gas and Star Formation in Interacting Galaxies

We use HI data from the FAST Extended Atlas of Selected Targets Survey (FEASTS) to study the interplay between gas and star formation of galaxies in interacting systems. We build control and mock HI disks and parameterize HI disorder by a series of disorder parameters, describing the piling, clumpiness and expansion of HI. We find that interacting galaxies have higher HI disorder described by almost all disorder parameters. Systems with comparable stellar masses and small relative velocities tend to have stronger expansion and clumpiness of HI. At a given stellar mass, decreased HI and total neutral gas mass and suppressed star formation rate of secondary galaxies are correlated with most disorder parameters. For primary galaxies, HI and total neutral gas deficiency correlate with more HI piling at two ends of the system outside HI disks but not with the expansion or clumpiness of HI. We also find that the HI surface densities of both primary and secondary galaxies are lower within the HI disks and higher outside compared to the control galaxies. Our results suggest that while all the disorder parameters quantify the interaction strength almost equally well, they have different sensitivities in tracing star formation rate and gas mass enhancements. They also imply that while gas removal likely dominates the tidal effects on secondary galaxies, primary galaxies experience more complex situation that are possibly related to gas depletion and accretion happening at different interaction stages.

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arXiv2025

Recent Developments on the HI Gas of Low-Redshift Galaxies Seen by the 21cm Emission Lines

As a major interstellar medium, the atomic neutral hydrogen (HI) plays an important role in the galaxy evolution. It provides the ingredient for star formation, and sensitively traces the internal processes and external perturbations influencing the galaxy. With the beginning of many new radio telescopes and surveys, HI may make a more significant contribution to the understanding of galaxies in the near future. This review discusses the major development of the $21\,\text{cm}$ emission-line HI observations and studies in the past few years, including its scaling relations with other galaxy properties, its kinematics and structures, its role in environmental studies, and its constraints on hydrodynamical simulations. The local-Universe HI scaling relations of stellar-mass--selected samples extend smoothly to $10^9\,\text{M}_\odot$ stellar mass, with a tentative evolution to the redshift of ${\sim}0.1$. The development of measurement techniques enables better estimations of HI non-circular motion, dispersion, and thickness, and new observations revealed extended or extra-planar HI structures, both helpfully constraining the gas accretion, stellar feedback, and star formation processes of galaxy evolution models. HI is very useful for tracing the on-going satellite evolution in dense environments, the studies of which would benefit from ongoing blind HI surveys. Though simulations still cannot fully reproduce HI gas properties, they help to understand the role of possible factors in regulating HI properties. We also discuss possible future progress with new observations at FAST.

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arXiv2025

FEASTS: Radial Distribution of HI surface densities down to 0.01 M$_{\odot}$ pc$^{-2}$ of 35 Nearby Galaxies

We present the HI surface density ($\Sigma_{\rm HI}$) radial distributions based on total-power HI images obtained by FAST in the FEASTS program, for 35 galaxies with inclinations lower than 72 degree. We derive the HI radius $R_{001}$, which is the radius for the 0.01 $\,M_{\odot}\,{\rm pc}^{-2}$ ($\sim10^{18.1}\,{\rm cm}^{-2}$) iso-density level, 100 times deeper than the 1 $\,M_{\odot}\,{\rm pc}^{-2}$ level previously commonly used to measure $R_1$. The profile shapes show a large diversity at a given radius in units of kpc, group virial radius, and $R_1$, but align more tightly with radius normalized by $R_{001}$. The universal HI profile has a scatter of $\sim0.2$ dex, and a scale-length of $\sim0.11R_{001}$ in the outer region. We derive a new $R_{001}$-$M_{\rm HI}$ relation, which has a scatter of 0.02 dex, and similar slope of $\sim$0.5 as the previously known $R_1$-$M_{\rm HI}$ relation. Excluding strongly tidal-interacting galaxies, the ratio $R_{001}/R_1$ (anti-)correlate strongly and significantly with the HI-to-stellar mass ratio and sSFR, but not with the stellar mass, $M_{\rm HI}$, dark matter mass, or SFR. The strongly tidal-interacting galaxies tend to show deviations from these trends, and have the most flattened profiles. These results imply that in absence of major tidal interactions, physical processes must cooperate so that $\Sigma_{\rm HI}$ distributes in a self-similar way in the outer region down to the 0.01$\,M_{\odot}\,{\rm pc}^{-2}$ level. Moreover, they may drive gas flows in such a way, that HI-richer galaxies have HI disks not only extend further, but also transport HI inward more efficiently from $R_{001}$ to $R_1$.

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arXiv2024

WALLABY Pilot Survey: Star Formation Enhancement and Suppression in Gas-rich Galaxy Pairs

Galaxy interactions can significantly affect the star formation in galaxies, but it remains a challenge to achieve a consensus on the star formation rate (SFR) enhancement in galaxy pairs. Here, we investigate the SFR enhancement of gas-rich galaxy pairs detected by the Widefield ASKAP L-band Legacy All-sky Blind surveY (WALLABY). We construct a sample of 278 paired galaxies spanning a stellar mass ($M_\ast$) range from $10^{7.6}$ to $10^{11.2}M_\odot$. We obtain individual masses of atomic hydrogen (HI) for these paired galaxies, using a novel deblending algorithm for HI data cubes. Quantifying the interaction stages and strengths with parameters motivated by first principles, we find that at fixed stellar and HI mass, the alteration in SFR of galaxy pairs starts when their dark matter halos encounter. For galaxies with stellar mass lower than $10^9M_\odot$, their SFRs show tentative suppression of 1.4 sigma after the halo encounter, and then become enhanced when their HI disks overlap, regardless of mass ratios. In contrast, the SFRs of galaxies with $M_\ast > 10^9M_\odot$ increase monotonically toward smaller projected distances and radial velocity offsets. When a close companion is present, a pronounced SFR enhancement is found for the most HI-poor high-mass galaxies in our sample. Collecting the observational evidence, we provide a coherent picture of the evolution of galaxy pairs, and discuss how the tidal effects and hydrodynamic processes shape the SFR enhancement. Our results provide a coherent picture of gas-rich galaxy interactions and impose constraints on the underlying physical processes.

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arXiv2024

FEASTS Combined with Interferometry (II): Significantly Changed HI Surface Densities and Even More Inefficient Star Formation in Galaxy Outer Disks

We update the HI surface density measurements for a subset of 17 THINGS galaxies by dealing with the short-spacing problem of the original VLA HI images. It is the same sample that Bigiel et al. (2010) used to study the relation between HI surface densities and star formation rate surface densities in galaxy outer disks, which are beyond the optical radius r25. For ten galaxies, the update is based on combining original THINGS VLA HI images with HI images taken by the single-dish FAST in the FEASTS program. The median increment of HI surface densities in outer disks is 0.15 to 0.4 dex at a given new HI surface density. Several galaxies change significantly in the shape of radial profiles HI surface densities, and seven galaxies are now more than 1-$\sigma$ below the HI size-mass relation. We update the HI star formation laws in outer disks. The median relation between HI surface densities and star formation rate surface densities based on pixelwise measurements shifts downward by around 0.15 dex because the HI surface density values shift rightward, and the scatter increases significantly. The scatter of the relation, indicating the star forming efficiency, exhibits a much stronger positive correlation with the stellar mass surface density than before. Thus, detecting the previously missed, diffuse HI due to short-spacing problem of the VLA observation is important in revealing the true condition and variation of star formation possibly regulated by stellar feedbacks in localized environment of outer disks.

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arXiv2024

FEASTS Combined with Interferometry (I): Overall Properties of Diffuse HI and Implications for Gas Accretion in Nearby Galaxies

We present a statistical study of the properties of diffuse HI in ten nearby galaxies, comparing the HI detected by the single-dish telescope FAST (FEASTS program) and the interferometer VLA (THINGS program), respectively. The THINGS' observation missed HI with a median of 23% due to the short-spacing problem of interferometry and limited sensitivity. We extract the diffuse HI by subtracting the dense HI, which is obtained from the THINGS data with a uniform flux-density threshold, from the total HI detected by FAST. Among the sample, the median diffuse-HI fraction is 34%, and more diffuse HI is found in galaxies exhibiting more prominent tidal-interaction signatures. The diffuse HI we detected seems to be distributed in disk-like layers within a typical thickness of $1\,\text{kpc}$, different from the more halo-like diffuse HI detected around NGC 4631 in a previous study. Most of the diffuse HI is cospatial with the dense HI and has a typical column density of $10^{17.7}$-$10^{20.1}\,\text{cm}^{-2}$. The diffuse and dense HI exhibits a similar rotational motion, but the former lags by a median of 25% in at least the inner disks, and its velocity dispersions are typically twice as high. Based on a simplified estimation of circum-galactic medium properties and assuming pressure equilibrium, the volume density of diffuse HI appears to be constant within each individual galaxy, implying its role as a cooling interface. Comparing with existing models, these results are consistent with a possible link between tidal interactions, the formation of diffuse HI, and gas accretion.

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arXiv2023

FAST-ASKAP Synergy: Quantifying Coexistent Tidal and Ram Pressure Strippings in the NGC 4636 Group

Combining new HI data from a synergetic survey of ASKAP WALLABY and FAST with the ALFALFA data, we study the effect of ram pressure and tidal interactions in the NGC 4636 group. We develop two parameters to quantify and disentangle these two effects on gas stripping in HI-bearing galaxies: the strength of external forces at the optical-disk edge, and the outside-in extents of HI-disk stripping. We find that gas stripping is widespread in this group, affecting 80% of HI-detected non-merging galaxies, and that 41% are experiencing both types of stripping. Among the galaxies experiencing both effects, the two types of strengths are independent, while two HI-stripping extents moderately anticorrelate with each other. Both strengths are correlated with HI-disk shrinkage. The tidal strength is related to a rather uniform reddening of low-mass galaxies ($M_*<10^9\,\text{M}_\odot$) when tidal stripping is the dominating effect. In contrast, ram pressure is not clearly linked to the color-changing patterns of galaxies in the group. Combining these two stripping extents, we estimate the total stripping extent, and put forward an empirical model that can describe the decrease of HI richness as galaxies fall toward the group center. The stripping timescale we derived decreases with distance to the center, from $\mathord{\sim}1\,\text{Gyr}$ beyond $R_{200}$ to $\mathord{\lesssim}10\,\text{Myr}$ near the center. Gas-depletion happens $\mathord{\sim}3\,\text{Gyr}$ since crossing $2R_{200}$ for HI-rich galaxies, but much quicker for HI-poor ones. Our results quantify in a physically motivated way the details and processes of environmental-effects-driven galaxy evolution, and might assist in analyzing hydrodynamic simulations in an observational way.

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arXiv2023

FEASTS: IGM cooling triggered by tidal interactions through the diffuse HI phase around NGC 4631

We use the single-dish radio telescope FAST to map the HI in the tidally interacting NGC 4631 group with a resolution of 3.24$'$ (7 kpc), reaching a 5-$\sigma$ column density limit of $10^{17.9}$ cm$^{-2}$ assuming a line width of 20 km s$^{-1}$. Taking the existing interferometric HI image from the HALOGAS project of WSRT as reference, we are able to identify and characterize a significant excess of large-scale, low-density, and diffuse HI in the group. This diffuse HI extends for more than 120 kpc across, and accounts for more than one fourth of the total HI detected by FAST in and around the galaxy NGC 4631. In the region of the tidal tails, the diffuse HI has a typical column density above $10^{19.5}$ cm$^{-2}$, and is highly turbulent with a velocity dispersion around 50 km s$^{-1}$. It increases in column density with the dense HI, and tends to be associated with the kinematically ``hotter'' part of the dense HI. Through simple modeling, we find that the majority of the diffuse HI in the tail region is likely to induce cooling out of the hot IGM instead of evaporating or being radiatively ionized. Given these relations of gas in different phases, the diffuse HI may represent a condensing phase of the IGM. Active tidal interactions on-going and in the past may have produced the wide-spreading HI distribution, and triggered the gas accretion to NGC 4631 through the phase of the diffuse HI.

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arXiv2022

ALMA/ACA CO Survey of the IC 1459 and NGC 4636 Groups: Environmental Effects on the Molecular Gas of Group Galaxies

We present new results of a 12CO(J=1-0) imaging survey using the Atacama Compact Array (ACA) for 31 HI detected galaxies in the IC 1459 and NGC 4636 groups. This is the first CO imaging survey for loose galaxy groups. We obtained well-resolved CO data (~0.7-1.5 kpc) for a total of 16 galaxies in two environments. By comparing our ACA CO data with the HI and UV data, we probe the impacts of the group environment on the cold gas components (CO and HI gas) and star formation activity. We find that CO and/or HI morphologies are disturbed in our group members, some of which show highly asymmetric CO distributions (e.g., IC 5264, NGC 7421, and NGC 7418). In comparison with isolated galaxies in the xCOLD GASS sample, our group galaxies tend to have low star formation rates and low H2 gas fractions. Our findings suggest that the group environment can change the distribution of cold gas components, including the molecular gas, and star formation properties of galaxies. This is supporting evidence that preprocessing in the group-like environment can play an important role in galaxy evolution.

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arXiv2021

WALLABY Pre-Pilot Survey: The effects of tidal interaction on radial distribution of color in galaxies of the Eridanus supergroup

We study the tidal interaction of galaxies in the Eridanus supergroup, using HI data from the pre-pilot survey of WALLABY (Widefield ASKAP L-band Legacy All-sky Blind surveY). We obtain optical photometric measurements and quantify the strength of tidal perturbation using a tidal parameter $S_{sum}$. For low-mass galaxies of $M_* \lesssim 10^9 M_\odot$, we find a dependence of decreasing HI-to-optical disk size ratio with increasing $S_{sum}$, but no dependence of HI spectral line asymmetry with $S_{sum}$. This is consistent with the behavior expected under tidal stripping. We confirm that the color profile shape and color gradient depend on the stellar mass, but there is additional correlation of low-mass galaxies having their color gradients within $2R_{50}$ increasing with higher $S_{sum}$. For these low-mass galaxies, the dependence of color gradients on $S_{sum}$ is driven by color becoming progressively redder in the inner disk when tidal perturbations are stronger. For high-mass galaxies, there is no dependence of color gradients on $S_{sum}$, and we find a marginal reddening throughout the disks with increasing $S_{sum}$. Our result highlights tidal interaction as an important environmental effect in producing the faint end of the star formation suppressed sequence in galaxy groups.

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