arXiv subjects

Yanmei Chen

Publications and source records attributed to Yanmei Chen.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2024

Spatially resolved analysis of Stellar Populations in NGC 2992: Impact of AGN feedback

In NGC 2992, a galaxy-scale ionized gas outflow driven by AGN has long been recognized, yet its impact on the host galaxy has remained elusive. In this paper, we utilize data from the archival Very Large Telescope (VLT)/MUSE to present a spatially resolved analysis of stellar populations in this galaxy. Two different stellar population templates are employed to fit the stellar continuum, allowing us to determine the light-weighted stellar age, metallicity, the fraction of the young stellar population (age $<100$ Myr, $P_{\rm Y}$), and the average age and metallicity of $P_{\rm Y}$. Our results reveal the presence of a very young stellar population ($\leq40$ Myr) within the dust lane and nearly along the galaxy's major axis. The light-weighted stellar age and the fraction of $P_{\rm Y}$ show negative trends along the major and minor axes. The average age and metallicity of $P_{\rm Y}$ present positive trends with increasing distance, except along the northern direction of the major axis. Within the circumnuclear region ($<1$ kpc), the distribution of the young stellar population is spatially anti-correlated with the AGN outflow cone. The highest fraction of $P_{\rm Y}$ is observed at the outskirts of the nuclear radio bubble in the northern region near the nucleus. Considering the coupling efficiency and timescales, we propose that the AGN outflow in this galaxy may exert both negative and positive feedback on its host. Additionally, the star formation and the AGN activities could be attributed to the interaction between NGC 2992 and NGC 2993.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

Noema formIng Cluster survEy (NICE): Discovery of a starbursting galaxy group with a radio-luminous core at z=3.95

The study of distant galaxy groups and clusters at the peak epoch of star formation is limited by the lack of a statistically and homogeneously selected and spectroscopically confirmed sample. Recent discoveries of concentrated starburst activities in cluster cores have opened a new window to hunt for these structures based on their integrated IR luminosities. Hereby we carry out the large NOEMA (NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array) program targeting a statistical sample of infrared-luminous sources associated with overdensities of massive galaxies at z>2, the Noema formIng Cluster survEy (NICE). We present the first result from the ongoing NICE survey, a compact group at z=3.95 in the Lockman Hole field (LH-SBC3), confirmed via four massive (M_star>10^10.5M_sun) galaxies detected in CO(4-3) and [CI](1-0) lines. The four CO-detected members of LH-SBC3 are distributed over a 180 kpc physical scale, and the entire structure has an estimated halo mass of ~10^13Msun and total star formation rate (SFR) of ~4000Msun/yr. In addition, the most massive galaxy hosts a radio-loud AGN with L_1.4GHz, rest = 3.0*10^25W/Hz. The discovery of LH-SBC3 demonstrates the feasibility of our method to efficiently identify high-z compact groups or forming cluster cores. The existence of these starbursting cluster cores up to z~4 provides critical insights into the mass assembly history of the central massive galaxies in clusters.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

Are High $Σ_1$ Massive Blue Spiral Galaxies Rejuvenated Systems?

Quiescent galaxies generally possess denser cores than star-forming galaxies with similar mass. As a measurement of the core density, the central stellar mass surface density within a radius of 1 kpc ($Σ_1$) was thus suggested to be closely related to galaxy quenching. Massive star-forming galaxies with high $Σ_1$ do not fit into this picture. To understand the origin of such galaxies, we compare the spatially-resolved stellar population and star formation properties of massive ($ > 10^{10.5}{\rm M}_{\odot}$) blue spiral galaxies with high and low $Σ_1$, divided by $Σ_1 = 10^{9.4} M_\odot \, {\rm kpc}^{-2}$, based on the final release of MaNGA IFU data. We find that both high $Σ_1$ and low $Σ_1$ blue spirals show large diversities in stellar population and star formation properties. Despite the diversities, high $Σ_1$ blue spirals are statistically different from the low $Σ_1$ ones. Specifically, the radial profiles of the luminosity-weighted age and Mgb/${\rm \langle Fe \rangle}$ show that high $Σ_1$ blue spirals consist of a larger fraction of galaxies with younger and less $α$-element enhanced centers than their low $Σ_1$ counterparts, $\sim 55\%$ versus $\sim 30\%$. The galaxies with younger centers mostly have higher central specific star formation rates, which still follow the spaxel-based star formation main sequence relation though. Examinations of the H$α$ velocity field and the optical structures suggest that galactic bars or galaxy interactions should be responsible for the rejuvenation of these galaxies. The remaining $\sim 45\% $ of high $Σ_1$ blue spirals are consistent with the inside-out growth scenario.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

Uncovering the formation of the counter-rotating stellar disks in SDSS J074834.64+444117.8

Using the integral field spectroscopic data from Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory survey, we study the kinematics and stellar population properties of the two counter-rotating stellar disks in a nearby galaxy SDSS J074834.64+444117.8. We disentangle the two stellar disks by three methods, including CaII $λ$8542 double Gaussian fit, pPXF spectral decomposition, and orbit-based dynamical model. These three different methods give consistent stellar kinematics. The pPXF spectral decomposition provides the spectra of two stellar disks, with one being more luminous across the whole galaxy named primary disk, and the other named secondary disk. The primary disk is counter-rotating with ionized gas, while the secondary disk is co-rotating with ionized gas. The secondary disk has younger stellar population and poorer stellar metallicity than the primary disk. We estimate the stellar mass ratio between the primary and secondary disks to be $\sim$5.2. The DESI $g$, $r$, $z$ color image doesn't show any merger remnant feature in this galaxy. These findings support a scenario that the counter-rotating stellar disks in SDSS J074834.64+444117.8 formed through gas accretion from the cosmic web or a gas-rich companion.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

Bilateral boundary control of an input delayed 2-D reaction-diffusion equation

In this paper, a delay compensation design method based on PDE backstepping is developed for a two-dimensional reaction-diffusion partial differential equation (PDE) with bilateral input delays. The PDE is defined in a rectangular domain, and the bilateral control is imposed on a pair of opposite sides of the rectangle. To represent the delayed bilateral inputs, we introduce two 2-D transport PDEs that form a cascade system with the original PDE. A novel set of backstepping transformations is proposed for delay compensator design, including one Volterra integral transformation and two affine Volterra integral transformations. Unlike the kernel equation for 1-D PDE systems with delayed boundary input, the resulting kernel equations for the 2-D system have singular initial conditions governed by the Dirac Delta function. Consequently, the kernel solutions are written as a double trigonometric series with singularities. To address the challenge of stability analysis posed by the singularities, we prove a set of inequalities by using the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality, the 2-D Fourier series, and the Parseval's theorem. A numerical simulation illustrates the effectiveness of the proposed delay-compensation method.

math.OC↗

arXiv2022

Sub-percentage measure of distances to redshift of 0.1 by a new cosmic ruler

Distance-redshift diagrams probe expansion history of the Universe. We show that the stellar mass-binding energy (massE) relation of galaxies proposed in our previous study offers a new distance ruler at cosmic scales. By using elliptical galaxies in the main galaxy sample of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7, we construct a distance-redshift diagram over the redshift range from 0.05 to 0.2 with the massE ruler. The best-fit dark energy density is 0.675+-0.079 for flat Lambda-CDM, consistent with those by other probes. At the median redshift of 0.11, the median distance is estimated to have a fractional error of 0.34%, much lower than those by supernova (SN) Ia and baryonic acoustic oscillation (BAO) and even exceeding their future capability at this redshift. The above low-z measurement is useful for probing dark energy that dominates at the late Universe. For a flat dark energy equation of state model (flat wCDM), the massE alone constrains w to an error that is only a factor of 2.2, 1.7 and 1.3 times larger than those by BAO, SN Ia, and cosmic microwave background (CMB), respectively.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

HI content of massive red spiral galaxies observed by FAST

A sample of 279 massive red spirals was selected optically by Guo et al. (2020), among which 166 galaxies have been observed by the ALFALFA survey. In this work, we observe HI content of the rest 113 massive red spiral galaxies using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST). 75 of the 113 galaxies have HI detection with a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) greater than 4.7. Compared with the red spirals in the same sample that have been observed by the ALFALFA survey, galaxies observed by FAST have on average a higher S/N, and reach to a lower HI mass. To investigate why many red spirals contain a significant amount of HI mass, we check color profiles of the massive red spirals using images observed by the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys. We find that galaxies with HI detection have bluer outer disks than the galaxies without HI detection, for both ALFALFA and FAST samples. For galaxies with HI detection, there exists a clear correlation between galaxy HI mass and g-r color at outer radius: galaxies with higher HI masses have bluer outer disks. The results indicate that optically selected massive red spirals are not fully quenched, and the HI gas observed in many of the galaxies may exist in their outer blue disks.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

SDSS-IV MaNGA: Global Properties of Kinematically Misaligned Galaxies

We select 456 gas-star kinematically misaligned galaxies from the internal Product Launch-10 of MaNGA survey, including 74 star-forming (SF), 136 green-valley (GV) and 206 quiescent (QS) galaxies. We find that the distributions of difference between gas and star position angles for galaxies have three local peaks at $\sim0^{\circ}$, $90^{\circ}$, $180^{\circ}$. The fraction of misaligned galaxies peaks at $\log(M_*/M_{\odot})\sim10.5$ and declines to both low and high mass end. This fraction decreases monotonically with increasing SFR and sSFR. We compare the global parameters including gas kinematic asymmetry $V_{\mathrm{asym}}$, HI detection rate and mass fraction of molecular gas, effective radius $R_e$, Sérsic index $n$ as well as spin parameter $λ_{R_e}$ between misaligned galaxies and their control samples. We find that the misaligned galaxies have lower HI detection rate and molecular gas mass fraction, smaller size, higher Sérsic index and lower spin parameters than their control samples. The SF and GV misaligned galaxies are more asymmetric in gas velocity fields than their controls. These observational evidences point to the gas accretion scenario followed by angular momentum redistribution from gas-gas collision, leading to gas inflow and central star formation for the SF and GV misaligned galaxies. We propose three possible origins of the misaligned QS galaxies: (1) external gas accretion; (2) merger; (3) GV misaligned galaxies evolve into QS galaxies.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

SDSS IV MaNGA: Characteristics of Edge-on Galaxies with a Counter-rotating Gaseous Disk

Counter-rotating components in galaxies are one of the most direct forms of evidence for past gas accretion or merging. We discovered ten edge-on disk gaseous counter-rotators in a sample of 523 edge-on galaxies identified in the final MaNGA (Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO) IFU sample. The counter-rotators tend to located in small groups. The gaseous counter-rotators have intermediate stellar masses and and located in the green valley and red sequence of the color magnitude diagram. The average vertical extents of the stellar and ionized gas disks are the same as for the rest of the sample while their radial gas and stellar distributions are more centrally concentrated. This may point at angular momentum loss during the formation process of the counter-rotating disks. The counter-rotators have low gas and dust content, weak emission line strengths, and low star formation rates. This suggests that the formation of counter-rotators may be an efficient way to quench galaxies. One counter-rotator, SDSS J080016.09+292817.1 (Galaxy F), has a post starburst region and a possible AGN at the center. Another counter-rotator, SDSS J131234.03+482159.8 (Galaxy H), is identified as a potential on-going galaxy interaction with its companion satellite galaxy, a gas rich spiral galaxy. This may be representative case of a gaseous counter-rotator forming through a merger origin. However, tidal distortions expected in mergers are only found in a few of the galaxies and we cannot rule out direct gas accretion as another formation mechanism.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

SDSS-IV MaNGA : spatial resolved properties of kinematically misaligned galaxies

We select 456 galaxies with kinematically misaligned gas and stellar components from 9546 parent galaxies in MaNGA, and classify them into 72 star-forming galaxies, 142 green-valley galaxies and 242 quiescent galaxies. Comparing the spatial resolved properties of the misaligned galaxies with control samples closely match in the D$_n$4000 and stellar velocity dispersion, we find that: (1) the misaligned galaxies have lower values in $V_{\rm gas}/σ_{\rm gas}$ and $V_{\rm star}/σ_{\rm star}$ (the ratio between ordered to random motion of gas and stellar components) across the entire galaxies than their control samples; (2) the star-forming and green-valley misaligned galaxies have enhanced central concentrated star formation than their control galaxies. The difference in stellar population between quiescent misaligned galaxies and control samples is small; (3) gas-phase metallicity of the green valley and quiescent misaligned galaxies are lower than the control samples. For the star forming misaligned galaxies, the difference in metallicity between the misaligned galaxies and their control samples strongly depends on how we select the control samples. All these observational results suggest external gas accretion influences the evolution of star forming and green valley galaxies, not only in kinematics/morphologies, but also in stellar populations. However, the quiescent misaligned galaxies have survived from different formation mechanisms.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

Different Formation Scenarios of Counter-rotating Stellar Disks in Nearby Galaxies

Using the integral field unit (IFU) data from Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey, we select a sample of 101 galaxies with counter-rotating stellar disks and regularly-rotating ionized gas disk. We classify the 101 galaxies into four types based on the features of their stellar velocity fields. The relative fractions and stellar population age radial gradients of the four types are different in blue cloud (BC), green valley (GV) and red sequence (RS) populations. We suggest different formation scenarios for the counter-rotating stellar disks, and the key factors in the formation of counter-rotating stellar disks include: (1) the abundance of pre-existing gas in progenitor, (2) the efficiency in angular momentum consumption.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

Spatially Resolved Properties of Supernova Host Galaxies in SDSS-IV MaNGA

We crossmatch galaxies from Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory with the Open Supernova Catalog, obtaining a total of 132 SNe within MaNGA bundle. These 132 SNe can be classified into 67 Type Ia and 65 Type CC. We study the global and local properties of supernova host galaxies statistically. Type Ia SNe are distributed in both star-forming galaxies and quiescent galaxies, while Type CC SNe are all distributed along the star-forming main sequence. As the stellar mass increases, the Type Ia/CC number ratio increases. We find: (1) there is no obvious difference in the interaction possibilities and environments between Type Ia SN hosts and a control sample of galaxies with similar stellar mass and SFR distributions, except that Type Ia SNe tend to appear in galaxies which are more bulge-dominated than their controls. For Type CC SNe, there is no difference between their hosts and the control galaxies in galaxy morphology, interaction possibilities as well as environments; (2) the SN locations have smaller velocity dispersion, lower metallicity, and younger stellar population than galaxy centers. This is a natural result of radius gradients of all these parameters. The SN location and the its symmetrical position relative to the galaxy center, as well as regions with similar effective radii have very similar [Mg/Fe], gas-phase metallicity, gas velocity dispersion and stellar population age.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

A universal relationship between stellar masses and binding energies of galaxies

In this study we demonstrate that stellar masses of galaxies (Mstar) are universally correlated through a double power law function with the product of the dynamical velocities (Ve) and sizes to one-fourth power (Re^0.25) of galaxies, both measured at the effective radii. The product VeRe^0.25 represents the fourth root of the total binding energies within effective radii of galaxies. This stellar mass-binding energy correlation has an observed scatter of 0.14 dex in log(VeRe^0.25) and 0.46 dex in log(Mstar). It holds for a variety of galaxy types over a stellar mass range of nine orders of magnitude, with little evolution over cosmic time. A toy model of self-regulation between binding energies and supernovae feedback is shown to be able to reproduce the observed slopes, but the underlying physical mechanisms are still unclear. The correlation can be a potential distance estimator with an uncertainty of 0.2 dex independent of the galaxy type.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

SDSS-IV MaNGA: Enhanced Star Formation in Galactic-scale Outflows

Using the integral field unit (IFU) data from Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey, we collect a sample of 36 star forming galaxies that host galactic-scale outflows in ionized gas phase. The control sample is matched in the three dimensional parameter space of stellar mass, star formation rate and inclination angle. Concerning the global properties, the outflows host galaxies tend to have smaller size, more asymmetric gas disk, more active star formation in the center and older stellar population than the control galaxies. Comparing the stellar population properties along axes, we conclude that the star formation in the outflows host galaxies can be divided into two branches. One branch evolves following the inside-out formation scenario. The other locating in the galactic center is triggered by gas accretion or galaxy interaction, and further drives the galactic-scale outflows. Besides, the enhanced star formation and metallicity along minor axis of outflows host galaxies uncover the positive feedback and metal entrainment in the galactic-scale outflows. Observational data in different phases with higher spatial resolution are needed to reveal the influence of galactic-scale outflows on the star formation progress in detail.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

Probing possible effects of circumgalactic media on the metal content of galaxies through the mass-metallicity relationship

The circumgalactic medium (CGM) connects the gas between the interstellar medium (ISM) and the intergalactic medium, which plays an important role in galaxy evolution. We use the stellar mass-metallicity relationship to investigate whether sharing the CGM will affect the distribution of metals in galaxy pairs. The optical emission lines from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release (SDSS DR7) are used to measure the gas-phase metallicity. We find that there is no significant difference in the distribution of the metallicity difference between two members in star forming-star forming pairs ($\rm Δlog(O/H)_{diff}$), metallicity offset from the best-fitted stellar mass-metallicity relationship of galaxies in pairs ($\rm Δlog(O/H)_{MS}$), as compared to "fake" pairs. By looking at $\rm Δlog(O/H)_{diff}$ and $\rm Δlog(O/H)_{MS}$ as a function of the star formation rate (SFR), specific star formation rate (sSFR), and stellar mass ratio, no difference is seen between galaxies in pairs and control galaxies. From our results, the share of the CGM may not play an important role in shaping the evolution of metal contents of galaxies.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

Hot and counter-rotating star-forming disk galaxies in IllustrisTNG and their real-world counterparts

A key feature of a large population of low-mass, late-type disk galaxies are star-forming disks with exponential light distributions. They are typically also associated with thin and flat morphologies, blue colors, and dynamically cold stars moving along circular orbits within co-planar thin gas disks. However, the latter features do not necessarily always imply the former, in fact, a variety of different kinematic configurations do exist. In this work, we use the cosmological hydrodynamical IllustrisTNG Simulation to study the nature and origin of dynamically hot, sometimes even counter-rotating, star-forming disk galaxies in the lower stellar mass range (between $5\times 10^9\,\mathrm{M_{\odot}}$ and $2\times 10^{10}\,\mathrm{M_{\odot}}$). We find that being dynamically hot arises in most cases as an induced transient state, for example due to galaxy interactions and merger activities, rather than as an age-dependent evolutionary phase of star-forming disk galaxies. The dynamically hot but still actively star-forming disks show a common feature of hosting kinematically misaligned gas and stellar disks, and centrally concentrated on-going star formation. The former is often accompanied by disturbed gas morphologies, while the latter is reflected in low gas and stellar spins in comparison to their dynamically cold, normal disk counterparts. Interestingly, observed galaxies from MaNGA with kinematic misalignment between gas and stars show remarkably similar general properties as the IllustrisTNG galaxies, and therefore are plausible real-world counterparts. In turn, this allows us to make predictions for the stellar orbits and gas properties of these misaligned galaxies.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

A study of the HI gas fractions of galaxies at z ~ 1

Due to the fact that HI mass measurements are not available for large galaxy samples at high redshifts, we apply a photometric estimator of the HI-to-stellar mass ratio (M_HI/M_*) calibrated using a local Universe sample of galaxies to a sample of galaxies at z ~ 1 in the DEEP2 survey. We use these HI mass estimates to calculate HI mass functions (HIMFs) and cosmic HI mass densities (Omega_HI), and to examine the correlation between star formation rate and HI gas content, for galaxies at z ~ 1. We have estimated HI gas masses for ~ 7,000 galaxies in the DEEP2 survey with redshifts in the range 0.75 < z < 1.4 and stellar masses M_* > 10^{10} M_solar, using a combination of the rest-frame ultraviolet-optical colour (NUV - r) and stellar mass density (mu_*) as a way to estimate M_HI/M_*. It is found that the high mass end of high-z HI mass function (HIMF) is quite similar to that of the local HIMF. The lower limit of Omega_HI,limit = 2.1 * 10^{-4} h_70^{-1}, obtained by directly integrating the HI mass of galaxies with M_* > 10^{10} M_solar, confirms that massive star-forming galaxies do not dominate the neutral gas at z ~ 1. We study the evolution of the HI mass to stellar mass ratio from z ~ 1 to today and find a steeper relation between HI gas mass fraction and stellar mass at higher redshifts. Specifically, galaxies with M_* = 10^{11} M_solar at z ~ 1 are found to have 3 - 4 times higher neutral gas fractions than local galaxies, while the increase is as high as 4 - 12 times at M_* = 10^{10} M_solar. The quantity M_HI/SFR exhibits very large scatter, and the scatter increases from a factor of 5 - 7 at z = 0 to factors close to a hundred at z = 1. This implies that there is no relation between HI gas and star formation in high redshift galaxies. The HI gas must be linked to cosmological gas accretion processes at high redshifts.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2020

Host Galaxy Properties of Changing-look AGN Revealed in the MaNGA Survey

Changing-look Active Galactic Nuclei (CL-AGNs) are a subset of AGNs in which the broad Balmer emission lines appear or disappear within a few years. We use the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey to identify five CL-AGNs. The 2-D photometric and kinematic maps reveal common features as well as some unusual properties of CL-AGN hosts as compared to the AGN hosts in general. All MaNGA CL-AGNs reside in the star-forming main sequence, similar to MaNGA non-changing-look AGNs (NCL-AGNs). The $80\% \pm 16\%$ of our CL-AGNs do possess pseudo-bulge features, and follow the overall NCL-AGNs $M_{BH}-σ_{*}$ relationship. The kinematic measurements indicate that they have similar distributions in the plane of angular momentum versus galaxy ellipticity. MaNGA CL-AGNs however show a higher, but not statistically significant ($20\% \pm 16\%$) fraction of counter-rotating features compared to that ($1.84\% \pm 0.61\%$) in general star-formation population. In addition, MaNGA CL-AGNs favor more face-on (axis ratio $>$ 0.7) than that of Type I NCL-AGNs. These results suggest that host galaxies could play a role in the CL-AGN phenomenon.

astro-ph.GA↗