Submitted Date
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Your conditions: Zheng Cai
  • The Identification of a Dusty Multiarm Spiral Galaxy at $z=3.06$ with JWST and ALMA

    Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19

    Abstract: Spiral arms serve crucial purposes in star formation and galaxy evolution. In this paper, we report the identification of A2744-DSG-$z3$, a dusty, multiarm spiral galaxy at $z=3.059$ using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) NIRISS imaging and grism spectroscopy. A2744-DSG-$z3$ was discovered as a gravitationally lensed sub-millimeter galaxy with ALMA. This is the most distant stellar spiral structure seen thus far, consistent with cosmological simulations which suggest $z\approx3$ as the epoch when spirals emerge. Thanks to the gravitational lensing and excellent spatial resolution of JWST, the spiral arms are resolved with a spatial resolution of $\approx290$\,pc. Based on SED fitting, the spiral galaxy has a de-lensed star formation rate of $85\pm30 \ M_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$, and a stellar mass of $\approx10^{10.6}M_{\odot}$, indicating that A2744-DSG-$z3$ is a main-sequence galaxy. After fitting the spiral arms, we find a stellar effective radius ($R_{e, \rm{star}}$) of $5.0\pm1.5$ kpc. Combing with ALMA measurements, we find that the effective radii ratio between dust and stars is $\approx0.4$, similar to {those} of massive SFGs at $z\sim2$, indicating a compact dusty core in A2744-DSG-$z3$. Moreover, this galaxy appears to be living in a group environment: including A2744-DSG-$z3$, at least three galaxies at $z=3.05 - 3.06$ {are} spectroscopically confirmed by JWST/NIRISS and ALMA, residing within a lensing-corrected projected scale of $\approx 70$ kpc. This, along with the asymmetric brightness profile, further suggests that the spiral arms may be triggered by minor merger events at $z\gtrsim3$.

  • An H{\alpha} Impression of Ly{\alpha} Galaxies at $z\simeq6$ with Deep JWST/NIRCam Imaging

    Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19

    Abstract: We present a study of seven spectroscopically confirmed (Ly$\alpha$ emitting) galaxies at redshift $z\simeq6$ using the $JWST$/NIRCam imaging data. These galaxies, with a wide range of Ly$\alpha$ luminosities, were recently observed in a series of NIRCam broad- and medium-bands. We constrain the rest-frame UV/optical continua and measure the H$\alpha$ line emission of the galaxies using the combination of the $JWST$/NIRCam and archival $HST$/WFC3 infrared photometry. We further estimate their escape fractions of Ly$\alpha$ photons ($f_{\rm esc}^{\rm Ly\alpha}$) and the production efficiency of ionizing photons ($\xi_{\rm ion}$). Among the sample, 6/7 galaxies have Ly$\alpha$ escape fractions of ${\lesssim}10\%$, which might be the status for most of star-forming galaxies at $z\simeq6$. One UV-faint Ly$\alpha$ galaxy with an extremely blue UV slope owns a large value of $f_{\rm esc}^{\rm Ly\alpha}$ reaching ${\simeq}50\%$. These galaxies spread a broad range of $\xi_{\rm ion}$ over log$_{10}$ $\xi_{\rm ion, 0}$ (Hz erg$^{-1}$) $\sim25.0-26.5$. We find that UV-fainter galaxies with bluer UV continuum slopes likely have higher escape fractions of Ly$\alpha$ photons. We also find that galaxies with higher Ly$\alpha$ line emission tend to produce ionizing photons more efficiently. The most Ly$\alpha$-luminous galaxy in the sample has a very high $\xi_{\rm ion, 0}$ of log$_{10}$ $\xi_{\rm ion, 0}$ (Hz erg$^{-1}$) $>26$. Our results support that Ly$\alpha$ galaxies may have served as an important contributor to the cosmic reionization. Blue and bright Ly$\alpha$ galaxies are excellent targets for $JWST$ follow-up spectroscopic observations.

  • Reply to: Three papers regarding the origin of GN-z11-flash

    Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19

    Abstract: In Jiang et al., we detected a bright flash (hereafter GN-z11-flash) that appeared as compact continuum emission during our Keck MOSFIRE observations of the galaxy GN-z11 at z ~ 11. We performed a comprehensive analysis of the origin of the flash using all available information and our current understanding of known man-made objects or moving objects in the solar system. We found that GN-z11-flash was likely a rest-frame UV flash associated with a long gamma-ray burst (GRB) from GN-z11. Recently, Steinhardt et al., Michalowski et al., and Nir et al. reported that GN-z11-flash was more likely from a satellite. While one cannot completely rule out the possibility of unknown satellites (or debris), we find that either the chance probabilities of being a satellite estimated by these authors have been largely overestimated or their identified satellites have been ruled out in our original analysis. Our new calculations show that the probability of GN-z11-flash being a satellite is still lower than that of it being a signal originated from GN-z11.

  • Massive molecular outflow and 100 kpc extended cold halo gas in the enormous Ly$\alpha$ nebula of QSO 1228+3128

    Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19

    Abstract: The link between the circum-galactic medium (CGM) and the stellar growth of massive galaxies at high-$z$ depends on the properties of the widespread cold molecular gas. As part of the SUPERCOLD-CGM survey (Survey of Protocluster ELANe Revealing CO/\ci\ in the Ly$\alpha$-Detected CGM), we present the radio-loud QSO Q1228+3128 at $z=2.2218$, which is embedded in an enormous Ly$\alpha$ nebula. ALMA+ACA observations of CO(4-3) reveal both a massive molecular outflow, and a more extended molecular gas reservoir across $\sim$100 kpc in the CGM each containing a mass of M$_{\rm H2}$\,$\sim$\,4$-$5\,$\times$\,10$^{10}$ M$_{\odot}$. The outflow and molecular CGM are aligned spatially, along the direction of an inner radio jet. After re-analysis of Ly$\alpha$ data of Q1228+3128 from the Keck Cosmic Web Imager, we found that the velocity of the extended CO agrees with the redshift derived from the Ly$\alpha$ nebula and the bulk velocity of the massive outflow. We propose a scenario where the radio source in Q1228+3128 is driving the molecular outflow and perhaps also enriching or cooling the CGM. In addition, we found that the extended CO emission is nearly perpendicular to the extended Ly$\alpha$ nebula spatially, indicating that the two gas phases are not well mixed, and possibly even represent different phenomena (e.g., outflow vs. infall). Our results provide crucial evidence in support of predicted baryonic recycling processes that drive the early evolution of massive galaxies.

  • Spatially resolved molecular interstellar medium in a $z=6.6$ quasar host galaxy

    Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19

    Abstract: We present high spatial resolution (0.4", 2.2kpc) observations of the CO(6-5), CO(7-6) and [CI] lines and dust continuum emission from the interstellar medium in the host galaxy of the quasar J0305$-$3150 at $z=6.6$. These, together with archival [CII] data at comparable spatial resolution, enable studies of the spatial distribution and kinematics between the ISM in different phases. When comparing the radial profiles of CO, [CII] and the dust continuum, we find that the CO and dust continuum exhibit similar spatial distributions, both of which are less extended than the [CII], indicating that the CO and dust continuum are tracing the same gas component, while the [CII] is tracing a more extended one. In addition, we derive the radial profiles of the [CII]/CO, [CII]/far-infrared (FIR), CO/FIR, and dust continuum $S_{98.7 \rm GHz}/S_{258.1 \rm GHz}$ ratios. We find a decreasing $S_{98.7 \rm GHz}/S_{258.1 \rm GHz}$ ratio with radius, possibly indicating a decrease of dust optical depth with increasing radius. We also detect some of the ISM lines and continuum emission in the companion galaxies previously discovered in the field around J0305$-$3150. Through comparing the line-to-line and line-to-FIR ratios, we find no significant differences between the quasar and its companion galaxies.

  • From large-scale environment to CGM angular momentum to star forming activities -- I: star-forming galaxies

    Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19

    Abstract: The connection between halo gas acquisition through the circumgalactic medium (CGM) and galaxy star formation has long been studied. In this series of two papers, we put this interplay within the context of the galaxy environment on large scales (several hundreds of kpc), which, to a certain degree, maps out various paths for galaxy interactions. We use the IllustrisTNG-100 simulation to demonstrate that the large-scale environment modulates the circumgalactic gas angular momentum, resulting in either enhanced (Paper I) or suppressed (Paper II) star formation inside a galaxy. In this paper (Paper I), we show that the large-scale environment around a star-forming galaxy is often responsible for triggering new episodes of star formation. Such an episodic star formation pattern is well synced with a pulsating motion of the circumgalactic gas, which, on the one hand receives angular momentum modulations from the large-scale environment, yielding in-spiralling gas to fuel the star-forming reservoir, while, on the other hand, is affected by the feedback activities from the galaxy centre. As a result, a present-day star-forming galaxy may have gone through several cycles of star-forming and quiescent phases during its evolutionary history, with the circumgalactic gas carrying out a synchronized cadence of "breathing in and out" motions out to $\sim 100$ kpc.

  • An Unsupervised Learning Approach for Quasar Continuum Prediction

    Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19

    Abstract: Modeling quasar spectra is a fundamental task in astrophysics as quasars are the tell-tale sign of cosmic evolution. We introduce a novel unsupervised learning algorithm, Quasar Factor Analysis (QFA), for recovering the intrinsic quasar continua from noisy quasar spectra. QFA assumes that the Ly$\alpha$ forest can be approximated as a Gaussian process, and the continuum can be well described as a latent factor model. We show that QFA can learn, through unsupervised learning and directly from the quasar spectra, the quasar continua and Ly$\alpha$ forest simultaneously. Compared to previous methods, QFA achieves state-of-the-art performance for quasar continuum prediction robustly but without the need for predefined training continua. In addition, the generative and probabilistic nature of QFA paves the way to understanding the evolution of black holes as well as performing out-of-distribution detection and other Bayesian downstream inferences.

  • From large-scale environment to CGM angular momentum to star forming activities -- II: quenched galaxies

    Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19

    Abstract: The gas needed to sustain star formation in galaxies is supplied by the circumgalactic medium (CGM), which in turn is affected by accretion from large scales. In a series of two papers, we examine the interplay between a galaxy's ambient CGM and central star formation within the context of the large-scale environment. We use the IllustrisTNG-100 simulation to show that the influence exerted by the large-scale galaxy environment on the CGM gas angular momentum results in either enhanced (Paper I) or suppressed (Paper II, this paper) star formation inside a galaxy. We find that for present-day quenched galaxies, both the large-scale environments and the ambient CGM have always had higher angular momenta throughout their evolutionary history since at least $z=2$, in comparison to those around present-day star-forming disk galaxies, resulting in less efficient gas inflow into the central star-forming gas reservoirs. A sufficiently high CGM angular momentum, as inherited from the larger-scale environment, is thus an important factor in keeping a galaxy quenched, once it is quenched. The process above naturally renders two key observational signatures: (1) a coherent rotation pattern existing across multiple distances from the large-scale galaxy environment, to the circumgalactic gas, to the central stellar disk; and (2) an anti-correlation between galaxy star-formation rates and orbital angular momenta of interacting galaxy pairs or groups.

  • A [C II] 158$\mu$m Emitter Associated with an OI Absorber at the End of the Reionization Epoch

    Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19

    Abstract: The physical and chemical properties of the circumgalactic medium (CGM) at $z\gtrsim6$ have been studied successfully through the absorption in the spectra of background Quasi-Stellar Objects (QSOs). One of the most crucial questions is to investigate the nature and location of the source galaxies that give rise to these early metal absorbers. Theoretical models suggest that momentum-driven outflows from typical star-forming galaxies can eject metals into the CGM and the intergalactic medium (IGM) at z=5-6. Deep, dedicated surveys have searched for Ly$\alpha$ emission associated with strong CIV absorbers at $z\approx 6$, but only a few Ly$\alpha$ emitter candidates have been detected. Interpreting these detections is moreover ambiguous because Ly$\alpha$ is a resonant line, raising the need for complementary techniques for detecting absorbers' host galaxies. Here, using Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), we report a [C II] 158$\mu$m emitter associated with a strong low-ionization absorber, OI, at $z=5.978$. The projected impact parameter between OI and [C II] emitter is 20.0 kpc. The measured [C II] luminosity is $7.0\times 10^7$ solar luminosities. Further analysis indicates that strong OI absorbers may reside in the circumgalactic medium of massive halos one to two orders of magnitude more massive than expected values.

  • Improved Lyman Alpha Tomography using Optimized Reconstruction with Constraints on Absorption (ORCA)

    Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19

    Abstract: In this work, we propose an improved approach to reconstruct the three-dimensional intergalactic medium from observed Lyman-$\alpha$ forest absorption features. We present our new method, the Optimized Reconstruction with Constraints on Absorption (ORCA), which outperforms the current baseline Wiener Filter (WF) when tested on mock Lyman Alpha forest data generated from hydrodynamical simulations. We find that both reconstructed flux errors and cosmic web classification improve substantially with ORCA, equivalent to 30-40\% additional sight-lines with the standard WF. We use this method to identify and classify extremal objects, i.e. voids and (proto)-clusters, and find improved reconstruction across all summary statistics explored. We apply ORCA to existing Lyman Alpha forest data from the COSMOS Lyman Alpha Mapping and Tomography Observations (CLAMATO) Survey and compare it to the WF reconstruction.

  • MAMMOTH-Subaru V. Effects of Cosmic Variance on Ly$\alpha$ Luminosity Functions at $z=2.2-2.3$

    Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19

    Abstract: Cosmic variance introduces significant uncertainties into galaxy number density properties when surveying the high-z Universe with a small volume, such uncertainties produce the field-to-field variance of galaxy number $\sigma_{g}$ in observational astronomy. This uncertainty significantly affects the Luminosity Functions (LF) measurement of Lya Emitters (LAEs). For most previous Lya LF studies, $\sigma_{g}$ is often adopted from predictions by cosmological simulations, but barely confirmed by observations. Measuring cosmic variance requires a huge sample over a large volume, exceeding the capabilities of most astronomical instruments. In this study, we demonstrate an observational approach for measuring the cosmic variance contribution for $z\approx2.2$ Lya LFs. The LAE candidates are observed using narrowband and broadband of the Subaru/Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC), with 8 independent fields, making the total survey area $\simeq11.62$deg$^2$ and a comoving volume of $\simeq8.71\times10^6$Mpc$^3$. These eight fields are selected using the project of MAMMOTH. We report a best-fit Schechter function with parameters $\alpha=-1.75$ (fixed), $L_{Ly\alpha}^{*}=5.18_{-0.40}^{+0.43} \times 10^{42}$erg s$^{-1}$ and $\phi_{Lya}^{*}=4.87_{-0.55}^{+0.54}\times10^{-4}$Mpc$^{-3}$ for the overall Lya LFs. After clipping out the regions that can bias the cosmic variance measurements, we calculate $\sigma_{g}$, by sampling LAEs within multiple pointings assigned on the field image. We investigate the relation between $\sigma_{g}$ and survey volume $V$, and fit a simple power law: $\sigma_g=k\times(\frac{V_{\rm eff}}{10^5 {\rm Mpc}^3})^{\beta}$. We find best-fit values of $-1.209_{-0.106}^{+0.106}$ for $\beta$ and $0.986_{-0.100}^{+0.108}$ for k. We compare our measurements with predictions from simulations and find that the cosmic variance of LAEs might be larger than that of general star-forming galaxies.

  • MAMMOTH-Subaru IV. Large Scale Structure and Clustering Analysis of Ly$\alpha$ Emitters and Ly$\alpha$ Blobs at $z=2.2-2.3$

    Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19

    Abstract: We report the large scale structure and clustering analysis of Ly$\alpha$ emitters (LAEs) and Ly$\alpha$ blobs (LABs) at $z=2.2-2.3$. Using 3,341 LAEs, 117 LABs, and 58 bright (Ly$\alpha$ luminosity $L_{\rm Ly\alpha}>10^{43.4}$ erg s$^{-1}$) LABs at $z=2.2-2.3$ selected with Subaru/Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC), we calculate the LAE overdensity to investigate the large scale structure at $z=2$. We show that 74% LABs and 78% bright LABs locate in overdense regions, which is consistent with the trend found by previous studies that LABs generally locate in overdense regions. We find that one of our 8 fields dubbed J1349 contains $39/117\approx33\%$ of our LABs and $22/58\approx38\%$ of our bright LABs. A unique and overdense $24'\times12'$ ($\approx 40\times20$ comoving Mpc$^2$) region in J1349 has 12 LABs (8 bright LABs). By comparing to SSA22 that is one of the most overdense LAB regions found by previous studies, we show that the J1349 overdense region contains $\geq 2$ times more bright LABs than the SSA22 overdense region. We calculate the angular correlation functions (ACFs) of LAEs and LABs in the unique J1349 field and fit the ACFs with a power-law function to measure the slopes. The slopes of LAEs and LABs are similar, while the bright LABs show a $\approx 2$ times larger slope suggesting that bright LABs are more clustered than faint LABs and LAEs. We show that the amplitudes of ACFs of LABs are higher than LAEs, which suggests that LABs have a $\approx 10$ times larger galaxy bias and field-to-field variance than LAEs. The strong field-to-field variance is consistent with the large differences of LAB numbers in our 8 fields.

  • MAMMOTH-Subaru V. Effects of Cosmic Variance on Ly$\alpha$ Luminosity Functions at $z=2.2-2.3$

    Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19

    Abstract: Cosmic variance introduces significant uncertainties into galaxy number density properties when surveying the high-z Universe with a small volume, such uncertainties produce the field-to-field variance of galaxy number $\sigma_{g}$ in observational astronomy. This uncertainty significantly affects the Luminosity Functions (LF) measurement of Lya Emitters (LAEs). For most previous Lya LF studies, $\sigma_{g}$ is often adopted from predictions by cosmological simulations, but barely confirmed by observations. Measuring cosmic variance requires a huge sample over a large volume, exceeding the capabilities of most astronomical instruments. In this study, we demonstrate an observational approach for measuring the cosmic variance contribution for $z\approx2.2$ Lya LFs. The LAE candidates are observed using narrowband and broadband of the Subaru/Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC), with 8 independent fields, making the total survey area $\simeq11.62$deg$^2$ and a comoving volume of $\simeq8.71\times10^6$Mpc$^3$. These eight fields are selected using the project of MAMMOTH. We report a best-fit Schechter function with parameters $\alpha=-1.75$ (fixed), $L_{Ly\alpha}^{*}=5.18_{-0.40}^{+0.43} \times 10^{42}$erg s$^{-1}$ and $\phi_{Lya}^{*}=4.87_{-0.55}^{+0.54}\times10^{-4}$Mpc$^{-3}$ for the overall Lya LFs. After clipping out the regions that can bias the cosmic variance measurements, we calculate $\sigma_{g}$, by sampling LAEs within multiple pointings assigned on the field image. We investigate the relation between $\sigma_{g}$ and survey volume $V$, and fit a simple power law: $\sigma_g=k\times(\frac{V_{\rm eff}}{10^5 {\rm Mpc}^3})^{\beta}$. We find best-fit values of $-1.209_{-0.106}^{+0.106}$ for $\beta$ and $0.986_{-0.100}^{+0.108}$ for k. We compare our measurements with predictions from simulations and find that the cosmic variance of LAEs might be larger than that of general star-forming galaxies.

  • First Census of Gas-phase Metallicity Gradients of Star-forming Galaxies in Overdense Environments at Cosmic Noon

    Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19

    Abstract: We report the first spatially resolved measurements of gas-phase metallicity radial gradients in star-forming galaxies in overdense environments at $z\gtrsim2$. The spectroscopic data are acquired by the \mg\ survey, a Hubble Space Telescope (HST) cycle-28 medium program. This program is obtaining 45 orbits of WFC3/IR grism spectroscopy in the density peak regions of three massive galaxy protoclusters (BOSS 1244, BOSS 1542 and BOSS 1441) at $z=2-3$. Our sample in the BOSS 1244 field consists of 20 galaxies with stellar-mass ranging from $10^{9.0}$ to $10^{10.3}$ \Msun\ , star formation rate (SFR) from 10 to 240 \Msun\,yr$^{-1}$, and global gas-phase metallicity (\oh) from 8.2 to 8.6. At $1\sigma$ confidence level, 2/20 galaxies in our sample show positive (inverted) gradients -- the relative abundance of oxygen increasing with galactocentric radius, opposite the usual trend. Furthermore, 1/20 shows negative gradients and 17/20 are consistent with flat gradients. This high fraction of flat/inverted gradients is uncommon in simulations and previous observations conducted in blank fields at similar redshifts. To understand this, we investigate the correlations among various observed properties of our sample galaxies. We find an anticorrelation between metallicity gradient and global metallicity of our galaxies residing in extreme overdensities, and a marked deficiency of metallicity in our massive galaxies as compared to their coeval field counterparts. We conclude that the cold-mode gas accretion plays an active role in shaping the chemical evolution of galaxies in the protocluster environments, diluting their central chemical abundance, and flattening/inverting their metallicity gradients.

  • Discovery of a protocluster core associated with an enormous Ly$\alpha$ Nebula at $z = 2.3$

    Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19

    Abstract: The MAMMOTH-1 nebula at $z=2.317$ is an enormous Ly$\alpha$ nebula (ELAN) extending to a $\sim$440 kpc scale at the center of the extreme galaxy overdensity BOSS 1441. In this paper, we present observations of the $\rm CO(3-2)$ and 250 GHz dust-continuum emission from the MAMMOTH-1 using the IRAM NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array. Our observations show that $\rm CO(3-2)$ emission in this ELAN has not extended widespread emission into the circum- and inter-galactic media. We also find a remarkable concentration of six massive galaxies in $\rm CO(3-2)$ emission in the central $\sim$100 kpc region of the ELAN. Their velocity dispersions suggest a total halo mass of $M_{200c} \sim 10^{13.1} M_{\odot}$, marking a possible protocluster core associated with the ELAN. The peak position of the $\rm CO(3-2)$ line emission from the obscured AGN is consistent with the location of the intensity peak of MAMMOTH-1 in the rest-frame UV band. Its luminosity line ratio between the $\rm CO(3-2)$ and $\rm CO(1-0)$ $r_{3,1}$ is 0.61$\pm$0.17. The other five galaxies have $\rm CO(3-2)$ luminosities in the range of (2.1-7.1)$\times 10^9$ K $\rm km\,s^{-1}$ pc$^2$, with the star-formation rates derived from the 250GHz continuum of ($<$36)-224 $M_{\odot}$yr$^{-1}$. Follow-up spectroscopic observations will further confirm more member galaxies and improve the accuracy of the halo mass estimation.

  • The Mass-Metallicity Relation of Dwarf Galaxies at the Cosmic Noon in the JWST Era

    Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19

    Abstract: We present the mass-metallicity relation (MZR) at $z=2-3$ in the stellar mass range of $M_\star\approx 10^{6.5}-10^{9.5}M_\odot$ using 55 dwarf galaxies in the Abell 2744 and SMACS J0723-3732 galaxy cluster fields. These dwarf galaxies are identified and confirmed by deep JWST/NIRISS imaging and slitless grism spectroscopic observations. Taking advantage of the gravitational lensing effect, we extend the previous MZR relation at $z=2-3$ to a much lower mass regime by more than 2.5 orders of magnitude compared with previous studies. We find that the MZR has a shallower slope at the low-mass end ($M_\star<10^{9}M_\odot$) compared to that at the high-mass end ($M_\star>10^{9}M_\odot$), with a slope turnover point at around the stellar mass of $10^9 M_\odot$. This implies that dominating feedback processes in dwarf galaxies may be different from that in galaxies with higher mass. From $z=3$ to $z=2$, the metallicity of the dwarf galaxies is enhanced by $\approx0.1$ dex for a given stellar mass, consistent with the mild evolution found in galaxies with higher mass. Further, we confirm the existence of a 3D relation between the gas-phase metallicity, stellar mass, and star formation rate, i.e., fundamental metallicity relation (FMR), in dwarf galaxies at $z=2-3$. Our derived FMR, which has no significant redshift evolution, can be used as a benchmark to understand the origin of the anti-correlation between SFR and metallicity of dwarf galaxies in the high-redshift Universe.

  • An H{\alpha} Impression of Ly{\alpha} Galaxies at $z\simeq6$ with Deep JWST/NIRCam Imaging

    Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19

    Abstract: We present a study of seven spectroscopically confirmed (Ly$\alpha$ emitting) galaxies at redshift $z\simeq6$ using the $JWST$/NIRCam imaging data. These galaxies, with a wide range of Ly$\alpha$ luminosities, were recently observed in a series of NIRCam broad- and medium-bands. We constrain the rest-frame UV/optical continua and measure the H$\alpha$ line emission of the galaxies using the combination of the $JWST$/NIRCam and archival $HST$/WFC3 infrared photometry. We further estimate their escape fractions of Ly$\alpha$ photons ($f_{\rm esc}^{\rm Ly\alpha}$) and the production efficiency of ionizing photons ($\xi_{\rm ion}$). Among the sample, 6/7 galaxies have Ly$\alpha$ escape fractions of ${\lesssim}10\%$, which might be the status for most of star-forming galaxies at $z\simeq6$. One UV-faint Ly$\alpha$ galaxy with an extremely blue UV slope owns a large value of $f_{\rm esc}^{\rm Ly\alpha}$ reaching ${\simeq}50\%$. These galaxies spread a broad range of $\xi_{\rm ion}$ over log$_{10}$ $\xi_{\rm ion, 0}$ (Hz erg$^{-1}$) $\sim25.0-26.5$. We find that UV-fainter galaxies with bluer UV continuum slopes likely have higher escape fractions of Ly$\alpha$ photons. We also find that galaxies with higher Ly$\alpha$ line emission tend to produce ionizing photons more efficiently. The most Ly$\alpha$-luminous galaxy in the sample has a very high $\xi_{\rm ion, 0}$ of log$_{10}$ $\xi_{\rm ion, 0}$ (Hz erg$^{-1}$) $>26$. Our results support that Ly$\alpha$ galaxies may have served as an important contributor to the cosmic reionization. Blue and bright Ly$\alpha$ galaxies are excellent targets for $JWST$ follow-up spectroscopic observations.

  • The Identification of a Dusty Multiarm Spiral Galaxy at $z=3.06$ with JWST and ALMA

    Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19

    Abstract: Spiral arms serve crucial purposes in star formation and galaxy evolution. In this paper, we report the identification of A2744-DSG-$z3$, a dusty, multiarm spiral galaxy at $z=3.059$ using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) NIRISS imaging and grism spectroscopy. A2744-DSG-$z3$ was discovered as a gravitationally lensed sub-millimeter galaxy with ALMA. This is the most distant stellar spiral structure seen thus far, consistent with cosmological simulations which suggest $z\approx3$ as the epoch when spirals emerge. Thanks to the gravitational lensing and excellent spatial resolution of JWST, the spiral arms are resolved with a spatial resolution of $\approx290$\,pc. Based on SED fitting, the spiral galaxy has a de-lensed star formation rate of $85\pm30 \ M_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$, and a stellar mass of $\approx10^{10.6}M_{\odot}$, indicating that A2744-DSG-$z3$ is a main-sequence galaxy. After fitting the spiral arms, we find a stellar effective radius ($R_{e, \rm{star}}$) of $5.0\pm1.5$ kpc. Combing with ALMA measurements, we find that the effective radii ratio between dust and stars is $\approx0.4$, similar to {those} of massive SFGs at $z\sim2$, indicating a compact dusty core in A2744-DSG-$z3$. Moreover, this galaxy appears to be living in a group environment: including A2744-DSG-$z3$, at least three galaxies at $z=3.05 - 3.06$ {are} spectroscopically confirmed by JWST/NIRISS and ALMA, residing within a lensing-corrected projected scale of $\approx 70$ kpc. This, along with the asymmetric brightness profile, further suggests that the spiral arms may be triggered by minor merger events at $z\gtrsim3$.

  • Submillimetre galaxies in two massive protoclusters at z = 2.24: witnessing the enrichment of extreme starbursts in the outskirts of HAE density peaks

    Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19

    Abstract: Submillimetre galaxies represent a rapid growth phase of both star formation and massive galaxies. Mapping SMGs in galaxy protoclusters provides key insights into where and how these extreme starbursts take place in connections with the assembly of the large-scale structure in the early Universe. We search for SMGs at 850$\,\mu m$ using JCMT/SCUBA-2 in two massive protoclusters at $z=2.24$, BOSS1244 and BOSS1542, and detect 43 and 54 sources with $S_{850}>4\,$mJy at the $4\sigma$ level within an effective area of 264$\,$arcmin$^2$, respectively. We construct the intrinsic number counts and find that the abundance of SMGs is $2.0\pm0.3$ and $2.1\pm0.2$ times that of the general fields, confirming that BOSS1244 and BOSS1542 contain a higher fraction of dusty galaxies with strongly enhanced star formation. The volume densities of the SMGs are estimated to be $\sim15-$30 times the average, significantly higher than the overdensity factor ($\sim 6$) traced by H$\alpha$ emission-line galaxies (HAEs). More importantly, we discover a prominent offset between the spatial distributions of the two populations in these two protoclusters -- SMGs are mostly located around the high-density regions of HAEs, and few are seen inside these regions. This finding may have revealed for the first time the occurrence of violent star formation enhancement in the outskirts of the HAE density peaks, likely driven by the boosting of gas supplies and/or starburst triggering events. Meanwhile, the lack of SMGs inside the most overdense regions at $z\sim2$ implies a transition to the environment disfavouring extreme starbursts.

  • Quasar Factor Analysis -- An Unsupervised and Probabilistic Quasar Continuum Prediction Algorithm with Latent Factor Analysis

    Subjects: Astronomy >> Astrophysical processes submitted time 2023-02-19

    Abstract: Since their first discovery, quasars have been essential probes of the distant Universe. However, due to our limited knowledge of its nature, predicting the intrinsic quasar continua has bottlenecked their usage. Existing methods of quasar continuum recovery often rely on a limited number of high-quality quasar spectra, which might not capture the full diversity of the quasar population. In this study, we propose an unsupervised probabilistic model, \textit{Quasar Factor Analysis} (QFA), which combines factor analysis (FA) with physical priors of the intergalactic medium (IGM) to overcome these limitations. QFA captures the posterior distribution of quasar continua through generatively modeling quasar spectra. We demonstrate that QFA can achieve the state-of-the-art performance, $\sim 2\%$ relative error, for continuum prediction in the Ly$\alpha$ forest region compared to previous methods. We further fit 90,678 $2<\mathrm{z}<3.5$, SNR$>2$ quasar spectra from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 16 and found that for $\sim 30\%$ quasar spectra where the continua were ill-determined with previous methods, QFA yields visually more plausible continua. QFA also attains $\lesssim 1\%$ error in the 1D Ly$\alpha$ power spectrum measurements at $\mathrm{z}\sim 3$ and $\sim 4\%$ in $\mathrm{z}\sim 2.4$. In addition, QFA determines latent factors representing more physically motivated than PCA. We investigate the evolution of the latent factors and report no significant redshift or luminosity dependency except for the Baldwin effect. The generative nature of QFA also enables outlier detection robustly; we showed that QFA is effective in selecting outlying quasar spectra, including damped Ly$\alpha$ systems and potential Type II quasar spectra.