We determine the low-redshift field galaxy stellar mass function (GSMF) using an area of 143 deg2 from the first three years of the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey. The magnitude limits of ...this redshift survey are r < 19.4 mag over two-thirds and 19.8 mag over one-third of the area. The GSMF is determined from a sample of 5210 galaxies using a density-corrected maximum volume method. This efficiently overcomes the issue of fluctuations in the number density versus redshift. With H
0= 70 km s−1 Mpc−1, the GSMF is well described between 108 and 1011.5 M⊙ using a double Schechter function with
,
, α1=−0.35,
and α2=−1.47. This result is more robust to uncertainties in the flow-model corrected redshifts than from the shallower Sloan Digital Sky Survey main sample (r < 17.8 mag). The upturn in the GSMF is also seen directly in the i-band and K-band galaxy luminosity functions. Accurately measuring the GSMF below 108 M⊙ is possible within the GAMA survey volume but as expected requires deeper imaging data to address the contribution from low surface-brightness galaxies.
Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): stellar mass estimates Taylor, Edward N.; Hopkins, Andrew M.; Baldry, Ivan K. ...
Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society,
December 2011, Letnik:
418, Številka:
3
Journal Article
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This paper describes the first catalogue of photometrically derived stellar mass estimates for intermediate-redshift (z < 0.65; median z= 0.2) galaxies in the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) ...spectroscopic redshift survey. These masses, as well as the full set of ancillary stellar population parameters, will be made public as part of GAMA data release 2. Although the GAMA database does include near-infrared (NIR) photometry, we show that the quality of our stellar population synthesis fits is significantly poorer when these NIR data are included. Further, for a large fraction of galaxies, the stellar population parameters inferred from the optical-plus-NIR photometry are formally inconsistent with those inferred from the optical data alone. This may indicate problems in our stellar population library, or NIR data issues, or both; these issues will be addressed for future versions of the catalogue. For now, we have chosen to base our stellar mass estimates on optical photometry only. In light of our decision to ignore the available NIR data, we examine how well stellar mass can be constrained based on optical data alone. We use generic properties of stellar population synthesis models to demonstrate that restframe colour alone is in principle a very good estimator of stellar mass-to-light ratio, M
*/Li
. Further, we use the observed relation between restframe (g−i) and M
*/Li
for real GAMA galaxies to argue that, modulo uncertainties in the stellar evolution models themselves, (g−i) colour can in practice be used to estimate M
*/Li
to an accuracy of ≲0.1 dex (1σ). This 'empirically calibrated' (g−i)-M
*/Li
relation offers a simple and transparent means for estimating galaxies' stellar masses based on minimal data, and so provides a solid basis for other surveys to compare their results to z≲0.4 measurements from GAMA.
Using the complete Galaxy and Mass Assembly I (GAMA-I) survey covering ∼142 deg2 to r
AB= 19.4, of which ∼47 deg2 is to r
AB= 19.8, we create the GAMA-I galaxy group catalogue (G3Cv1), generated ...using a friends-of-friends (FoF) based grouping algorithm. Our algorithm has been tested extensively on one family of mock GAMA lightcones, constructed from Λ cold dark matter N-body simulations populated with semi-analytic galaxies. Recovered group properties are robust to the effects of interlopers and are median unbiased in the most important respects. G3Cv1 contains 14 388 galaxy groups (with multiplicity ≥2), including 44 186 galaxies out of a possible 110 192 galaxies, implying ∼40 per cent of all galaxies are assigned to a group. The similarities of the mock group catalogues and G3Cv1 are multiple: global characteristics are in general well recovered. However, we do find a noticeable deficit in the number of high multiplicity groups in GAMA compared to the mocks. Additionally, despite exceptionally good local spatial completeness, G3Cv1 contains significantly fewer compact groups with five or more members, this effect becoming most evident for high multiplicity systems. These two differences are most likely due to limitations in the physics included of the current GAMA lightcone mock. Further studies using a variety of galaxy formation models are required to confirm their exact origin. The G3Cv1 catalogue will be made publicly available as and when the relevant GAMA redshifts are made available at http://www.gama-survey.org.
Halo occupation numbers and galaxy bias Peacock, J. A.; Smith, R. E.
Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society,
11/2000, Letnik:
318, Številka:
4
Journal Article
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We propose a heuristic model that displays the main features of realistic theories for galaxy bias. We first show that the low-order clustering statistics of the dark-matter distribution depend ...almost entirely on the locations and density profiles of dark-matter haloes. The quasi-linear mass correlations are in fact reproduced well by a model of independent randomly-placed haloes. The distribution of galaxies within the halo density field depends on: (i) the efficiency of galaxy formation, as manifested by the halo occupation number—the number of galaxies brighter than some sample limit contained in a halo of a given mass; (ii) the location of these galaxies within their halo. The first factor is constrained by the empirical luminosity function of groups. For the second factor, we assume that one galaxy marks the halo centre, with any remaining galaxies acting as satellites that trace the halo mass. This second assumption is essential if small-scale galaxy correlations are to remain close to a single power law, rather than flattening in the same way as the correlations of the overall density field. These simple assumptions amount to a recipe for non-local bias, in which the probability of finding a galaxy is not a simple function of its local mass density. We have applied this prescription to some CDM models of current interest, and find that the predictions are close to the observed galaxy correlations for a flat Ω=0.3 model (ΛCDM), but not for an Ω=1 model with the same power spectrum (τCDM). This is an inevitable consequence of cluster normalization for the power spectra: cluster-scale haloes of given mass have smaller core radii for high Ω, and hence display enhanced small-scale clustering. Finally, the pairwise velocity dispersion of galaxies in the ΛCDM model is lower than that of the mass, allowing cluster-normalized models to yield a realistic Mach number for the peculiar velocity field. This is largely due to the strong variation of galaxy-formation efficiency with halo mass that is required in this model.
The cold dark matter model has become the leading theoretical picture for the formation of structure in the Universe. This model, together with the theory of cosmic inflation, makes a clear ...prediction for the initial conditions for structure formation and predicts that structures grow hierarchically through gravitational instability. Testing this model requires that the precise measurements delivered by galaxy surveys can be compared to robust and equally precise theoretical calculations. Here we present a simulation of the growth of dark matter structure using 2,160(3) particles, following them from redshift z = 127 to the present in a cube-shaped region 2.230 billion lightyears on a side. In postprocessing, we also follow the formation and evolution of the galaxies and quasars. We show that baryon-induced features in the initial conditions of the Universe are reflected in distorted form in the low-redshift galaxy distribution, an effect that can be used to constrain the nature of dark energy with future generations of observational surveys of galaxies.
It has been claimed that the observed magnitude of the vacuum energy density is consistent with the distribution predicted in anthropic models, in which an ensemble of universes is assumed. This ...calculation is revisited, without making the assumption that the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature is known, and considering in detail the possibility of a recollapsing universe. New accurate approximations for the growth of perturbations and the mass function of dark haloes are presented. Structure forms readily in the recollapsing phase of a model with negative Λ, so collapse fraction alone cannot forbid Λ from being large and negative. A negative Λ is disfavoured only if we assume that formation of observers can be neglected once the recollapsing universe has heated to T≳ 8 K. For the case of positive Λ, however, the current universe does occupy an extremely typical position compared to the predicted distribution on the Λ−T plane. Contrasting conclusions can be reached if anthropic arguments are applied to the curvature of the universe, and we discuss the falsifiability of this mode of anthropic reasoning.
We describe the spectroscopic target selection for the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey. The input catalogue is drawn from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey ...(UKIDSS). The initial aim is to measure redshifts for galaxies in three 4°× 12° regions at 9, 12 and 14.5 h, on the celestial equator, with magnitude selections r < 19.4, z < 18.2 and KAB < 17.6 over all three regions, and r < 19.8 in the 12-h region. The target density is 1080 deg−2 in the 12-h region and 720 deg−2 in the other regions. The average GAMA target density and area are compared with completed and ongoing galaxy redshift surveys. The GAMA survey implements a highly complete star–galaxy separation that jointly uses an intensity-profile separator (Δsg=rpsf−rmodel as per the SDSS) and a colour separator. The colour separator is defined as Δsg,jk=J−K−f(g−i), where f(g−i) is a quadratic fit to the J−K colour of the stellar locus over the range 0.3 < g−i < 2.3. All galaxy populations investigated are well separated with Δsg,jk > 0.2. From 2 yr out of a 3-yr AAOmega program on the Anglo-Australian Telescope, we have obtained 79 599 unique galaxy redshifts. Previously known redshifts in the GAMA region bring the total up to 98 497. The median galaxy redshift is 0.2 with 99 per cent at z < 0.5. We present some of the global statistical properties of the survey, including K-band galaxy counts, colour–redshift relations and preliminary n(z).
Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) is a project to study galaxy formation and evolution, combining imaging data from ultraviolet to radio with spectroscopic data from the AAOmega spectrograph on the ...Anglo-Australian Telescope. Using data from Phase 1 of GAMA, taken over three observing seasons, and correcting for various minor sources of incompleteness, we calculate galaxy luminosity functions (LFs) and their evolution in the ugriz passbands.
At low redshift, z < 0.1, we find that blue galaxies, defined according to a magnitude-dependent but non-evolving colour cut, are reasonably well fitted over a range of more than 10 magnitudes by simple Schechter functions in all bands. Red galaxies, and the combined blue plus red sample, require double power-law Schechter functions to fit a dip in their LF faintwards of the characteristic magnitude M* before a steepening faint end. This upturn is at least partly due to dust-reddened disc galaxies.
We measure the evolution of the galaxy LF over the redshift range 0.002 < z < 0.5 both by using a parametric fit and by measuring binned LFs in redshift slices. The characteristic luminosity L* is found to increase with redshift in all bands, with red galaxies showing stronger luminosity evolution than blue galaxies. The comoving number density of blue galaxies increases with redshift, while that of red galaxies decreases, consistent with prevailing movement from blue cloud to red sequence. As well as being more numerous at higher redshift, blue galaxies also dominate the overall luminosity density beyond redshifts z≃ 0.2. At lower redshifts, the luminosity density is dominated by red galaxies in the riz bands, and by blue galaxies in u and g.
The stellar initial mass function (IMF) describes the distribution in stellar masses produced from a burst of star formation. For more than 50 yr, the implicit assumption underpinning most areas of ...research involving the IMF has been that it is universal, regardless of time and environment. We measure the high-mass IMF slope for a sample of low-to-moderate redshift galaxies from the Galaxy and Mass Assembly survey. The large range in luminosities and galaxy masses of the sample permits the exploration of underlying IMF dependencies. A strong IMF-star formation rate dependency is discovered, which shows that highly star-forming galaxies form proportionally more massive stars (they have IMFs with flatter power-law slopes) than galaxies with low star formation rates. This has a significant impact on a wide variety of galaxy evolution studies, all of which rely on assumptions about the slope of the IMF. Our result is supported by, and provides an explanation for, the results of numerous recent explorations suggesting a variation of or evolution in the IMF.
The power of Bayesian evidence in astronomy Jenkins, C. R.; Peacock, J. A.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society,
June 2011, Letnik:
413, Številka:
4
Journal Article
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We discuss the use of the Bayesian evidence ratio, or Bayes factor, for model selection in astronomy. We treat the evidence ratio as a statistic and investigate its distribution over an ensemble of ...experiments, considering both simple analytical examples and some more realistic cases, which require numerical simulation. We find that the evidence ratio is a noisy statistic, and thus it may not be sensible to decide to accept or reject a model based solely on whether the evidence ratio reaches some threshold value. The odds suggested by the evidence ratio bear no obvious relationship to the power or Type I error rate of a test based on the evidence ratio. The general performance of such tests is strongly affected by the signal-to-noise ratio in the data, the assumed priors and the threshold in the evidence ratio that is taken as 'decisive'. The comprehensiveness of the model suite under consideration is also very important. The usefulness of the evidence ratio approach in a given problem can be assessed in advance of the experiment, using simple models and numerical approximations. In many cases, this approach can be as informative as a much more costly full-scale Bayesian analysis of a complex problem.
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