Found 219 talks archived in Galaxies

In the local universe most of the stellar mass is in passive galaxies, where star formation is
absent or at very low levels. Understanding what are the mechanisms that have been
responsible for quenching star formation in galaxies, and transforming them into passive,
quiescent systems, is one of the main observational and theoretical challenges of extragalactic
astrophysics. I will give a brief overview of the several possible quenching causes and physical
processes that have been proposed so far, ranging from feedback from black hole accretion and
starburst activity, to effects associated with the large scale environment in which galaxies live.
Although most of these mechanisms and causes play a role in different classes of galaxies and
at different epochs, multi-band observations are providing growing evidences that just a few of
them play the key, dominant role.
I will conclude by providing prospects for further investigating these aspects and tackling open
questions with the next generation of observing facilities.

Galaxy morphologies are one of the key diagnostics of galaxy evolutionary tracks, but visual classifications are extremely time-consuming. The sheer size of Big Data surveys, containing millions of galaxies, make this approach completely impractical. Deep Learning (DL) algorithms, where no image pre-processing is required, have already come to the rescue for image analysis of large data surveys. In this seminar, I will present the largest multi-band catalog of automated galaxy morphologies to date containing morphological classifications of ∼27 million galaxies from the Dark Energy Survey. The classification separates: (a) early-type galaxies (ETGs) from late-types (LTGs); and (b) face-on galaxies from edge-on. These classifications have been obtained using a supervised DL algorithm. Our Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) are trained on a small subset of DES objects with previously known classifications, but hese typically have mr < 17.7 mag. We overcome the lack ofa training sample by modeling fainter objects up to mr < 21.5 mag, i.e., by simulating what thebrighter objects with well-determined classifications would look like if they were at higher redshifts.The CNNs reach a 97% accuracy to mr < 21.5 on their training sets, suggesting that they are ableto recover features more accurately than the human eye. We obtain secure classifications for 87%and 73% of the catalog for the ETG vs. LTG and edge-on vs. face-on models, respectively.

We summarize here some of the results reviewed recently by Sanchez (2020) and Sanchez  et al. (2021), comprising the advances in the comprehension of galaxies in the nearby universe based on integral field spectroscopic galaxy surveys. We review our current knowledge of the spatially resolved spectroscopic properties of low-redshift star-forming galaxies (and their retired counterparts) using results from the most recent optical integral field spectroscopy galaxy surveys. We briefly summarize the global spectroscopic properties of these galaxies, discussing the main ionization processes, and the global relations described by the star-formation rates, gas-phase oxygen abundances, and average properties of their stellar populations (age and metallicity) in comparison with the stellar mass. Then, we present the local distribution of the ionizing pro-cesses down to kiloparsec scales, and how the global scaling relations found using integrated parameters (like the star-formation main sequence, mass–metallicity relation, and Schmidt–Kennicutt law) have local/resolved counterparts, with the global ones being, for the most part, just integrated/average versions of the local ones.  The main conclusions of the most recent explorations are that the evolution of galaxies is mostly governed by local processes but clearly affected by global ones.

This talk will be dedicated to luminous (LBol~1E47 erg/s),
high-redshift quasars, which are ideal targets to investigate (i) feedback
from SMBHs, and (ii) the early growth phases of giant galaxies. I will
present evidence of  SMBH-driven outflows  at all Cosmic epochs, back to
the early Universe. These outflows involve all gas phases (molecular,
neutral, ionised) and extend on nuclear to galactic and circum-galactic
scales. I will report on the first systematic study of the molecular gas
properties in the host-galaxies of the most luminous quasars, fundamental
to probe the impact of SMBH feedback on the host-galaxy evolution. I will
show that luminous quasars pinpoint high-density sites where giant galaxies
assemble, and I will discuss the major contribution of mergers to the final
galaxy mass. To this aim, I will present a wealth of multi-wavelength (UV
to sub-millimeter) observations from the WISE/SDSS hyper-luminous quasars
survey  at z~2-5 (WISSH), and recent results from the ESO large program
XQR-30, the Ultimate X-SHOOTER Legacy Survey of Quasars at the Reionization
epoch.

In this talk I will discuss how the stellar, globular cluster (GC), and gas components of galaxies allow us to trace the assembly of galaxies and their dark matter (DM) haloes, and how they constrain the complex physics of galaxy formation. I will use examples from three studies: in the first one, I will describe how the study of the phase-space distribution of the MW GC system using Gaia in the context of the E-MOSAICS simulations provides a detailed quantitative picture of the formation of the Galaxy. In the second example, I will show how the unusual GC populations in galaxies like the infamous NGC1052-DF2 and DF4 can be used to rewind the clock and obtain a snapshot of their galactic progenitors at cosmic noon. A simple model of star cluster formation points to an extremely dense birth environment and strong structural evolution, providing clues of the effect of clustered star formation on galaxy evolution. In the last part I will describe a follow-up study of the impact of clustered star formation on galaxy structure that provides clues on the origin of ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs), which are difficult to explain in the current paradigm of galaxy formation. I will show how anchoring an analytical model on galaxy scaling relations and numerical simulations predicts the emergence of UDGs that lack DM driven by clustered feedback from young GCs.

Galaxy clusters are the most massive gravitationally bound structures in the Universe. They are the sites where exceptional morphological transformations of galaxies occur, driven by their interactions within the complex cosmic web. Clusters are thus excellent laboratories to study galaxy evolution in extreme regimes. I will present the results of a large campaign based on IRAM facilities (30m and NOEMA) and targeting in mm different samples of galaxies in and around clusters. The final goal of the project is to evaluate the role of dense mega-parsec scale environments in processing cold gas of galaxies. The following samples of galaxies will be discussed. i) The largest sample of distant ~30 brightest cluster galaxies observed in CO, over a broad range of redshift (z~0.2-2.6). They are drawn from CLASH, COSMOS, SpARCS, and DES deep fields. ii) The largest sample of distant, intermediate redshift z~0.2-0.5, cluster LIRGs (luminous infrared galaxies), which have been observed in CO with the NOEMA interferometer and are drawn from the Herschel Lensing Survey (HLS) and the Local Cluster Substructure Survey (LoCuSS).  iii) I will also present ongoing results of a large campaign with the aim to evaluate the pre-processing of atomic (HI) and molecular (CO) gas of galaxies before they fall into the cluster core. The sample comprises 245 galaxies in cosmological filaments, up to 7 virial radii around Virgo, the benchmark cluster in the local Universe. The outlined studies reveal a complex scenario, where large-scale structures have a different impact in regulating the star formation fueling and mass assembly of the considered galaxies, depending on their morphological type, location with respect to the cluster core, and redshift.

https://rediris.zoom.us/j/83038801735

It has been claimed for decades that almost all galaxies in the local Universe host at their centre a supermassive black hole (SMBH) the mass of which appears to be tightly correlated with the stellar mass and the random motion ("velocity dispersion", sigma) of the stars in the host galaxy. In this talk I will first review the state of the art in this field. I will then highlight that significant biases affect local black hole-galaxy correlations.  I will specifically show that the majority of quiescent early-type galaxies with central black hole dynamical mass estimates have significantly higher velocity dispersions than local typical galaxies of similar stellar mass. Through aimed Monte Carlo simulations, residual analysis, and the comparison with latest AGN clustering measurements, I will then illustrate that present data sets of active and quiescent galaxies strongly favour on average lower SMBH masses than previously thought, and point to velocity dispersion as more ``fundamental'' than galaxy stellar mass, galaxy size or Sérsic index. I will then move on discussing the main implications of these findings, in particular: 1) The implied black hole radiative efficiencies and obscured fractions; 2) the consequences on feedback from active black holes and SMBH binary gravitational waves; 3) the connection to cosmological models that rely on velocity dispersion, rather than stellar mass, as main driver of black hole growth.

Zoom link:  https://rediris.zoom.us/j/97154760685

Stellar populations vary across the galaxy population. However, even within a single galaxy, there are stellar population gradients which spatially resolved spectroscopic studies are beginning to reveal. The MaNGA survey permits a study of gradients in a sample of early-type galaxies which is nearly two orders of magnitude larger than previous work. This allows us to quantify the effects of gradients on estimates of the stellar and dynamical masses of these galaxies, and to study how age and abundance gradients, and thus star formation and assembly histories, vary across the population. In this talk I will present results from our recent analysis.

zoom link: https://rediris.zoom.us/j/97614680345

This talk will address the preferred mass and time for galaxy formation, in dark-matter haloes similar to that of the Milky way but when the Universe was a few Gigayears old. It is proposed that this is due to the interplay between two mechanisms, first *supernova* feedback that removes gas from the galaxy, and second *hot gas* in the deep potential well of massive haloes that suppresses cold gas supply to the galaxy, the two being effective in galaxies of lower and higher masses respectively. Cosmological simulations reveal that the same mechanisms are responsible for a robust sequence of events were galaxies undergo a dramatic gaseous *compaction*, sometimes caused by mergers, into a compact star-forming “blue nugget”. This triggers inside-out *quenching* of star formation, which is maintained by a hot massive halo aided by black-hole feedback, leading to todays passive elliptical galaxies. The blue-nugget phase is responsible for drastic transitions in the main galaxy structural, kinematic and compositional properties. In particular, the growth of the *black hole* in the galaxy center, first suppressed by supernova feedback when below the critical mass, is boosted by the compaction event and keeps growing once the halo is massive enough to lock the supernova ejecta by its deep potential well and the hot halo. The compaction events also trigger the formation of extended rings in high-z massive galaxies. These events all occur near the same characteristic halo mass, giving rise to the highest efficiency of galaxy formation and black-hole growth at this magic mass and time.

Zoom link:  https://rediris.zoom.us/j/98813487304