Specific Star Formation Rates to Redshift 5 from the FORS Deep Field and the GOODS-S Field

Feulner, Georg; Gabasch, A.; Salvato, M.; Drory, Niv; Hopp, U.; Bender, Ralf

doi:10.1086/498109

Cited by 149 publications

(183 citation statements)

References 38 publications

(73 reference statements)

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“…The downsizing is consistent with several results obtained at low and high redshifts, such as the mass-dependent star formation histories of early-type galaxies (Thomas et al 2005), the evolution of the fundamental plane (e.g., Treu et al 2005;van der Wel et al 2005;di Serego Alighieri et al 2005), the evolution of the optical luminosity function of early-type galaxies to z ∼ 1 (Cimatti et al 2006;Scarlata et al 2007), the evolution of the cosmic star formation density and specific star formation (Gabasch et al 2006;Feulner et al 2005;Juneau et al 2005), and the evolution of the colour-magnitude relation (Tanaka et al 2004). However, the results of studies aimed at constraining the star formation rates (SFRs) and dust content of z ∼ 2 galaxies show that dust attenuation is a strong function of galaxy stellar mass with more massive galaxies being more obscured than lower mass objects, and therefore that specific star formation rates (SSFRs) are constant over about 1 dex in stellar mass up to the highest stellar masses probed (∼10 11 M , Pannella et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 90%

GMASS ultradeep spectroscopy of galaxies atz ~ 2

Kurk

Cimatti

Daddi

et al. 2012

A&A

111

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Context. Ultra-deep imaging of small parts of the sky has revealed many populations of distant galaxies, providing insight into the early stages of galaxy evolution. Spectroscopic follow-up has mostly targeted galaxies with strong emission lines at z > 2 or concentrated on galaxies at z < 1. Aims. The populations of both quiescent and actively star-forming galaxies at 1 < z < 2 are still under-represented in our general census of galaxies throughout the history of the Universe. In the light of galaxy formation models, however, the evolution of galaxies at these redshifts is of pivotal importance and merits further investigation. In addition, photometry provides only limited clues about the nature and evolutionary status of these galaxies.We therefore designed a spectroscopic observing campaign of a sample of both massive, quiescent and star-forming galaxies at z > 1.4. Methods. To determine redshifts and physical properties, such as metallicity, dust content, dynamical masses, and star formation history, we performed ultra-deep spectroscopy with the red-sensitive optical spectrograph FORS2 at the Very Large Telescope. We first constructed a sample of objects, within the CDFS/GOODS area, detected at 4.5 μm, to be sensitive to stellar mass rather than star formation intensity. The spectroscopic targets were selected with a photometric redshift constraint (z > 1.4) and magnitude constraints (B AB < 26, I AB < 26.5), which should ensure that these are faint, distant, and fairly massive galaxies. Results. We present the sample selection, survey design, observations, data reduction, and spectroscopic redshifts. Up to 30 h of spectroscopy of 174 spectroscopic targets and 70 additional objects enabled us to determine 210 redshifts, of which 145 are at z > 1.4. The redshift distribution is clearly inhomogeneous with several pronounced redshift peaks. From the redshifts and photometry, we deduce that the BzK selection criteria are efficient (82%) and suffer low contamination (11%). Several papers based on the GMASS survey show its value for studies of galaxy formation and evolution. We publicly release the redshifts and reduced spectra. In combination with existing and on-going additional observations in CDFS/GOODS, this data set provides a legacy for future studies of distant galaxies.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 90%

GMASS ultradeep spectroscopy of galaxies atz ~ 2

Kurk

Cimatti

Daddi

et al. 2012

A&A

111

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“…Erb et al 2006) and that at a fixed stellar mass, the SSFR declines with increasing redshift (e.g. Reddy et al 2006;Feulner et al 2005). In Fig.…”

Section: Star Formation Rates From Ultraviolet Continuum and Sed-fittingmentioning

confidence: 78%

Physical and morphological properties ofz~ 3 Lyman break galaxies: dependence on Lyαline emission

Pentericci¹,

Grazian²,

Scarlata

et al. 2010

A&A

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Aims. We investigate the physical and morphological properties of Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at redshift ∼2.5 to ∼3.5, to determine if and how they depend on the nature and strength of the Lyα emission. Methods. We selected U-dropout galaxies from the z-detected GOODS-MUSIC catalog by adapting the classical Lyman break criteria on the GOODS filter set. We kept only those galaxies with spectroscopic confirmation, mainly from VIMOS and FORS public observations. Using the full multi-wavelength 14-bands information (U to IRAC), we determined the physical properties of the galaxies through a standard spectral energy distribution fitting procedure with the updated Charlot & Bruzual (2009) templates. We also added other relevant observations of the GOODS field, i.e. the 24 μm observations from Spitzer/MIPS and the 2 MSec Chandra X-ray observations. Finally, using non parametric diagnostics (Gini, Concentration, Asymmetry, M 20 and ellipticity), we characterized the rest-frame UV morphologies of the galaxies. We then analyzed how these physical and morphological properties correlate with the presence of the Lyα emission line in the optical spectra. Results. We find that unlike at higher redshift, the dependence of physical properties on the Lyα line is milder: galaxies without Lyα in emission tend to be more massive and dustier than the rest of the sample, but all other parameters, ages, star formation rates (SFR), X-ray emission and UV morphology do not depend strongly on the presence of the Lyα emission. A simple scenario where all LBGs have intrinsically high Lyα emission, but where the dust and neutral hydrogen content (which shapes the final appearance of the Lyα) depend on the mass of the galaxies, is able to reproduce the majority of the observed properties at z ∼ 3. Some modification might be needed to account for the observed evolution of these properties with cosmic epoch, which is also discussed.

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“…Elbaz et al 2007;Salmi et al 2012), which implies that their sSFR does not depend strongly on stellar mass. Specific star formation rates increase out to z ≈ 2 (Elbaz et al 2007(Elbaz et al , 2011Daddi et al 2007Daddi et al , 2009Noeske et al 2007;Dunne et al 2009;Stark et al 2009;Oliver et al 2010;Rodighiero et al 2010) and are constant, or perhaps slowly increasing, from z = 2 out to z = 6, though with a large scatter, sSFR ≈ 2−10 Gyr −1 (Feulner et al 2005;Dunne et al 2009;Magdis et al 2010;Stark et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the cosmic evolution of the specific star formation rate

Lehnert

Driel

Tiran

et al. 2015

A&A

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The apparent correlation between the specific star formation rate (sSFR) and total stellar mass (M ) of galaxies is a fundamental relationship indicating how they formed their stellar populations. To attempt to understand this relation, we hypothesize that the relation and its evolution is regulated by the increase in the stellar and gas mass surface density in galaxies with redshift, which is itself governed by the angular momentum of the accreted gas, the amount of available gas, and by self-regulation of star formation. With our model, we can reproduce the specific SFR− M relations at z ∼ 1-2 by assuming gas fractions and gas mass surface densities similar to those observed for z = 1-2 galaxies. We further argue that it is the increasing angular momentum with cosmic time that causes a decrease in the surface density of accreted gas. The gas mass surface densities in galaxies are controlled by the centrifugal support (i.e., angular momentum), and the sSFR is predicted to increase as, sSFR(z) = (1 + z) 3 /t H0 , as observed (where t H0 is the Hubble time and no free parameters are necessary). In addition, the simple evolution for the star-formation intensity we propose is in agreement with observations of Milky Way-like galaxies selected through abundance matching. At z > ∼ 2, we argue that star formation is self-regulated by high pressures generated by the intense star formation itself. The star formation intensity must be high enough to either balance the hydrostatic pressure (a rather extreme assumption) or to generate high turbulent pressure in the molecular medium which maintains galaxies near the line of instability (i.e. Toomre Q ∼ 1). We provide simple prescriptions for understanding these self-regulation mechanisms based on solid relationships verified through extensive study. In all cases, the most important factor is the increase in stellar and gas mass surface density with redshift, which allows distant galaxies to maintain high levels of sSFR. Without a strong feedback from massive stars, such galaxies would likely reach very high sSFR levels, have high star formation efficiencies, and because strong feedback drives outflows, ultimately have an excess of stellar baryons.

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Specific Star Formation Rates to Redshift 5 from the FORS Deep Field and the GOODS-S Field

Cited by 149 publications

References 38 publications

GMASS ultradeep spectroscopy of galaxies atz ~ 2

GMASS ultradeep spectroscopy of galaxies atz ~ 2

Physical and morphological properties ofz~ 3 Lyman break galaxies: dependence on Lyαline emission

On the cosmic evolution of the specific star formation rate

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