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We investigate which physical properties are most predictive of the position of local star forming galaxies on the BPT diagrams, by means of different Machine Learning (ML) algorithms. Exploiting the large statistics from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), we define a framework in which the deviation of star-forming galaxies from their median sequence can be described in terms of the relative variations in a variety of observational parameters. We train artificial neural networks (ANN) and random forest (RF) trees to predict whether galaxies are offset above or below the sequence (via classification), and to estimate the exact magnitude of the offset itself (via regression). We find, with high significance, that parameters primarily associated to variations in the nitrogen-over-oxygen abundance ratio (N/O) are the most predictive for the [N  ii ]-BPT diagram, whereas properties related to star formation (like variations in SFR or EW(H α)) perform better in the [S  ii ]-BPT diagram. We interpret the former as a reflection of the N/O–O/H relationship for local galaxies, while the latter as primarily tracing the variation in the effective size of the S+ emitting region, which directly impacts the [S  ii ] emission lines. This analysis paves the way to assess to what extent the physics shaping local BPT diagrams is also responsible for the offsets seen in high redshift galaxies or, instead, whether a different framework or even different mechanisms need to be invoked. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a comparison of the nitrogen-to-oxygen ratio (N/O) in 37 high-redshift galaxies at z ∼ 2 taken from the KMOS Lensed Emission Lines and VElocity Review (KLEVER) Survey with a comparison sample of local galaxies, taken from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The KLEVER sample shows only a mild enrichment in N/O of +0.1 dex when compared to local galaxies at a given gas-phase metallicity (O/H), but shows a depletion in N/O of −0.35 dex when compared at a fixed stellar mass (M *). We find a strong anticorrelation in local galaxies between N/O and SFR in the M *–N/O plane, similar to the anticorrelation between O/H and SFR found in the mass–metallicity relation (MZR). We use this anticorrelation to construct a fundamental nitrogen relation (FNR), analogous to the fundamental metallicity relation (FMR). We find that KLEVER galaxies are consistent with both the FMR and the FNR. This suggests that the depletion of N/O in high- z galaxies when considered at a fixed M * is driven by the redshift evolution of the mass–metallicity relation in combination with a near redshift-invariant N/O–O/H relation. Furthermore, the existence of an fundamental nitrogen relation suggests that the mechanisms governing the fundamental metallicity relation must be probed by not only O/H, but also N/O, suggesting pure-pristine gas inflows are not the primary driver of the FMR, and other properties such as variations in galaxy age and star formation efficiency must be important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the performance of group finding algorithms that reconstruct galaxy groups from the positional information of tracer galaxies that are observed in redshift surveys carried out with multiplexed spectrographs. We use mock light-cones produced by the L-Galaxies semi-analytic model of galaxy evolution in which the underlying reality is known. We particularly focus on the performance at high redshift, and how this is affected by choices of the mass of the tracer galaxies (largely equivalent to their co-moving number density) and the (assumed random) sampling rate of these tracers. We first however compare two different approaches to group finding as applied at low redshift, and conclude that these are broadly comparable. For simplicity we adopt just one of these, 'Friends-of-Friends' (FoF) as the basis for our study at high redshift. We introduce 12 science metrics that are designed to quantify the performance of the group-finder as relevant for a wide range of science investigations with a group catalogue. These metrics examine the quality of the recovered group catalogue, the median halo masses of different richness structures, the scatter in dark matter halo mass and how successful the group-finder classifies singletons, centrals, and satellites. We analyse how these metrics vary with the limiting stellar mass and random sampling rate of the tracer galaxies, allowing quantification of the various trade-offs between different possible survey designs. Finally, we look at the impact of these same design parameters on the relative 'costs' in observation time of the survey using as an example the potential MOONRISE survey using the MOONS instrument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) continuum observations of a sample of nine star-forming galaxies at redshifts 1.47 and 2.23 selected from the High- z Emission Line Survey (HiZELS). Four galaxies in our sample are detected at high significance by ALMA at a resolution of 0 |${_{.}^{\prime\prime}}$| 25 at rest-frame 355 μm. Together with the previously observed H α emission, from adaptive optics-assisted integral-field-unit spectroscopy (∼0 |${_{.}^{\prime\prime}}$| 15 resolution), and F606W and F140W imaging from the Hubble Space Telescope (∼0 |${_{.}^{\prime\prime}}$| 2 resolution), we study the star formation activity, stellar and dust mass in these high-redshift galaxies at ∼kpc-scale resolution. We find that ALMA detection rates are higher for more massive galaxies (M * > 1010.5 M⊙) and higher [N  ii ]/H α ratios (>0.25, a proxy for gas-phase metallicity). The dust extends out to a radius of 8 kpc, with a smooth structure, even for those galaxies presenting clumpy H α morphologies. The half-light radii (R dust) derived for the detected galaxies are of the order ∼4.5 kpc, more than twice the size of submillimetre-selected galaxies at a similar redshift. Our global star formation rate estimates – from far-infrared and extinction-corrected H α luminosities – are in good agreement. However, the different morphologies of the different phases of the interstellar medium suggest complex extinction properties of the high-redshift normal galaxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Submillimetre (submm) galaxies are among the most rapidly star-forming and most massive high-redshift galaxies; thus, their properties provide important constraints on galaxy evolution models. However, there is still a debate about their stellar masses and their nature in the context of the general galaxy population. To test the reliability of their stellar mass determinations, we used a sample of simulated submm galaxies for which we created synthetic photometry. The photometry were used to derived their stellar masses via spectral energy distribution (SED) modelling, as is generally done with real observations. We used various SED codes (Grasil, Magphys, Hyperz, and LePhare) and various alternative assumed star formation histories (SFHs). We found that the assumption of SFHs with two independent components enables the SED modelling codes to most accurately recover the true stellar masses of the simulated submm galaxies. Exponentially declining SFHs (tau models) lead to lower masses (albeit still formally consistent with the true stellar masses), while the assumption of single-burst SFHs results in a significant underestimation of the stellar masses. Thus, we conclude that studies based on the higher masses inferred from fitting the SEDs of real submm galaxies with double SFHs are most likely to be correct, implying that submm galaxies lie on the high-mass end of the main sequence of star-forming galaxies. This conclusion appears robust to assumptions of whether submm galaxies are driven by major mergers, since the suite of simulated galaxies modelled here contains examples of both merging and isolated galaxies. We identified discrepancies between the true and inferred stellar ages (rather than the dust attenuation) as the primary determinant of the success or failure of the mass recovery. Regardless of the choice of SFH, the SED-derived stellar masses exhibit a factor of ∼2 scatter around the true value, and this scatter is an inherent limitation of the SED modelling due to simplified assumptions (regarding, e.g., the SFH, detailed galaxy geometry and wavelength dependence of the dust attenuation). Finally, we found that the contribution of active galactic nuclei (<60% at the K-band in these simulations) does not have any significant impact on the derived stellar masses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Galaxy formation models invoke the presence of strong feedback mechanisms that regulate the growth of massive galaxies at high redshifts. Providing observational evidence of these processes is crucial to justify and improve these prescriptions. In this paper we aim to (1) confirm spectroscopically the redshifts of a sample of massive galaxies selected with photometric redshifts zphot > 2.5; (2) investigate the properties of their stellar and interstellar media; (3) detect the presence of outflows and measure their velocities. To achieve this, we analysed deep, high-resolution (R ≈ 2000) FORS2 rest-frame UV spectra for 11 targets. We confirmed that 9 out of 11 have spectroscopic redshifts zspec > 2.5. We also serendipitously found two mask fillers at redshift zspec > 2.5, which originally were assigned photometric redshifts 2.0 < zphot < 2.5. In the four highest quality spectra we derived outflow velocities by fitting the absorption line profiles with models including multiple dynamical components. We found strongly asymmetric, high-ionisation lines, from which we derived outflow velocities ranging between 480 kms−1 and 1518 km s−1. The two highest velocity outflows correspond to galaxies with active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We revised the spectral energy distribution fitting U-band through 8 μm photometry, including the analysis of a power-law component subtraction to identify the possible presence of AGNs. The revised stellar masses of all but one of our targets are >∼1010 M⊙, with four having stellar masses >5×1010 M⊙. Three galaxies have significant power-law components in their spectral energy distributions, indicating that they host AGNs. We conclude that massive galaxies are characterised by significantly higher velocity outflows than the typical Lyman-break galaxies at z ∼ 3. The incidence of high-velocity outflows (∼40% within our sample) is also much higher than among massive galaxies at z < 1, consistent with the powerful star formation and nuclear activity that most massive galaxies display at z > 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze the redshift- and luminosity-dependent sizes of dropout galaxy candidates in the redshift range z ∼ 7-12 using deep images from the 2012 Hubble Ultra Deep Field (UDF12) campaign, which offers two advantages over that used in earlier work. First, we utilize the increased signal-to-noise ratio offered by the UDF12 imaging to provide improved measurements for known galaxies at z ≃ 6.5-8 in the HUDF. Second, because the UDF12 data have allowed the construction of the first robust galaxy sample in the HUDF at z > 8, we have been able to extend the measurement of average galaxy size out to higher redshifts. Restricting our measurements to sources detected at >15σ, we confirm earlier indications that the average half-light radii of z ∼ 7-12 galaxies are extremely small, 0.3-0.4 kpc, comparable to the sizes of giant molecular associations in local star-forming galaxies. We also confirm that there is a clear trend of decreasing half-light radius with increasing redshift, and provide the first evidence that this trend continues beyond z ≃ 8. Modeling the evolution of the average half-light radius as a power law, ∝(1 + z)s, we obtain a best-fit index of over z ∼ 4-12. A clear size-luminosity relation is evident in our dropout samples. This relation can be interpreted in terms of a constant surface density of star formation over a range in luminosity of . The average star formation surface density in dropout galaxies is 2-3 orders of magnitude lower than that found in extreme starburst galaxies, but is comparable to that seen today in the centers of normal disk galaxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a catalog of high-redshift star-forming galaxies selected to lie within the redshift range z ≃ 7-8 using the Ultra Deep Field 2012 (UDF12), the deepest near-infrared (near-IR) exposures yet taken with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). As a result of the increased near-IR exposure time compared to previous HST imaging in this field, we probe ~0.65 (0.25) mag fainter in absolute UV magnitude, at z ~ 7 (8), which increases confidence in a measurement of the faint end slope of the galaxy luminosity function. Through a 0.7 mag deeper limit in the key F105W filter that encompasses or lies just longward of the Lyman break, we also achieve a much-refined color-color selection that balances high redshift completeness and a low expected contamination fraction. We improve the number of dropout-selected UDF sources to 47 at z ~ 7 and 27 at z ~ 8. Incorporating brighter archival and ground-based samples, we measure the z ≃ 7 UV luminosity function to an absolute magnitude limit of MUV = -17 and find a faint end Schechter slope of α = -1.87+0.18-0.17. Using a similar color-color selection at z ≃ 8 that takes our newly added imaging in the F140W filter into account, and incorporating archival data from the HIPPIES and BoRG campaigns, we provide a robust estimate of the faint end slope at z ≃ 8, α = -1.94+0.21-0.24. We briefly discuss our results in the context of earlier work and that derived using the same UDF12 data but with an independent photometric redshift technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]