Herschel-ATLAS/GAMA: the environmental density of far-infrared bright galaxies at z < 0.5

C. S. Burton; M.J. Jarvis; Daniel Smith; D. G. Bonfield; M.J. Hardcastle; J. A. Stevens; N. Bourne; M. Baes; S. Brough; A. Cava; A. Cooray; A. Dariush; G. De Zotti; L. Dunne; S. Eales; R. Hopwood; E. Ibar; R. J. Ivison; J. Liske; J. Loveday; S. J. Maddox; M. Negrello; M. W. L. Smith; E. Valiante

doi:10.1093/mnras/stt770

Herschel-ATLAS/GAMA: the environmental density of far-infrared bright galaxies at z < 0.5

C. S. Burton, M.J. Jarvis, Daniel Smith, D. G. Bonfield, M.J. Hardcastle, J. A. Stevens, N. Bourne, M. Baes, S. Brough, A. Cava, A. Cooray, A. Dariush, G. De Zotti, L. Dunne, S. Eales, R. Hopwood, E. Ibar, R. J. Ivison, J. Liske, J. LovedayS. J. Maddox, M. Negrello, M. W. L. Smith, E. Valiante

Centre for Astrophysics Research (CAR)

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Abstract

We compare the environmental and star formation properties of far-infrared detected and non-far-infrared detected galaxies out to z similar to 0.5. Using optical spectroscopy and photometry from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) and Sloan Digital Sky Survey, with far-infrared observations from the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (ATLAS) Science Demonstration Phase, we apply the technique of Voronoi tessellations to analyse the environmental densities of individual galaxies. Applying statistical analyses to colour, r-band magnitude and redshift-matched samples, we show that there is a significant difference at the 3.5 Sigma level between the normalized environmental densities of these two populations. This is such that infrared emission (a tracer of star formation activity) favours underdense regions compared to those inhabited by exclusively optically observed galaxies selected to be of the same r-band magnitude, colour and redshift. Thus, more highly star-forming galaxies are found to reside in the most underdense environments, confirming previous studies that have proposed such a correlation. However, the degeneracy between redshift and far-infrared luminosity in our flux-density-limited sample means that we are unable to make a stronger statement in this respect. We then apply our method to synthetic light cones generated from semi-analytic models, finding that over the whole redshift distribution the same correlations between star formation rate and environmental density are found.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	771-786
Number of pages	16
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume	433
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stt770
Publication status	Published - Jul 2013

Keywords

methods: statistical
galaxies: evolution
galaxies: formation
galaxies: star formation
galaxies: statistics
infrared: galaxies
DIGITAL SKY SURVEY
ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI
SCIENCE DEMONSTRATION PHASE
SPECTRAL ENERGY-DISTRIBUTIONS
MASS ASSEMBLY GAMA
EARLY DATA RELEASE
FORMATION RATES
STELLAR MASS
LUMINOSITY FUNCTIONS
VORONOI TESSELLATIONS

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Burton, C. S., Jarvis, M. J., Smith, D., Bonfield, D. G., Hardcastle, M. J., Stevens, J. A., Bourne, N., Baes, M., Brough, S., Cava, A., Cooray, A., Dariush, A., De Zotti, G., Dunne, L., Eales, S., Hopwood, R., Ibar, E., Ivison, R. J., Liske, J., ... Valiante, E. (2013). Herschel-ATLAS/GAMA: the environmental density of far-infrared bright galaxies at z < 0.5. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 433(1), 771-786. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stt770

@article{8acce73c0c69435096b7167eafa4cef1,

title = "Herschel-ATLAS/GAMA: the environmental density of far-infrared bright galaxies at z < 0.5",

abstract = "We compare the environmental and star formation properties of far-infrared detected and non-far-infrared detected galaxies out to z similar to 0.5. Using optical spectroscopy and photometry from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) and Sloan Digital Sky Survey, with far-infrared observations from the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (ATLAS) Science Demonstration Phase, we apply the technique of Voronoi tessellations to analyse the environmental densities of individual galaxies. Applying statistical analyses to colour, r-band magnitude and redshift-matched samples, we show that there is a significant difference at the 3.5 Sigma level between the normalized environmental densities of these two populations. This is such that infrared emission (a tracer of star formation activity) favours underdense regions compared to those inhabited by exclusively optically observed galaxies selected to be of the same r-band magnitude, colour and redshift. Thus, more highly star-forming galaxies are found to reside in the most underdense environments, confirming previous studies that have proposed such a correlation. However, the degeneracy between redshift and far-infrared luminosity in our flux-density-limited sample means that we are unable to make a stronger statement in this respect. We then apply our method to synthetic light cones generated from semi-analytic models, finding that over the whole redshift distribution the same correlations between star formation rate and environmental density are found.",

keywords = "methods: statistical, galaxies: evolution, galaxies: formation, galaxies: star formation, galaxies: statistics, infrared: galaxies, DIGITAL SKY SURVEY, ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI, SCIENCE DEMONSTRATION PHASE, SPECTRAL ENERGY-DISTRIBUTIONS, MASS ASSEMBLY GAMA, EARLY DATA RELEASE, FORMATION RATES, STELLAR MASS, LUMINOSITY FUNCTIONS, VORONOI TESSELLATIONS",

author = "Burton, {C. S.} and M.J. Jarvis and Daniel Smith and Bonfield, {D. G.} and M.J. Hardcastle and Stevens, {J. A.} and N. Bourne and M. Baes and S. Brough and A. Cava and A. Cooray and A. Dariush and {De Zotti}, G. and L. Dunne and S. Eales and R. Hopwood and E. Ibar and Ivison, {R. J.} and J. Liske and J. Loveday and Maddox, {S. J.} and M. Negrello and Smith, {M. W. L.} and E. Valiante",

year = "2013",

month = jul,

doi = "10.1093/mnras/stt770",

language = "English",

volume = "433",

pages = "771--786",

journal = "Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society",

issn = "0035-8711",

publisher = "Oxford University Press (OUP)",

number = "1",

}

Burton, CS, Jarvis, MJ, Smith, D, Bonfield, DG, Hardcastle, MJ , Stevens, JA, Bourne, N, Baes, M, Brough, S, Cava, A, Cooray, A, Dariush, A, De Zotti, G, Dunne, L, Eales, S, Hopwood, R, Ibar, E, Ivison, RJ, Liske, J, Loveday, J, Maddox, SJ, Negrello, M, Smith, MWL & Valiante, E 2013, 'Herschel-ATLAS/GAMA: the environmental density of far-infrared bright galaxies at z < 0.5', Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 433, no. 1, pp. 771-786. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stt770

TY - JOUR

T1 - Herschel-ATLAS/GAMA

T2 - the environmental density of far-infrared bright galaxies at z < 0.5

AU - Burton, C. S.

AU - Jarvis, M.J.

AU - Smith, Daniel

AU - Bonfield, D. G.

AU - Hardcastle, M.J.

AU - Stevens, J. A.

AU - Bourne, N.

AU - Baes, M.

AU - Brough, S.

AU - Cava, A.

AU - Cooray, A.

AU - Dariush, A.

AU - De Zotti, G.

AU - Dunne, L.

AU - Eales, S.

AU - Hopwood, R.

AU - Ibar, E.

AU - Ivison, R. J.

AU - Liske, J.

AU - Loveday, J.

AU - Maddox, S. J.

AU - Negrello, M.

AU - Smith, M. W. L.

AU - Valiante, E.

PY - 2013/7

Y1 - 2013/7

N2 - We compare the environmental and star formation properties of far-infrared detected and non-far-infrared detected galaxies out to z similar to 0.5. Using optical spectroscopy and photometry from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) and Sloan Digital Sky Survey, with far-infrared observations from the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (ATLAS) Science Demonstration Phase, we apply the technique of Voronoi tessellations to analyse the environmental densities of individual galaxies. Applying statistical analyses to colour, r-band magnitude and redshift-matched samples, we show that there is a significant difference at the 3.5 Sigma level between the normalized environmental densities of these two populations. This is such that infrared emission (a tracer of star formation activity) favours underdense regions compared to those inhabited by exclusively optically observed galaxies selected to be of the same r-band magnitude, colour and redshift. Thus, more highly star-forming galaxies are found to reside in the most underdense environments, confirming previous studies that have proposed such a correlation. However, the degeneracy between redshift and far-infrared luminosity in our flux-density-limited sample means that we are unable to make a stronger statement in this respect. We then apply our method to synthetic light cones generated from semi-analytic models, finding that over the whole redshift distribution the same correlations between star formation rate and environmental density are found.

AB - We compare the environmental and star formation properties of far-infrared detected and non-far-infrared detected galaxies out to z similar to 0.5. Using optical spectroscopy and photometry from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) and Sloan Digital Sky Survey, with far-infrared observations from the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (ATLAS) Science Demonstration Phase, we apply the technique of Voronoi tessellations to analyse the environmental densities of individual galaxies. Applying statistical analyses to colour, r-band magnitude and redshift-matched samples, we show that there is a significant difference at the 3.5 Sigma level between the normalized environmental densities of these two populations. This is such that infrared emission (a tracer of star formation activity) favours underdense regions compared to those inhabited by exclusively optically observed galaxies selected to be of the same r-band magnitude, colour and redshift. Thus, more highly star-forming galaxies are found to reside in the most underdense environments, confirming previous studies that have proposed such a correlation. However, the degeneracy between redshift and far-infrared luminosity in our flux-density-limited sample means that we are unable to make a stronger statement in this respect. We then apply our method to synthetic light cones generated from semi-analytic models, finding that over the whole redshift distribution the same correlations between star formation rate and environmental density are found.

KW - methods: statistical

KW - galaxies: evolution

KW - galaxies: formation

KW - galaxies: star formation

KW - galaxies: statistics

KW - infrared: galaxies

KW - DIGITAL SKY SURVEY

KW - ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

KW - SCIENCE DEMONSTRATION PHASE

KW - SPECTRAL ENERGY-DISTRIBUTIONS

KW - MASS ASSEMBLY GAMA

KW - EARLY DATA RELEASE

KW - FORMATION RATES

KW - STELLAR MASS

KW - LUMINOSITY FUNCTIONS

KW - VORONOI TESSELLATIONS

U2 - 10.1093/mnras/stt770

DO - 10.1093/mnras/stt770

M3 - Article

SN - 0035-8711

VL - 433

SP - 771

EP - 786

JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

IS - 1

ER -

Herschel-ATLAS/GAMA: the environmental density of far-infrared bright galaxies at z < 0.5

Abstract

Keywords

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