Matching Items (2)
Filtering by

Clear all filters

156741-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
Green pea galaxies are a class of rare, compact starburst galaxies that have powerful optical emission line [OIII]$\lambda$5007. They are the best low-redshift analogs of high-redshift (z$>$2) Lyman-alpha emitting galaxies (LAEs). They provide unique opportunities to study physical conditions in high-redshift LAEs in great detail. In this dissertation, a few

Green pea galaxies are a class of rare, compact starburst galaxies that have powerful optical emission line [OIII]$\lambda$5007. They are the best low-redshift analogs of high-redshift (z$>$2) Lyman-alpha emitting galaxies (LAEs). They provide unique opportunities to study physical conditions in high-redshift LAEs in great detail. In this dissertation, a few physical properties of green peas are investigated. The first study in the dissertation presents star formation rate (SFR) surface density, thermal pressure in HII regions, and a correlation between them for 17 green peas and 19 Lyman break analogs, which are nearby analogs of high-redshift Lyman break galaxies. This correlation is consistent with that found from the star-forming galaxies at z $\sim$ 2.5. In the second study, a new large sample of 835 green peas in the redshift range z = 0.011 -- 0.411 are assembled from Data Release 13 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) with the equivalent width of the line [OIII]$\lambda$5007 $>$ 300\AA\ or the equivalent width of the line H$\beta$ $>$ 100\AA. The size of this new sample is ten times that of the original 80 star-forming green pea sample. With reliable T$_e$-based gas-phase metallicity measurements for the 835 green peas, a new empirical calibration of R23 (defined as ([OIII]$\lambda$$\lambda$4959,5007 + [OII]$\lambda$$\lambda$3726,3729)/H$\beta$) for strong line emitters is then derived. The double-value degeneracy of the metallicity is broken for galaxies with large ionization parameter (which manifests as log([OIII]$\lambda$$\lambda$4959,5007/[OII]$\lambda$$\lambda$3726,3729) $\geq$ 0.6). This calibration offers a good way to estimate metallicities for extreme emission-line galaxies and high-redshift LAEs. The third study presents stellar mass measurements and the stellar mass-metallicity relation of 828 green peas from the second study. The stellar mass covers 6 orders of magnitude in the range 10$^{5}$ -- 10$^{11}$ M$_{\odot}$, with a median value of 10$^{8.8}$ M$_{\odot}$. The stellar mass-metallicity relation of green peas is flatter and displays about 0.2 - 0.5 dex offset to lower metallicities in the range of stellar mass higher than 10$^{8}$ M$_{\odot}$ compared to the local SDSS star-forming galaxies. A significant dependence of the stellar mass-metallicity relation on star formation rate is not found in this work.
ContributorsJiang, Tianxing (Author) / Malhotra, Sangeeta (Thesis advisor) / Rhoads, James E (Committee member) / Scannapieco, Evan (Committee member) / Borthakur, Sanchayeeta (Committee member) / Jansen, Rolf A (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
155509-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
New measurements of the Hα luminosity function (LF) and star formation rate

(SFR) volume density are presented for galaxies at z∼0.62 in the COSMOS field.

These results are part of the Deep And Wide Narrowband Survey (DAWN), a unique

infrared imaging program with large areal coverage (∼1.1 deg 2 over 5 fields) and

sensitivity

New measurements of the Hα luminosity function (LF) and star formation rate

(SFR) volume density are presented for galaxies at z∼0.62 in the COSMOS field.

These results are part of the Deep And Wide Narrowband Survey (DAWN), a unique

infrared imaging program with large areal coverage (∼1.1 deg 2 over 5 fields) and

sensitivity (9.9 × 10 −18 erg/cm 2 /s at 5σ).

The present sample, based on a single DAWN field, contains 116 Hα emission-

line candidates at z∼0.62, 25% of which have spectroscopic confirmations. These

candidates have been selected through comparison of narrow and broad-band images

in the infrared and through matching with existing catalogs in the COSMOS field.

The dust-corrected LF is well described by a Schechter function with L* = 10 42.64±0.92

erg s −1 , Φ* = 10 −3.32±0.93 Mpc −3 (L* Φ* = 10 39.40±0.15 ), and α = −1.75 ± 0.09. From

this LF, a SFR density of ρ SF R =10 −1.37±0.08 M○ yr −1 Mpc −3 was calculated. An

additional cosmic variance uncertainty of ∼ 20% is also expected. Both the faint

end slope and luminosity density that are derived are consistent with prior results at

similar redshifts, with reduced uncertainties.

An analysis of these Hα emitters’ sizes is also presented, showing a direct corre-

lation between the galaxies’ sizes and their Hα emission.
ContributorsGonzalez, Alicia (Author) / Rhoads, James E (Thesis advisor) / Malhotra, Sangeeta (Thesis advisor) / Butler, Nathaniel (Committee member) / Jansen, Rolf (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017