Internet Archive Scholar

The MOSDEF Survey: No Significant Enhancement in Star Formation or Deficit in Metallicity in Merging Galaxy Pairs at 1.5 ≲ z ≲ 3.5

Tim J. Wilson, Alice E. Shapley, Ryan L. Sanders, Naveen A. Reddy, William R. Freeman, Mariska Kriek, Irene Shivaei, Alison L. Coil, Brian Siana, Bahram Mobasher, Sedona H. Price, Mojegan Azadi (+6 others)
2019 Astrophysical Journal  

Preserved Fulltext

fulltext thumbnail
Web Archive Capture PDF (6.1 MB)
https://web.archive.org/web/20200309162831/https://repository.arizona.edu/bitstream/handle/10150/633279/Wilson_2019_ApJ_874_18.pdf;jsessionid=9307AD0B9E46460726DEF3597AD88AC1?sequence=1

A copy of this work was available on the public web and has been preserved in the Wayback Machine. The capture dates from 2020; you can also visit the original URL. The file type is application/pdf.

Other Versions

2018 pre-print
arXiv:1808.09978v1 fatcat:ttg5inz6xbdz3huc6vdnag454a
2019 accepted
arXiv:1808.09978v2 fatcat:zd3k56bgx5fx5n7fyrpkaizbbm
We study the properties of 30 spectroscopically-identified pairs of galaxies observed during the peak epoch of star formation in the universe. These systems are drawn from the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field (MOSDEF) Survey at 1.4 ≤ z ≤ 3.8, and are interpreted as early-stage galaxy mergers. Galaxy pairs in our sample are identified as two objects whose spectra were collected on the same Keck/MOSFIRE spectroscopic slit. Accordingly, all pairs in the sample have projected separations R_ proj≤ 60
more » ... . The velocity separation for pairs was required to be Δ v ≤ 500 km s^-1, which is a standard threshold for defining interacting galaxy pairs at low redshift. Stellar mass ratios in our sample range from 1.1 to 550, with 12 ratios closer than or equal to 3:1, the common definition of a "major merger." Studies of merging pairs in the local universe indicate anenhancement in star-formation activity and deficit in gas-phase oxygen abundance relative to isolated galaxies of the same mass. We compare the MOSDEF pairs sample to a control sample of isolated galaxies at the same redshift, finding no measurable SFR enhancement or metallicity deficit at fixed stellar mass for the pairs sample. The lack of significant difference between the average properties of pairs and control samples appears in contrast to results from low-redshift studies, although the small sample size and lower signal-to-noise of the high-redshift data limit definitive conclusions on redshift evolution. These results are consistent with some theoretical works suggesting a reduced differential effect of pre-coalescence mergers on galaxy properties at high redshift -- specifically that pre-coalescence mergers do not drive strong starbursts.
doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ab06ee fatcat:dxn4eee4pfblxikvdxiwzb7ewq
Multiple Versions
Citation

Tim J. Wilson, Alice E. Shapley, Ryan L. Sanders, Naveen A. Reddy, William R. Freeman, Mariska Kriek, Irene Shivaei, Alison L. Coil, Brian Siana, Bahram Mobasher, Sedona H. Price, Mojegan Azadi, Guillermo Barro, Laura de Groot, Tara Fetherolf, Francesca M. Fornasini, Gene C. K. Leung, Tom O. Zick. "The MOSDEF Survey: No Significant Enhancement in Star Formation or Deficit in Metallicity in Merging Galaxy Pairs at 1.5 ≲ z ≲ 3.5." Astrophysical Journal 874.1 (2019) 18