Kristen Coppin

Bio: Kristen Coppin is an academic researcher from University of Hertfordshire. The author has contributed to research in topics: Galaxy & Redshift. The author has an hindex of 70, co-authored 182 publications receiving 14037 citations. Previous affiliations of Kristen Coppin include McGill University & University of Bristol.

Intense star formation within resolved compact regions in a galaxy at z = 2.3

Abstract: Massive galaxies in the early Universe have been shown to be forming stars at surprisingly high rates. Prominent examples are dust-obscured galaxies which are luminous when observed at sub-millimetre wavelengths and which may be forming stars at a rate of 1,000 solar masses (M_⊙) per year. These intense bursts of star formation are believed to be driven by mergers between gas-rich galaxies. Probing the properties of individual star-forming regions within these galaxies, however, is beyond the spatial resolution and sensitivity of even the largest telescopes at present. Here we report observations of the sub-millimetre galaxy SMMJ2135-0102 at redshift z = 2.3259, which has been gravitationally magnified by a factor of 32 by a massive foreground galaxy cluster lens. This magnification, when combined with high-resolution sub-millimetre imaging, resolves the star-forming regions at a linear scale of only 100 parsecs. We find that the luminosity densities of these star-forming regions are comparable to the dense cores of giant molecular clouds in the local Universe, but they are about a hundred times larger and 10^7 times more luminous. Although vigorously star-forming, the underlying physics of the star-formation processes at z ≈ 2 appears to be similar to that seen in local galaxies, although the energetics are unlike anything found in the present-day Universe.

The Large Apex Bolometer Camera Survey of the Extended Chandra Deep Field South

Abstract: We present a sensitive 870 mum survey of the Extended Chandra Deep Field South (ECDFS) combining 310 hr of observing time with the Large Apex BOlometer Camera (LABOCA) on the APEX telescope. The LABOCA ECDFS Submillimetre Survey (LESS) covers the full 30' x 30' field size of the ECDFS and has a uniform noise level of sigma{sub 870{sub m}}u{sub m} approx 1.2 mJy beam{sup -1}. LESS is thus the largest contiguous deep submillimeter survey undertaken to date. The noise properties of our map show clear evidence that we are beginning to be affected by confusion noise. We present a catalog of 126 submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) detected with a significance level above 3.7sigma, at which level we expect five false detections given our map area of 1260 arcmin{sup 2}. The ECDFS exhibits a deficit of bright SMGs relative to previously studied blank fields but not of normal star-forming galaxies that dominate the extragalactic background light (EBL). This is in line with the underdensities observed for optically defined high redshift source populations in the ECDFS (BzKs, DRGs, optically bright active galactic nucleus, and massive K-band-selected galaxies). The differential source counts in the full field are well described by a power law withmore » a slope of alpha = -3.2, comparable to the results from other fields. We show that the shape of the source counts is not uniform across the field. Instead, it steepens in regions with low SMG density. Towards the highest overdensities we measure a source-count shape consistent with previous surveys. The integrated 870 mum flux densities of our source-count models down to S{sub 870{sub m}}u{sub m} = 0.5 mJy account for >65% of the estimated EBL from COBE measurements. We have investigated the clustering of SMGs in the ECDFS by means of a two-point correlation function and find evidence for strong clustering on angular scales <1' with a significance of 3.4sigma. Assuming a power-law dependence for the correlation function and a typical redshift distribution for the SMGs we derive a characteristic angular clustering scale of theta{sub 0} = 14'' +- 7'' and a spatial correlation length of r{sub 0} = 13 +- 6 h {sup -1} Mpc.« less

A deep ALMA image of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field

Abstract: European Research Council via the award of an Advanced Grant; EC [312725]; European Research Council via the award of a Consolidator Grant; UK Science and Technology Facilities Council; FWO Pegasus Marie Curie Fellowship; European Research Council through the Advanced Grant [321302, 669253, 670193]; JSPS KAKENHI [JP15K17604]; Chulalongkorn University's CUniverse (CUAASC); Royal Society

An ALMA survey of sub-millimetre Galaxies in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South: the far-infrared properties of SMGs

Abstract: We exploit Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) 870 mu m observations of sub-millimetre sources in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South to investigate the far-infrared properties of high-redshift sub-millimetre galaxies (SMGs). Using the precisely located 870 mu m ALMA positions of 99 SMGs, together with 24 mu m and radio imaging, we deblend the Herschel/SPIRE imaging to extract their far-infrared fluxes and colours. The median redshifts for ALMA LESS (ALESS) SMGs which are detected in at least two SPIRE bands increases with wavelength of the peak in their spectral energy distributions (SEDs), with z = 2.3 +/- 0.2, 2.5 +/- 0.3 and 3.5 +/- 0.5 for the 250, 350 and 500 mu m peakers, respectively. 34 ALESS SMGs do not have a >3 sigma counterpart at 250, 350 or 500 mu m. These galaxies have a median photometric redshift derived from the rest-frame UV-mid-infrared SEDs of z = 3.3 +/- 0.5, which is higher than the full ALESS SMG sample; z = 2.5 +/- 0.2. We estimate the far-infrared luminosities and characteristic dust temperature of each SMG, deriving L-IR = (3.0 +/- 0.3) x 10(12) L-circle dot (SFR = 300 +/- 30 M-circle dot yr(-1)) and T-d = 32 +/- 1 K. The characteristic dust temperature of these high-redshift SMGs is Delta T-d = 3-5K lower than comparably luminous galaxies at z = 0, reflecting the more extended star formation in these systems. We show that the contribution of S-870 mu m >= 1 mJy SMGs to the cosmic star formation budget is 20 per cent of the total over the redshift range z similar to 1-4. Adopting an appropriate gas-to-dust ratio, we estimate a typical molecular mass of the ALESS SMGs of M-H2 = (4.2 +/- 0.4) x 10(10) M-circle dot. Finally, we show that SMGs with S-870 mu m > 1 mJy (L-IR greater than or similar to 10(12) L-circle dot) contain similar to 10 per cent of the z similar to 2 volume-averaged H-2 mass density.

The LABOCA Survey of the Extended Chandra Deep Field South

Abstract: We present a sensitive 870 micron survey of the Extended Chandra Deep Field South (ECDFS) using LABOCA on the APEX telescope. The LABOCA ECDFS Submillimetre Survey (LESS) covers the full 30' x 30' field size of the ECDFS and has a uniform noise level of 1.2 mJy/beam. LESS is thus the largest contiguous deep submillimetre survey undertaken to date. The noise properties of our map show clear evidence that we are beginning to be affected by confusion noise. We present a catalog of 126 SMGs detected with a significance level above 3.7 sigma. The ECDFS exhibits a deficit of bright SMGs relative to previously studied blank fields but not of normal star-forming galaxies that dominate the extragalactic background light (EBL). This is in line with the underdensities observed for optically defined high redshift source populations in the ECDFS (BzKs, DRGs,optically bright AGN and massive K-band selected galaxies). The differential source counts in the full field are well described by a power law with a slope of alpha=-3.2, comparable to the results from other fields. We show that the shape of the source counts is not uniform across the field. The integrated 870 micron flux densities of our source-count models account for >65% of the estimated EBL from COBE measurements. We have investigated the clustering of SMGs in the ECDFS by means of a two-point correlation function and find evidence for strong clustering on angular scales <1'. Assuming a power law dependence for the correlation function and a typical redshift distribution for the SMGs we derive a spatial correlation length of r_0=13+/-6 h^-1 Mpc.

emcee: The MCMC Hammer

Abstract: We introduce a stable, well tested Python implementation of the affine-invariant ensemble sampler for Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) proposed by Goodman & Weare (2010). The code is open source and has already been used in several published projects in the astrophysics literature. The algorithm behind emcee has several advantages over traditional MCMC sampling methods and it has excellent performance as measured by the autocorrelation time (or function calls per independent sample). One major advantage of the algorithm is that it requires hand-tuning of only 1 or 2 parameters compared to ~N2 for a traditional algorithm in an N-dimensional parameter space. In this document, we describe the algorithm and the details of our implementation. Exploiting the parallelism of the ensemble method, emcee permits any user to take advantage of multiple CPU cores without extra effort. The code is available online at http://dan.iel.fm/emcee under the GNU General Public License v2.

emcee: The MCMC Hammer

Abstract: We introduce a stable, well tested Python implementation of the affine-invariant ensemble sampler for Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) proposed by Goodman & Weare (2010). The code is open source and has already been used in several published projects in the astrophysics literature. The algorithm behind emcee has several advantages over traditional MCMC sampling methods and it has excellent performance as measured by the autocorrelation time (or function calls per independent sample). One major advantage of the algorithm is that it requires hand-tuning of only 1 or 2 parameters compared to $\sim N^2$ for a traditional algorithm in an N-dimensional parameter space. In this document, we describe the algorithm and the details of our implementation and API. Exploiting the parallelism of the ensemble method, emcee permits any user to take advantage of multiple CPU cores without extra effort. The code is available online at this http URL under the MIT License.

Cosmic Star-Formation History

Abstract: Over the past two decades, an avalanche of data from multiwavelength imaging and spectroscopic surveys has revolutionized our view of galaxy formation and evolution. Here we review the range of complementary techniques and theoretical tools that allow astronomers to map the cosmic history of star formation, heavy element production, and reionization of the Universe from the cosmic "dark ages" to the present epoch. A consistent picture is emerging, whereby the star-formation rate density peaked approximately 3.5 Gyr after the Big Bang, at z~1.9, and declined exponentially at later times, with an e-folding timescale of 3.9 Gyr. Half of the stellar mass observed today was formed before a redshift z = 1.3. About 25% formed before the peak of the cosmic star-formation rate density, and another 25% formed after z = 0.7. Less than ~1% of today's stars formed during the epoch of reionization. Under the assumption of a universal initial mass function, the global stellar mass density inferred at any epoch matches reasonably well the time integral of all the preceding star-formation activity. The comoving rates of star formation and central black hole accretion follow a similar rise and fall, offering evidence for co-evolution of black holes and their host galaxies. The rise of the mean metallicity of the Universe to about 0.001 solar by z = 6, one Gyr after the Big Bang, appears to have been accompanied by the production of fewer than ten hydrogen Lyman-continuum photons per baryon, a rather tight budget for cosmological reionization.

Coevolution (Or Not) of Supermassive Black Holes and Host Galaxies

Abstract: Supermassive black holes (BHs) have been found in 85 galaxies by dynamical modeling of spatially resolved kinematics. The Hubble Space Telescope revolutionized BH research by advancing the subject from its proof-of-concept phase into quantitative studies of BH demographics. Most influential was the discovery of a tight correlation between BH mass and the velocity dispersion σ of the bulge component of the host galaxy. Together with similar correlations with bulge luminosity and mass, this led to the widespread belief that BHs and bulges coevolve by regulating each other's growth. Conclusions based on one set of correlations from in brightest cluster ellipticals to in the smallest galaxies dominated BH work for more than a decade. New results are now replacing this simple story with a richer and more plausible picture in which BHs correlate differently with different galaxy components. A reasonable aim is to use this progress to refine our understanding of BH-galaxy coevolution. BHs with masses of 105−106M...

Observational Evidence of Active Galactic Nuclei Feedback

Abstract: Radiation, winds, and jets from the active nucleus of a massive galaxy can interact with its interstellar medium, and this can lead to ejection or heating of the gas. This terminates star formation in the galaxy and stifles accretion onto the black hole. Such active galactic nuclei (AGN) feedback can account for the observed proportionality between the central black hole and the host galaxy mass. Direct observational evidence for the radiative or quasar mode of feedback, which occurs when AGN are very luminous, has been difficult to obtain but is accumulating from a few exceptional objects. Feedback from the kinetic or radio mode, which uses the mechanical energy of radio-emitting jets often seen when AGN are operating at a lower level, is common in massive elliptical galaxies. This mode is well observed directly through X-ray observations of the central galaxies of cool core clusters in the form of bubbles in the hot surrounding medium. The energy flow, which is roughly continuous, heats the hot intraclu...