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THE FORMATION AND EVOLUTION OF GALAXIES IS INTRICATELY LINKED TO THE LARGE SCALE STRUCTURE IN WHICH THEY RESIDE. IN THE LOCAL UNIVERSE THERE IS A BIMODALITY IN GALAXY POPULATIONS; THE MOST DENSE COSMIC STRUCTURES ARE DOMINATED BY EVOLVED PASSIVE GALAXIES WHILE ACTIVELY STAR FORMING GALAXIES PERSIST IN LESS DENSE ENVIRONMENT. IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND HOW THIS MANIFESTED WE MUST REWIND THE CLOCK AND STUDY PROTOCLUSTERS AND YOUNG CLUSTERS AT A TIME WHEN THESE MASSIVE STRUCTURES WERE ACTIVELY FORMING. THESE YOUNG CLUSTERS AND PROTOCLUSTERS WERE FORMING DURING THE PEAK EPOCH OF STAR FORMATION WHEN MOST OF THE ACTIVITY WAS OBSCURED BY DUST. THERE IS CURRENTLY A FUNDAMENTAL DISCONNECT BETWEEN OPTICAL AND INFRARED/ (SUB) MILLIMETER STUDIES OF HIGH REDSHIFT PROTOCLUSTERS AND CLUSTERS. EXISTING SAMPLES OF PROTOCLUSTERS ARE EITHER SELECTED AT INFRARED OR OPTICAL WAVELENGTHS AND A RIGOROUS COMPARISON OF THESE SELECTION EFFECTS IS NOT UNDERSTOOD. AT HIGHER DENSITIES GALAXY CLUSTERS ARE OFTEN DETECTED BASED ON THE PRESENCE OF STRONG RED SEQUENCE WHICH MAY PRECLUDE THE SELECTION OF CLUSTERS WITH ACTIVE DUSTY STAR FORMATION. THIS PROPOSAL OUTLINES A NEW APPROACH TO UNIFY OBSERVATIONS OF PROTOCLUSTERS AND CLUSTERS. BY COMBINING OBSERVATIONS FROM THE HERSCHEL SPACE OBSERVATORY THE SPITZER SPACE TELESCOPE AND THE WIDE-FIELD INFRARED SURVEY EXPLORER (WISE) WE WILL QUANTIFY THE TOTAL INFRARED LIGHT FROM DIFFERENT POPULATIONS OF KNOWN PROTOCLUSTERS AND CLUSTERS AS A FUNCTION OF COSMIC TIME. THIS `TOTAL CLUSTER STACKING TECHNIQUE HAS BEEN INTRODUCED IN THE LITERATURE AND WE AIM TO RIGOROUSLY TEST AND FINE-TUNE IT WITH THIS LARGE SAMPLE. OUR SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES ARE: (1) MAP OUT THE TOTAL DUST OBSCURED STAR FORMATION IN PROTOCLUSTERS AND CLUSTERS AS A FUNCTION OF REDSHIFT TO DETERMINE IF/WHEN/WHERE THE ACTIVITY IS HEIGHTENED OR SUPPRESSED IN HIGHER DENSITY ENVIRONMENTS. (2) TEST THEORETICAL MODELS FOR STRUCTURE FORMATION THAT LINK THE HIGH REDSHIFT PROTOCLUSTER GROWTH TO CLUSTERS IN THE PRESENT DAY AND PROVIDE FURTHER INPUT FOR REFINING THESE MODELS. (3) COMPARE THE AVERAGE DUST PROPERTIES IN PROTOCLUSTERS AND CLUSTERS TO WHAT IS OBSERVED FOR FIELD GALAXIES AT SIMILAR EPOCHS AS A SIGNPOST FOR DIFFERENT PROCESSES AT PLAY. THIS PROGRAM IS WELL ALIGNED WITH NASA ADAP AS WE ARE PROPOSING A MULTI-WAVELENGTH ANALYSIS USING DATA FROM HERSCHEL SPITZER AND WISE. SPECIFICALLY WE AIM TO DEVELOP AND APPLY A NEW STACKING TECHNIQUE TO A LARGE SAMPLE OF PROTOCLUSTERS AND CLUSTERS ASSEMBLED FROM THE LITERATURE. NOT ONLY WILL OUR RESULTS SET THE BENCHMARK FOR UPCOMING WIDE-FIELD OPTICAL AND INFRARED SURVEYS OF THE HIGH REDSHIFT UNIVERSE BUT OUR NOVEL ANALYSIS TECHNIQUE WHICH WE WILL MAKE FREELY AVAILABLE WILL BE WIDELY APPLICABLE TO THESE SURVEYS.

$471,060FY2020National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA

Purdue University, West Lafayette IN

Investigators

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THE FORMATION AND EVOLUTION OF GALAXIES IS INTRICATELY LINKED TO THE LARGE SCALE STRUCTURE IN WHICH THEY RESIDE. IN THE LOCAL UNIVERSE THERE IS A BIMODALITY IN GALAXY POPULATIONS; THE MOST DENSE COSMIC STRUCTURES ARE DOMINATED BY EVOLVED PASSIVE GALAXIES WHILE ACTIVELY STAR FORMING GALAXIES PERSIST IN LESS DENSE ENVIRONMENT. IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND HOW THIS MANIFESTED WE MUST REWIND THE CLOCK AND STUDY PROTOCLUSTERS AND YOUNG CLUSTERS AT A TIME WHEN THESE MASSIVE STRUCTURES WERE ACTIVELY FORMING. THESE YOUNG CLUSTERS AND PROTOCLUSTERS WERE FORMING DURING THE PEAK EPOCH OF STAR FORMATION WHEN MOST OF THE ACTIVITY WAS OBSCURED BY DUST. THERE IS CURRENTLY A FUNDAMENTAL DISCONNECT BETWEEN OPTICAL AND INFRARED/ (SUB) MILLIMETER STUDIES OF HIGH REDSHIFT PROTOCLUSTERS AND CLUSTERS. EXISTING SAMPLES OF PROTOCLUSTERS ARE EITHER SELECTED AT INFRARED OR OPTICAL WAVELENGTHS AND A RIGOROUS COMPARISON OF THESE SELECTION EFFECTS IS NOT UNDERSTOOD. AT HIGHER DENSITIES GALAXY CLUSTERS ARE OFTEN DETECTED BASED ON THE PRESENCE OF STRONG RED SEQUENCE WHICH MAY PRECLUDE THE SELECTION OF CLUSTERS WITH ACTIVE DUSTY STAR FORMATION. THIS PROPOSAL OUTLINES A NEW APPROACH TO UNIFY OBSERVATIONS OF PROTOCLUSTERS AND CLUSTERS. BY COMBINING OBSERVATIONS FROM THE HERSCHEL SPACE OBSERVATORY THE SPITZER SPACE TELESCOPE AND THE WIDE-FIELD INFRARED SURVEY EXPLORER (WISE) WE WILL QUANTIFY THE TOTAL INFRARED LIGHT FROM DIFFERENT POPULATIONS OF KNOWN PROTOCLUSTERS AND CLUSTERS AS A FUNCTION OF COSMIC TIME. THIS `TOTAL CLUSTER STACKING TECHNIQUE HAS BEEN INTRODUCED IN THE LITERATURE AND WE AIM TO RIGOROUSLY TEST AND FINE-TUNE IT WITH THIS LARGE SAMPLE. OUR SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES ARE: (1) MAP OUT THE TOTAL DUST OBSCURED STAR FORMATION IN PROTOCLUSTERS AND CLUSTERS AS A FUNCTION OF REDSHIFT TO DETERMINE IF/WHEN/WHERE THE ACTIVITY IS HEIGHTENED OR SUPPRESSED IN HIGHER DENSITY ENVIRONMENTS. (2) TEST THEORETICAL MODELS FOR STRUCTURE FORMATION THAT LINK THE HIGH REDSHIFT PROTOCLUSTER GROWTH TO CLUSTERS IN THE PRESENT DAY AND PROVIDE FURTHER INPUT FOR REFINING THESE MODELS. (3) COMPARE THE AVERAGE DUST PROPERTIES IN PROTOCLUSTERS AND CLUSTERS TO WHAT IS OBSERVED FOR FIELD GALAXIES AT SIMILAR EPOCHS AS A SIGNPOST FOR DIFFERENT PROCESSES AT PLAY. THIS PROGRAM IS WELL ALIGNED WITH NASA ADAP AS WE ARE PROPOSING A MULTI-WAVELENGTH ANALYSIS USING DATA FROM HERSCHEL SPITZER AND WISE. SPECIFICALLY WE AIM TO DEVELOP AND APPLY A NEW STACKING TECHNIQUE TO A LARGE SAMPLE OF PROTOCLUSTERS AND CLUSTERS ASSEMBLED FROM THE LITERATURE. NOT ONLY WILL OUR RESULTS SET THE BENCHMARK FOR UPCOMING WIDE-FIELD OPTICAL AND INFRARED SURVEYS OF THE HIGH REDSHIFT UNIVERSE BUT OUR NOVEL ANALYSIS TECHNIQUE WHICH WE WILL MAKE FREELY AVAILABLE WILL BE WIDELY APPLICABLE TO THESE SURVEYS. · GrantIndex