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The MOSDEF Survey: Differences in SFR and Metallicity for Morphologically-Selected Mergers at z ~ 2

Horstman, Katelyn and Shapley, Alice E. and Sanders, Ryan L. and Mobasher, Bahram and Reddy, Naveen A. and Kriek, Mariska and Coil, Alison L. and Siana, Brian and Shivaei, Irene and Freeman, William R. and Azadi, Mojegan and Price, Sedona H. and Leung, Gene C. K. and Fetherolf, Tara and de Groot, Laura and Zick, Tom and Fornasini, Francesca M. and Barro, Guillermo (2020) The MOSDEF Survey: Differences in SFR and Metallicity for Morphologically-Selected Mergers at z ~ 2. . (Unpublished) https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20200909-084900028

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Abstract

We study the properties of 55 morphologically-identified merging galaxy systems at z ~ 2. These systems are flagged as mergers based on features such as tidal tails, double nuclei, and asymmetry. Our sample is drawn from the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field (MOSDEF) survey, along with a control sample of isolated galaxies at the same redshift. We consider the relationships between stellar mass, star formation rate (SFR), and gas-phase metallicity for both merging and non-merging systems. In the local universe, merging systems are characterized by an elevated SFR and depressed metallicity compared to isolated systems at a given mass. Our results indicate SFR enhancement and metallicity deficit for merging systems relative to non-merging systems for a fixed stellar mass at z ~ 2, though larger samples are required to establish these preliminary results with higher statistical significance. In future work, it will be important to establish if the enhanced SFR and depressed metallicity in high-redshift mergers deviate from the "fundamental metallicity relation," as is observed in mergers in the local universe, and therefore shed light on gas flows during galaxy interactions.


Item Type:Report or Paper (Discussion Paper)
Related URLs:
URLURL TypeDescription
http://arxiv.org/abs/2008.04327arXivDiscussion Paper
ORCID:
AuthorORCID
Shapley, Alice E.0000-0003-3509-4855
Reddy, Naveen A.0000-0001-9687-4973
Kriek, Mariska0000-0002-7613-9872
Coil, Alison L.0000-0002-2583-5894
Siana, Brian0000-0002-4935-9511
Shivaei, Irene0000-0003-4702-7561
Freeman, William R.0000-0003-3559-5270
Azadi, Mojegan0000-0001-6004-9728
Price, Sedona H.0000-0002-0108-4176
Leung, Gene C. K.0000-0002-9393-6507
Fetherolf, Tara0000-0002-3551-279X
Fornasini, Francesca M.0000-0002-9286-9963
Barro, Guillermo0000-0001-6813-875X
Additional Information:Based on data obtained at the W.M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and was made possible by the generous financial support of the W.M. Keck Foundation. We acknowledge support from NSF AAG grants AST-1312780, 1312547, 1312764, and 1313171, archival grant AR-13907 provided by NASA through the Space Telescope Science Institute, and grant NNX16AF54G from the NASA ADAP program. We also acknowledge a NASA contract supporting the "WFIRST Extragalactic Potential Observations (EXPO) Science Investigation Team" (15-WFIRST15-0004), administered by GSFC. We also thank Jeyhan Kartaltepe for sharing the CANDELS morphological merger catalog. We wish to extend special thanks to those of Hawaiian ancestry on whose sacred mountain we are privileged to be guests. Without their generous hospitality, most of the observations presented herein would not have been possible. Data Availability: The data underlying this article will be shared on reasonable request to the corresponding author.
Funders:
Funding AgencyGrant Number
NSFAST-1312780
NSFAST-1312547
NSFAST-1312764
NSFAST-1313171
NASAAR-13907
NASANNX16AF54G
NASA15-WFIRST15-0004
W. M. Keck FoundationUNSPECIFIED
Subject Keywords:galaxies: evolution - galaxies: interactions - galaxies: high-redshift
Record Number:CaltechAUTHORS:20200909-084900028
Persistent URL:https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20200909-084900028
Usage Policy:No commercial reproduction, distribution, display or performance rights in this work are provided.
ID Code:105289
Collection:CaltechAUTHORS
Deposited By: Tony Diaz
Deposited On:09 Sep 2020 16:23
Last Modified:09 Sep 2020 16:23

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