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We present two self-consistent non-parametric models of the local cosmic velocity field based on the density distribution in the PSCz redshift survey of IRAS galaxies. Two independent methods have been applied, both based on the assumptions of gravitational instability and linear biasing. They give remarkably similar results, with no evidence of systematic differences and an r.m.s discrepancy of only ~ 70 kms(^-1) in each Cartesian velocity component. These uncertainties are consistent with a detailed independent error analysis carried out on mock PSCz catalogues constructed from TV-body simulations. The denser sampling provided by the PSCz survey compared to previous IRAS galaxy surveys allows us to reconstruct the velocity field out to larger distances. The most striking feature of the model velocity field is a coherent large-scale streaming motion along a basehne connecting Perseus-Pisces, the Local Supercluster, the Great Attractor, and the Shapley Concentration. We find no evidence for back-infall onto the Great Attractor. Instead, material behind and around the Great Attractor is inferred to be streaming towards the Shapley Concentration, aided by the expansion of two large neighbouring un- derdense regions. The PSCi model velocities compare well with those predicted from the 1.2-Jy redshift survey of IRAS galaxies and, perhaps surprisingly, with those predicted from the distribution of Abell/ACO clusters, out to 140 h(^-1)Mpc. Comparison of the real-space density fields (or, alternatively, the peculiar velocity fields) inferred from the PSCz and cluster catalogues gives a relative (linear) bias parameter between clusters and IRAS galaxies of b(_c) = 4.4 ± 0.6. In addition, we compare the cumulative bulk flows predicted from the PSCz gravity field with those measured from the MarkIII and SFI catalogues of peculiar velocities. A conservative estimate of β = Ω(_0)(^0.6)/b, where b is the bias parameter for IRAS galaxies, gives β= 0.76 ± 0.13 (1-σ), in agreement with other recent determinations. Finally, we perform a detailed comparison of the IRAS PSCz and 1.2-Jy spherical harmonic coefficients of the density and velocity fields in redshift space. Both the monopole terms of the density and velocity fields predicted from the surveys show some inconsistencies. The mismatch in the velocity monopole terms is resolved by masking the 1.2-Jy survey with the PSCz mask and using the galaxies within the PSCz survey for fluxes larger than 1.2 Jy. Davis, Nusser and Willick (1996) have found a discrepancy between the IRAS 1.2-Jy survey gravity field and the MarkIII peculiar velocity field. We conclude that the use of the deeper IRAS PSCz catalogue cannot alone resolve this mismatch.

We present spectra of five ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) in the vicinity of the Coma cluster obtained with the Multi-object Double Spectrograph on the Large Binocular Telescope. We confirm four of these as members of the cluster, quintupling the number of spectroscopically confirmed systems. Like the previously confirmed large (projected half-light radius > 4.6 kpc) UDG, DF44, the systems we targeted all have projected half-light radii > 2.9 kpc. As such, we spectroscopically confirm a population of physically large UDGs in the Coma cluster. The remaining UDG is located in the field, about 45 Mpc behind the cluster. We observe Balmer and Ca II H and K absorption lines in all of our UDG spectra. By comparing the stacked UDG spectrum against stellar population synthesis models, we conclude that, on average, these UDGs are composed of metal-poor stars ([Fe/H] less than or similar to -1.5). We also discover the first UDG with [O II] and [O III] emission lines within a clustered environment, demonstrating that not all cluster UDGs are devoid of gas and sources of ionizing radiation.

We present the results of SPT-GMOS, a spectroscopic survey with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) on Gemini South. The targets of SPT-GMOS are galaxy clusters identified in the SPT-SZ survey, a millimeter-wave survey of 2500 deg(2) of the southern sky using the South Pole Telescope (SPT). Multi-object spectroscopic observations of 62 SPT-selected galaxy clusters were performed between 2011 January and 2015 December, yielding spectra with radial velocity measurements for 2595 sources. We identify 2243 of these sources as galaxies, and 352 as stars. Of the galaxies, we identify 1579 as members of SPT-SZ galaxy clusters. The primary goal of these observations was to obtain spectra of cluster member galaxies to estimate cluster redshifts and velocity dispersions. We describe the full spectroscopic data set and resulting data products, including galaxy redshifts, cluster redshifts, and velocity dispersions, and measurements of several well-known spectral indices for each galaxy: the equivalent width, W, of [O II] lambda lambda 3727, 3729 and H-delta, and the 4000 angstrom break strength, D4000. We use the spectral indices to classify galaxies by spectral type (i.e., passive, post-starburst, star-forming), and we match the spectra against photometric catalogs to characterize spectroscopically observed cluster members as a function of brightness (relative to m*). Finally, we report several new measurements of redshifts for ten bright, strongly lensed background galaxies in the cores of eight galaxy clusters. Combining the SPT-GMOS data set with previous spectroscopic follow-up of SPT-SZ galaxy clusters results in spectroscopic measurements for >100 clusters, or similar to 20% of the full SPT-SZ sample.

The determination of galaxy redshifts in the James Webb Space Telescope's (JWST) blank-field surveys will mostly rely on photometric estimates, based on the data provided by JWST's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) at 0.6-5.0 mu m and Mid Infrared Instrument (MIRI) at lambda > 5.0 mm. In this work we analyze the impact of choosing different combinations of NIRCam and MIRI broadband filters (F070W to F770W), as well as having ancillary data at lambda < 0.6 mu m, on the derived photometric redshifts (z(phot)) of a total of 5921 real and simulated galaxies, with known input redshifts z = 0-10. We found that observations at lambda < 0.6 mm are necessary to control the contamination of high-z samples by low-z interlopers. Adding MIRI (F560W and F770W) photometry to the NIRCam data mitigates the absence of ancillary observations at l < 0.6 mm and improves the redshift estimation. At z = 7-10, accurate zphot can be obtained with the NIRCam broadbands alone when S/N >= 10, but the z(phot) quality significantly degrades atb S/N <= 5. Adding MIRI photometry with 1 mag brighter depth than the NIRCam depth allows for a redshift recovery of 83%-99%, depending on spectral energy distribution type, and its effect is particularly noteworthy for galaxies with nebular emission. The vast majority of NIRCam galaxies with [F150W] = 29. AB mag at z =7-10 will be detected with MIRI at [F560W, F770W] < 28 mag if these sources are at least mildly evolved or have spectra with emission lines boosting the mid-infrared fluxes.

We present a new algorithm to estimate quasar photometric redshifts (photo-zs), by considering the asymmetries in the relative flux distributions of quasars. The relative flux models are built with multivariate Skew-t distributions in the multidimensional space of relative fluxes as a function of redshift and magnitude. For 151,392 quasars in the SDSS, we achieve a photo-z accuracy, defined as the fraction of quasars with the difference between the photo-z z(p) and the spectroscopic redshift z(s), vertical bar Delta z vertical bar=vertical bar z(s)-z(p)vertical bar/(1 + z(s)) within 0.1, of 74%. Combining the WISE W1 and W2 infrared data with the SDSS data, the photo-z accuracy is enhanced to 87%. Using the Pan-STARRS1 or DECaLS photometry with WISE W1 and W2 data, the photo-z accuracies are 79% and 72%, respectively. The prior probabilities as a function of magnitude for quasars, stars, and galaxies are calculated, respectively, based on (1) the quasar luminosity function, (2) the Milky Way synthetic simulation with the Besancon model, and (3) the Bayesian Galaxy Photometric Redshift estimation. The relative fluxes of stars are obtained with the Padova isochrones, and the relative fluxes of galaxies are modeled through galaxy templates. We test our classification method to select quasars using the DECaLS g, r, z, and WISE W1 and W2 photometry. The quasar selection completeness is higher than 70% for a wide redshift range 0.5 < z < 4.5, and a wide magnitude range 18 < r < 21.5 mag. Our photo-z regression and classification method has the potential to extend to future surveys. The photo-z code will be publicly available.

We present the results of an optical spectroscopic survey of 46 heavily obscured quasar candidates. Objects are selected using their mid-infrared (mid-IR) colours and magnitudes from the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) anzd their optical magnitudes from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Candidate Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) are selected to have mid-IR colours indicative of quasar activity and lie in a region of mid-IR colour space outside previously published X-ray based selection regions. We obtain optical spectra for our sample using the Robert Stobie Spectrograph on the Southern African Large Telescope. 30 objects (65 per cent) have identifiable emission lines, allowing for the determination of spectroscopic redshifts. Other than one object at z similar to 2.6, candidates have moderate redshifts ranging from z = 0.1 to 0.8 with a median of 0.3. 21 (70 per cent) of our objects with identified redshift (46 per cent of the whole sample) are identified as AGNs through common optical diagnostics. We model the spectral energy distributions of our sample and found that all require a strong AGN component, with an average intrinsic AGN fraction at 8 mu m of 0.91. Additionally, the fits require large extinction coefficients with an average E(B - V)(AGN) = 17.8 (average A(V)(AGN) = 53.4). By focusing on the area outside traditional mid-IR photometric cuts, we are able to capture and characterize a population of deeply buried quasars that were previously unattainable through X-ray surveys alone.

Context. The reionization of the Universe is one of the most important topics of present-day astrophysical research. The most plausible candidates for the reionization process are star-forming galaxies, which according to the predictions of the majority of the theoretical and semi-analytical models should dominate the H I ionizing background at z greater than or similar to 3. Aims. We measure the Lyman continuum escape fraction, which is one of the key parameters used to compute the contribution of star-forming galaxies to the UV background. It provides the ratio between the photons produced at lambda <= 912 angstrom rest-frame and those that are able to reach the inter-galactic medium, i.e. that are not absorbed by the neutral hydrogen or by the dust of the galaxy's inter-stellar medium. Methods. We used ultra-deep U-band imaging (U = 30.2 mag at 1 sigma) from Large Binocular Camera at the Large Binocular Telescope (LBC/LBT) in the CANDELS/GOODS-North field and deep imaging in the COSMOS and EGS fields in order to estimate the Lyman continuum escape fraction of 69 star-forming galaxies with secure spectroscopic redshifts at 3.27 <= z <= 3.40 to faint magnitude limits (L = 0.2L*, or equivalently M-1500 similar to -19). The narrow redshift range implies that the LBC U-band filter exclusively samples the lambda <= 912 angstrom rest-frame wavelengths. Results. We measured through stacks a stringent upper limit (<1.7% at 1 sigma) for the relative escape fraction of H I ionizing photons from bright galaxies (L > L*), while for the faint population (L = 0.2L*) the limit to the escape fraction is less than or similar to 10%. We computed the contribution of star-forming galaxies to the observed UV background at z similar to 3 and find that it is not sufficient to keep the Universe ionized at these redshifts unless their escape fraction increases significantly (>= 10%) at low luminosities (M-1500 >= -19). Conclusions. We compare our results on the Lyman continuum escape fraction of high-z galaxies with recent estimates in the literature, and discuss future prospects to shed light on the end of the Dark Ages. In the future, strong gravitational lensing will be fundamental in order to measure the Lyman continuum escape fraction down to faint magnitudes (M-1500 similar to -16) that are inaccessible with the present instrumentation on blank fields. These results will be important in order to quantify the role of faint galaxies to the reionization budget.

Understanding the time evolution of the star formation in the Universe is one of the main aims of observational astronomy. Since a significant portion of the UV starlight is being absorbed by dust and re-emitted in the IR, we need to understand both of those regimes to properly describe the cosmic star formation history. In UV, the depth and the resolution of the data permits calculations of the star formation rate densities out to very high redshifts (z ∼ 8 − 9). In IR however, the large beam sizes and the relatively shallow data limits these calculations to z ∼ 2. In this thesis, I explore the SMA and PdBI high-resolution follow-up of 30 bright sources originally selected by AzTEC and LABOCA instruments at 1.1 mm and 870 μm respectively in conjunction with the SCUBA-2 Cosmology Legacy Survey (S2CLS) deep COSMOS and wide UDS maps, where 106 and 283 sources were detected, with the signal-to-noise ratio of > 5 and > 3.5 at 850 μm respectively. I find that the (sub)mm-selected galaxies reside and the mean redshifts of ¯z ≃ 2.5±0.05 with the exception of the brightest sources which seem to lie at higher redshifts (¯z ≃ 3.5 ± 0.2), most likely due to the apparent correlation of the (sub)mm flux with redshift, where brighter sources tend to lie at higher redshifts. Stellar masses, M⋆, and star formation rates, SFRs, were found (M⋆ & 1010M⊙ and SFR & 100M⊙ yr−1) and used to calculate the specific SFRs. I determine that the (sub)mm-selected sources mostly lie on the high-mass end of the star formation ‘main-sequence’ which makes them a high-mass extension of normal star forming galaxies. I also find that the specific SFR slightly evolves at redshifts 2−4, suggesting that the efficiency of the star formation seems to be increasing at these redshifts. Using the S2CLS data, the bolometric IR luminosity functions (IR LFs) were found for a range of redshifts z = 1.2 − 4.2 and the contribution of the SMGs to the total star formation rate density (SFRD) was calculated. The IR LFs were found to evolve out to redshift ∼ 2.5. The star formation activity in the Universe was found to peak at z ≃ 2 followed by a slight decline. Assuming the IR to total SFRD correction found in the literature the SFRD found in this work closely follows the best-fitting function of Madau & Dickinson (2014).

Submitted by Emanuel Varela Cardoso (emanuel.varela@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-10-16T19:37:30Z No. of bitstreams: 1 GIVAL PORDEUS DA SILVA NETO – DISSERTAÇÃO (PPGFísica) 2015.pdf: 4886479 bytes, checksum: 8589cc7f91d5dab59210f3bf9b9a3d97 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-10-16T19:37:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 GIVAL PORDEUS DA SILVA NETO – DISSERTAÇÃO (PPGFísica) 2015.pdf: 4886479 bytes, checksum: 8589cc7f91d5dab59210f3bf9b9a3d97 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-05-08 / Capes / A constante de Hubble (H0) é considerada fundamental na cosmologia. Ela é crucial para qualquer modelo cosmológico moderno, pois está relacionada com diversas grandezas cosmológicas, portanto, é de extrema importância a determinação mais restritiva e acurada possível do seu valor. A mais recente estimativa de H0 a partir de métodos locais (z 1), H0 = 73:8 2; 4 kms􀀀1Mpc􀀀1, e a partir de redshifts muito altos (z ' 1070), H0 = 67; 3 1; 2 kms􀀀1Mpc􀀀1, são discrepantes em um nível de con fiança de 2; 4 . Dentro deste contexto, Lima e Cunha (LC), a m de lançar alguma luz sobre este problema, derivou uma nova determinação de H0 utilizando quatro testes cosmológicos em redshifts intermediários (z 1), com base no chamado modelo CDM Plano. Eles obtiveram H0 = 74; 1 2; 2 kms􀀀1Mpc􀀀1, em pleno acordo com as medições locais. Neste trabalho, exploramos a robustez do resultado de LC, procurando por erros sistemáticos e a sua dependência com o modelo cosmológico usado. Nós constatamos que o valor H0 a partir desta análise conjunta é muito fracamente dependente de modelos cosmológico, mas a morfologia adotada para inferir o raio central dos aglomerados de galáxias, altera o resultado, sendo a principal fonte de erros sistemáticos. Concluímos que uma melhor compreensão da morfologia dos aglomerados é fundamental para transformar esse método em um poderoso estimador de H0. / The Hubble constant (H0) is considered a fundamental constant of cosmology. It is crucial for any modern cosmological model, it is related to various cosmological quantities, so it is extremely important a restrictive and accurate determination of its value. The most recent estimate of H0 from local observations (z 1), H0 = 73:8 2; 4 kms􀀀�1Mpc􀀀�1, and from high redshifts (z ' 1070), H0 = 67; 3 1; 2 kms􀀀�1Mpc􀀀�1, are discrepant in a con dence level of 2; 4 . Within this context, Cunha and Lima (LC), in order to shed some light on this problem, derived a new determination of H0 using four cosmological tests at intermediate redshifts (z 1), based on the model called Flat CDM. They obtained H0 = 74; 1 2; 2 kms􀀀�1Mpc􀀀�1, in full agreement with local measurements. In this work, we explore the robustness of the result LC looking for systematic errors and its dependence on the cosmological model used. We found that the H0 value from this combined analysis is very weakly dependent on the underlying cosmological model, but the morphology adopted to infer the core radius of galaxy clusters, changes the estimates being the main source of systematic errors. Hence, we conclude that a better understanding of the morphology of the clusters is essential to transform this method in a powerful cross-check to H0.