The Physical Properties of z~2 Emission-line Galaxies

Observations of galaxies at different redshifts (i.e., at different times in the Universe) give key insights into the nature of galaxy formation and evolution, and large galaxy surveys enable statistical characterizations of galaxy properties. However, the manner in which galaxy samples are selected affects the distributions of their properties. Understanding how different selection methods draw from the overall galaxy population is nontrivial. Identifying galaxies on the basis of their stronge mission lines is one of the most viable ways to build large galaxy samples with precisely-known distances, and upcoming missions such as Euclid and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will use emission-line selected galaxies to address a variety of questions in cosmology and galaxy evolution in the z>1universe. I have been studying a sample of 2000 [O III]-emitting galaxies atz~2 identified by the 3D-HST grism survey in the CANDELS fields, many of which have also been observed in the Hobby Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment. I will describe our newly-developed spectral energy distribution fitting code, MCSED, to explore the physical properties of these systems and show that the dust content, star formation rate, and Lyman-alpha escape fraction correlate with stellar mass. Finally, I will show the z~2 [O III] luminosity function and predict galaxy number counts for the upcoming Euclid and Roman missions.

Zoom ID: 97097380026
https://pitt.zoom.us/j/97097380026

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