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1. Characterizing Compact 15–33 GHz Radio Continuum Sources in Local U/LIRGs

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac923b  

   Song, Y. ; Linden, S. T. ; Evans, A. S. ; Barcos-Muñoz, L. ; Murphy, E. J. ; Momjian, E. ; Díaz-Santos, T. ; Larson, K. L. ; Privon, G. C. ; Huang, X. ; et al ( November 2022 , The Astrophysical Journal)

   We present the analysis of ∼100 pc scale compact radio continuum sources detected in 63 local (ultra)luminous infrared galaxies (U/LIRGs;L_IR≥ 10¹¹L_⊙), using FWHM ≲ 0.″1–0.″2 resolution 15 and 33 GHz observations with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array. We identify a total of 133 compact radio sources with effective radii of 8–170 pc, which are classified into four main categories—“AGN” (active galactic nuclei), “AGN/SBnuc” (AGN-starburst composite nucleus), “SBnuc” (starburst nucleus), and “SF” (star-forming clumps)—based on ancillary data sets and the literature. We find that “AGN” and “AGN/SBnuc” more frequently occur in late-stage mergers and have up to 3 dex higher 33 GHz luminosities and surface densities compared with “SBnuc” and “SF,” which may be attributed to extreme nuclear starburst and/or AGN activity in the former. Star formation rates (SFRs) and surface densities (Σ_SFR) are measured for “SF” and “SBnuc” using both the total 33 GHz continuum emission (SFR ∼ 0.14–13M_⊙yr⁻¹, Σ_SFR∼ 13–1600M_⊙yr⁻¹kpc⁻²) and the thermal free–free emission from Hiiregions (median SFR_th∼ 0.4M_⊙yr⁻¹,${\mathrm{\Sigma }}_{{\mathrm{SFR}}_{\mathrm{th}}}\sim 44M_{\odot }$yr⁻¹kpc⁻²). These values are 1–2 dex higher than those measured for similar-sized clumps in nearby normal (non-U/LIRGs). The latter also have a much flatter median 15–33 GHz spectral index (∼−0.08) compared with “SBnuc” and “SF” (∼−0.46), which may reflect higher nonthermal contribution from supernovae and/or interstellar medium densities in local U/LIRGs that directly result from and/or lead to their extreme star-forming activities on 100 pc scales.

    

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2. Compact Steep Spectrum Radio Sources with Enhanced Star Formation Are Smaller Than 10 kpc

   https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/accf0a  

   Gordon, Yjan A. ; O’Dea, Christopher P. ; Baum, Stefi A. ; Bechtol, Keith ; Duggal, Chetna ; Ferguson, Peter S. ( May 2023 , The Astrophysical Journal Letters)

   Abstract Compact steep spectrum (CSS) radio sources are active galactic nuclei (AGN) that have radio jets propagating only on galactic scales, defined as having projected linear size (LS) of up to 20 kpc. CSS sources are generally hosted by massive early-type galaxies with little ongoing star formation; however, a small fraction are known to have enhanced star formation. Using archival data from the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty cm survey, the Very Large Array Sky Survey, and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we identify a volume-limited sample of 166 CSS sources at z < 0.2 with L 1.4 GHz > 10 24 W Hz −1 . Comparing the star formation rates and linear sizes of these CSS sources, we find that the ≈14% of CSS sources with specific star formation rates above 0.01 Gyr −1 all have LS < 10 kpc. We discuss the possible mechanisms driving this result, concluding that it is likely the excess star formation in these sources occurred in multiple bursts and ceased prior to the AGN jet being triggered. 

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3. The PARADIGM project I: a multiscale radio morphological analysis of local U/LIRGS

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stae744  

   Lucatelli, Geferson ; Beswick, Robert J. ; Moldón, Javier ; Pérez-Torres, Miguel A. ; Conway, John E. ; Alberdi, Antxon ; Romero-Cañizales, Cristina ; Varenius, Eskil ; Klöckner, Hans-Rainer ; Barcos-Muñoz, Loreto ; et al ( March 2024 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   Disentangling the radio flux contribution from star formation (SF) and active-galactic-nuclei (AGNs) activity is a long-standing problem in extragalactic astronomy, since at frequencies of ≲ 10 GHz, both processes emit synchrotron radiation. We present in this work the general objectives of the PARADIGM (PAnchromatic high-Resolution Analysis of DIstant Galaxy Mergers) project, a multi-instrument concept to explore SF and mass assembly of galaxies. We introduce two novel general approaches for a detailed multiscale study of the radio emission in local (ultra) luminous infrared galaxies (U/LIRGs). In this work, we use archival interferometric data from the Very Large Array (VLA) centred at ∼ 6 GHz (C band) and present new observations from the e-Multi-Element Radio-Linked Interferometer Network (e-MERLIN) for UGC 5101, VV 705, VV 250, and UGC 8696. Using our image decomposition methods, we robustly disentangle the radio emission into distinct components by combining information from the two interferometric arrays. We use e-MERLIN as a probe of the core-compact radio emission (AGN or starburst) at ∼ 20 pc scales, and as a probe of nuclear diffuse emission, at scales ∼100–200 pc. With VLA, we characterize the source morphology and the flux density on scales from ∼200 pc up to and above 1 kpc. As a result, we find deconvolved and convolved sizes for nuclear regions from ∼10 to ∼200 pc. At larger scales, we find sizes of 1.5–2 kpc for diffuse structures (with effective sizes of ∼ 300–400 pc). We demonstrate that the radio emission from nuclear extended structures (∼ 100 pc) can dominate over core-compact components, providing a significant fraction of the total multiscale SF output. We establish a multiscale radio tracer for SF by combining information from different instruments. Consequently, this work sets a starting point to potentially correct for overestimations of AGN fractions and underestimates of SF activity.

    

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4. A Comparison of Outflow Properties in AGN Dwarfs versus Star-forming Dwarfs

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acca7c  

   Aravindan, Archana ; Liu, Weizhe ; Canalizo, Gabriela ; Veilleux, Sylvain ; Bohn, Thomas ; Sexton, Remington O. ; Rupke, David S. N. ; U, Vivian ( June 2023 , The Astrophysical Journal)

   Feedback likely plays a crucial role in resolving discrepancies between observations and theoretical predictions of dwarf galaxy properties. Stellar feedback was once believed to be sufficient to explain these discrepancies, but it has thus far failed to fully reconcile theory and observations. The recent discovery of energetic galaxy-wide outflows in dwarf galaxies hosting active galactic nuclei (AGNs) suggests that AGN feedback may have a larger role in the evolution of dwarf galaxies than previously suspected. In order to assess the relative importance of stellar versus AGN feedback in these galaxies, we perform a detailed Keck/KCWI optical integral field spectroscopic study of a sample of low-redshift star-forming (SF) dwarf galaxies that show outflows in ionized gas in their Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectra. We characterize the outflows and compare them to observations of AGN-driven outflows in dwarfs. We find that SF dwarfs have outflow components that have comparable widths (W₈₀) to those of outflows in AGN dwarfs, but are much less blueshifted, indicating that SF dwarfs have significantly slower outflows than their AGN counterparts. Outflows in SF dwarfs are spatially resolved and significantly more extended than those in AGN dwarfs. The mass-loss, momentum, and energy rates of star-formation-driven outflows are much lower than those of AGN-driven outflows. Our results indicate that AGN feedback in the form of gas outflows may play an important role in dwarf galaxies and should be considered along with SF feedback in models of dwarf galaxy evolution.

    

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5. Discovery of a Damped Lyα Absorber Originating in a Spectacular Interacting Dwarf Galaxy Pair at z = 0.026

   https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ac5250  

   Boettcher, Erin ; Gupta, Neeraj ; Chen, Hsiao-Wen ; Chen, Mandy C. ; Józsa, Gyula I. G. ; Rudie, Gwen C. ; Cantalupo, Sebastiano ; Johnson, Sean D. ; Balashev, S. A. ; Combes, Françoise ; et al ( February 2022 , The Astrophysical Journal Letters)

   We present the discovery of neutral gas detected in both damped Lyαabsorption (DLA) and Hi21 cm emission outside of the stellar body of a galaxy, the first such detection in the literature. A joint analysis between the Cosmic Ultraviolet Baryon Survey and the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey reveals an Hibridge connecting two interacting dwarf galaxies (log (M_star/M_⊙) = 8.5 ± 0.2) that host az= 0.026 DLA with log[N(Hi)/cm⁻²] = 20.60 ± 0.05 toward the QSO J2339−5523 (z_QSO= 1.35). At impact parameters ofd= 6 and 33 kpc, the dwarf galaxies have no companions more luminous than ≈0.05L_*within at least Δv= ±300 km s⁻¹andd≈ 350 kpc. The Hi21 cm emission is spatially coincident with the DLA at the 2σ–3σlevel per spectral channel over several adjacent beams. However, Hi21 cm absorption is not detected against the radio-bright QSO; if the background UV and radio sources are spatially aligned, the gas is either warm or clumpy (with a spin temperature to covering factor ratioT_s/f_c> 1880 K). Observations with VLT-MUSE demonstrate that theα-element abundance of the ionized interstellar medium (ISM) is consistent with the DLA (≈10% solar), suggesting that the neutral gas envelope is perturbed ISM gas. This study showcases the impact of dwarf–dwarf interactions on the physical and chemical state of neutral gas outside of star-forming regions. In the SKA era, joint UV and Hi21 cm analyses will be critical for connecting the cosmic neutral gas content to galaxy environments.

    

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