[en] Using the cosmological baryonic accretion rate and normal star formation (SF) efficiencies, we present a very simple model for star-forming galaxies that accounts for the mass and redshift dependences of the star formation rate (SFR)-mass and Tully-Fisher (TF) relations from z ∼ 2 to the present. The time evolution follows from the fact that each modeled galaxy approaches a steady state where the SFR follows the (net) cold gas accretion rate. The key feature of the model is a halo mass floor M _min ≅ 10¹¹ M_sun below which accretion is quenched in order to simultaneously account for the observed slopes of the SFR-mass and TF relations. The same successes cannot be achieved via an SF threshold (or delay) nor by varying the SF efficiency or the feedback efficiency. Combined with the mass ceiling for cold accretion due to virial shock heating, the mass floor M_min explains galaxy 'downsizing', where more massive galaxies formed earlier and over a shorter period of time. It turns out that the model also accounts for the observed galactic baryon and gas fractions as a function of mass and time, and the cosmic SFR density, which are all resulting from the mass floor M _min. The model helps us to understand that it is the cosmological decline of accretion rate that drives the decrease of cosmic SFR density between z ∼ 2 and z = 0 and the rise of the cosmic SFR density from z ∼ 6 to z ∼ 2 that allows us to put a constraint on our main parameter M _min ≅ 10¹¹ M_sun. Among the physical mechanisms that could be responsible for the mass floor, our view is that photoionization feedback (from first in situ hot stars) lowering the cooling efficiency is likely to play a large role.

[en] We study the properties of luminous stellar 'clumps' identified in deep, high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope NIC2/F160W imaging at 1.6 μm of six z ∼ 2 star-forming galaxies with existing near-infrared integral field spectroscopy from SINFONI at the Very Large Telescope. Individual clumps contribute ∼0.5%-15% of the galaxy-integrated rest-frame ∼5000 A emission, with median of ∼2%; the total contribution of clump light ranges from 10% to 25%. The median intrinsic clump size and stellar mass are ∼1 kpc and ∼10⁹ M_sun, in the ranges for clumps identified in rest-UV or line emission in other studies. The clump sizes and masses in the subset of disks are broadly consistent with expectations for clump formation through gravitational instabilities in gas-rich, turbulent disks given the host galaxies' global properties. By combining the NIC2 data with Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS)/F814W imaging available for one source, and adaptive-optics-assisted SINFONI Hα data for another, we infer modest color, M/L, and stellar age variations within each galaxy. In these two objects, sets of clumps identified at different wavelengths do not fully overlap; NIC2-identified clumps tend to be redder/older than ACS- or Hα-identified clumps without rest-frame optical counterparts. There is evidence for a systematic trend of older ages at smaller galactocentric radii among the clumps, consistent with scenarios where inward migration of clumps transports material toward the central regions. From constraints on a bulge-like component at radii ∼< 1-3 kpc, none of the five disks in our sample appears to contain a compact massive stellar core, and we do not discern a trend of bulge stellar mass fraction with stellar age of the galaxy. Further observations are necessary to probe the buildup of stellar bulges and the role of clumps in this process.

[en] We report the discovery of a powerful molecular wind from the nucleus of the non-interacting nearby S0 field galaxy NGC 1266. The single-dish CO profile exhibits emission to ±400 km s^-1 and requires a nested Gaussian fit to be properly described. Interferometric observations reveal a massive, centrally concentrated molecular component with a mass of 1.1 x 10⁹ M_sun and a molecular outflow with a molecular mass of ∼2.4 x 10⁷ M_sun. The molecular gas close to the systemic velocity consists of a rotating, compact nucleus with a mass of about 4.1 x 10⁸ M_sun within a radius of ∼60 pc. This compact molecular nucleus has a surface density of ∼2.7 x 10⁴ M_sun pc^-2, more than two orders of magnitude larger than that of giant molecular clouds in the disk of the Milky Way, and it appears to sit on the Kennicutt-Schmidt relation despite its extreme kinematics and energetic activity. We interpret this nucleus as a disk that confines the outflowing wind. A mass outflow rate of ∼13 M_sun yr^-1 leads to a depletion timescale of ∼<85 Myr. The star formation in NGC 1266 is insufficient to drive the outflow, and thus it is likely driven by the active galactic nucleus. The concentration of the majority of the molecular gas in the central 100 pc requires an extraordinary loss of angular momentum, but no obvious companion or interacting galaxy is present to enable the transfer. NGC 1266 is the first known outflowing molecular system that does not show any evidence of a recent interaction.