Masakazu A. R. Kobayashi

Publications (19) View all

• Article: Extragalactic Background Light from Hierarchical Galaxy Formation: Gamma-ray Attenuation up to the Epoch of Cosmic Reionization and the First Stars

  Yoshiyuki Inoue, Susumu Inoue, Masakazu A. R. Kobayashi, Ryu Makiya, Yuu Niino, Tomonori Totani
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  ABSTRACT: We present a new model of the extragalactic background light (EBL) and corresponding gamma-gamma opacity for intergalactic gamma-ray absorption from z = 0 up to z = 10, based on a semi-analytical model of hierarchical galaxy formation that reproduces key observed properties of galaxies at various redshifts. Including the potential contribution from Population III stars and following the cosmic reionization history in a simplified way, the model is also broadly consistent with available data concerning reionization, particularly the Thomson scattering optical depth constraints from WMAP. In comparison with previous EBL studies up to z ~ 3-5, our predicted gamma-gamma opacity is in general agreement for observed gamma-ray energy below 400/(1 + z) GeV, whereas it is a factor of ~ 2 lower above this energy because of a correspondingly lower cosmic star formation rate, even though the observed UV luminosity is well reproduced by virtue of our improved treatment of dust obscuration and direct estimation of star formation rate. The horizon energy at which the gamma-ray opacity is unity does not evolve strongly beyond z ~ 4 and approaches ~ 20 GeV. The contribution of Population III stars is a minor fraction of the EBL at z = 0, and is also difficult to distinguish through gamma-ray absorption in high-z objects, even at the highest levels allowed by the WMAP constraints. Nevertheless, the attenuation due to Population II stars should be observable in high-z gamma-ray sources by telescopes such as Fermi or CTA and provide a valuable probe of the evolving EBL in the rest-frame UV. The detailed results of our model are publicly available in numerical form at the URL http://www.slac.stanford.edu/~yinoue/Download.html.
  12/2012;
• Article: Revisiting the Cosmic Star Formation History: Caution on the Uncertainties in Dust Correction and Star Formation Rate Conversion

  Masakazu A. R. Kobayashi, Yoshiyuki Inoue, Akio K. Inoue
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  ABSTRACT: The cosmic star formation rate density (CSFRD) has been observationally investigated out to redshift z~10. However, most of theoretical models for galaxy formation underpredict the CSFRD at z>1. Since the theoretical models reproduce the observed luminosity functions (LFs), luminosity densities (LDs), and stellar mass density at each redshift, this inconsistency does not simply imply that theoretical models should incorporate some missing unknown physical processes in galaxy formation. Here, we examine the cause of this inconsistency in UV wavelengths by using a mock catalog of galaxies generated by a semi-analytic model of galaxy formation. We find that this inconsistency is due to two observational uncertainties: dust obscuration correction and conversion from UV luminosity to star formation rate (SFR). The methods for correction of obscuration and SFR conversion used in observational studies result in the overestimation of CSFRD by ~ 0.1-0.3 dex and ~ 0.1-0.2 dex, respectively, compared to the results obtained directly from our mock catalog. We present new empirical calibrations for dust attenuation and conversion from observed UV LFs and LDs into CSFRD.
  08/2012;
• Source

  Available from: Masakazu A. R. Kobayashi

  Article: Infrared Spectral Energy Distribution of Galaxies in the AKARI All Sky Survey: Correlations with Galaxy Properties, and Their Physical Origin

  Tomonori Totani, Tsutomu T. Takeuchi, Masahiro Nagashima, Masakazu A. R. Kobayashi, Ryu Makiya
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  ABSTRACT: We have studied the properties of more than 1600 low-redshift galaxies by utilizing high-quality infrared flux measurements of the AKARI All-Sky Survey and physical quantities based on optical and 21-cm observations. Our goal is to understand the physics determining the infrared spectral energy distribution (SED). The ratio of the total infrared luminosity L_TIR, to the star-formation rate (SFR) is tightly correlated by a power-law to specific SFR (SSFR), and L_TIR is a good SFR indicator only for galaxies with the largest SSFR. We discovered a tight linear correlation for normal galaxies between the radiation field strength of dust heating, estimated by infrared SED fits (U_h), and that of galactic-scale infrared emission (U_TIR ~ L_TIR/R^2), where R is the optical size of a galaxy. The dispersion of U_h along this relation is 0.3 dex, corresponding to 13% dispersion in the dust temperature. This scaling and the U_h/U_TIR ratio can be explained physically by a thin layer of heating sources embedded in a thicker, optically-thick dust screen. The data also indicate that the heated fraction of the total dust mass is anti-correlated to the dust column density, supporting this interpretation. In the large U_TIR limit, the data of circumnuclear starbursts indicate the existence of an upper limit on U_h, corresponding to the maximum SFR per gas mass of ~ 10 Gyr^{-1}. We find that the number of galaxies sharply drops when they become optically thin against dust-heating radiation, suggesting that a feedback process to galaxy formation (likely by the photoelectric heating) is working when dust-heating radiation is not self-shielded on a galactic scale. Implications are discussed for the M_HI-size relation, the Kennicutt-Schmidt relation, and galaxy formation in the cosmological context.
  03/2011;
• Source

  Available from: Masakazu A. R. Kobayashi

  Article: Lyα Emitters at z = 7 in the Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Survey Field: Photometric Candidates and Luminosity Functions

  Kazuaki Ota, Masanori Iye, Nobunari Kashikawa, Kazuhiro Shimasaku, Masami Ouchi, Tomonori Totani, Masakazu A. R. Kobayashi, Masahiro Nagashima, Atsushi Harayama, Natsuki Kodaka, Tomoki Morokuma, Hisanori Furusawa, Akito Tajitsu, and Takashi Hattori
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  ABSTRACT: We conducted a deep narrowband NB973 (FWHM = 200 Å centered at 9755 Å) survey of z = 7 Lyα emitters (LAEs) in the Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Survey Field, using the fully depleted CCDs newly installed on the Subaru Telescope Suprime-Cam, which is twice more sensitive to z = 7 Lyα at ~1 μm than the previous CCDs. Reaching the depth 0.5 mag deeper than our previous survey in the Subaru Deep Field that led to the discovery of a z = 6.96 LAE, we detected three probable z = 7 LAE candidates. Even if all the candidates are real, the Lyα luminosity function (LF) at z = 7 shows a significant deficit from the LF at z = 5.7 determined by previous surveys. The LAE number and Lyα luminosity densities at z = 7 are ~7.7%-54% and ~5.5%-39%, respectively, of those at z = 5.7, to the Lyα line luminosity limit of L(Lyα) 9.2 × 1042 erg s–1. This could be due to evolution of the LAE population at these epochs as a recent galaxy evolution model predicts that the LAE modestly evolves from z = 5.7 to 7. However, even after correcting for this effect of galaxy evolution on the decrease in LAE number density, the z = 7 Lyα LF still shows a deficit from z = 5.7 LF. This might reflect the attenuation of Lyα emission by neutral hydrogen remaining at the epoch of reionization and suggests that reionization of the universe might not be complete yet at z = 7. If we attribute the density deficit to reionization, the intergalactic medium transmission for Lyα photons at z = 7 would be 0.4 ≤ T IGM Lyα ≤ 1, supporting the possible higher neutral fraction at the earlier epochs at z > 6 suggested by the previous surveys of z = 5.7-7 LAEs, z ~ 6 quasars, and z > 6 gamma-ray bursts.
  The Astrophysical Journal 09/2010; 722(1):803. · 6.02 Impact Factor
• Source

  Available from: Masakazu A. R. Kobayashi

  Article: Lyman Alpha Emitters at z=7 in the Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Survey Field: Photometric Candidates and Luminosity Function

  Kazuaki Ota, Masanori Iye, Nobunari Kashikawa, Kazuhiro Shimasaku, Masami Ouchi, Tomonori Totani, Masakazu A. R. Kobayashi, Masahiro Nagashima, Atsushi Harayama, Natsuki Kodaka, Tomoki Morokuma, Hisanori Furusawa, Akito Tajitsu, Takashi Hattori
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  ABSTRACT: We conducted a deep narrowband NB973 (FWHM = 200 A centered at 9755 A) survey of z=7 Lyman alpha emitters (LAEs) in the Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Survey Field, using the fully depleted CCDs newly installed on the Subaru Telescope Suprime-Cam, which is twice more sensitive to z=7 Lyman alpha at ~ 1 micron than the previous CCDs. Reaching the depth 0.5 magnitude deeper than our previous survey in the Subaru Deep Field that led to the discovery of a z=6.96 LAE, we detected three probable z=7 LAE candidates. Even if all the candidates are real, the Lyman alpha luminosity function (LF) at z=7 shows a significant deficit from the LF at z=5.7 determined by previous surveys. The LAE number and Lyman alpha luminosity densities at z=7 is ~ 7.7-54% and ~5.5-39% of those at z=5.7 to the Lyman alpha line luminosity limit of L(Ly-alpha) >~ 9.2 x 10^{42} erg s^{-1}. This could be due to evolution of the LAE population at these epochs as a recent galaxy evolution model predicts that the LAE modestly evolves from z=5.7 to 7. However, even after correcting for this effect of galaxy evolution on the decrease in LAE number density, the z=7 Lyman alpha LF still shows a deficit from z=5.7 LF. This might reflect the attenuation of Lyman alpha emission by neutral hydrogen remaining at the epoch of reionization and suggests that reionization of the universe might not be complete yet at z=7. If we attribute the density deficit to reionization, the intergalactic medium (IGM) transmission for Lyman alpha photons at z=7 would be 0.4 <= T_{Ly-alpha}^{IGM} <= 1, supporting the possible higher neutral fraction at the earlier epochs at z > 6 suggested by the previous surveys of z=5.7-7 LAEs, z ~ 6 quasars and z > 6 gamma-ray bursts. Comment: Accepted to ApJ for publication
  08/2010;