• Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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• v.491 no.3
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• pp.4057-4068
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• 2020

Elliptical galaxies today appear aligned with the large-scale structure of the Universe, but it is still an open question when they acquire this alignment. Observational data are currently insufficient to provide constraints on the time evolution of intrinsic alignments, and hence existing models range from assuming that galaxies gain some primordial alignment at formation, to suggesting that they react instantaneously to tidal interactions with the large-scale structure. Using the cosmological hydrodynamical simulation Horizon-AGN, we measure the relative alignments between the major axes of galaxies and eigenvectors of the tidal field as a function of redshift. We focus on constraining the time evolution of the alignment of the main progenitors of massive z = 0 elliptical galaxies, the main weak-lensing contaminant at low redshift. We show that this population, which at z = 0 has a stellar mass above 10^10.4 M_⊙, transitions from having no alignment with the tidal field at z = 3, to a significant alignment by z = 1. From z = 0.5, they preserve their alignment at an approximately constant level until z = 0. We find a mass dependence of the alignment signal of elliptical progenitors, whereby ellipticals that are less massive today (10^10.4 < M/M_⊙ < 10^10.7) do not become aligned till later redshifts (z < 2), compared to more massive counterparts. We also present an extended study of progenitor alignments in the parameter space of stellar mass and galaxy dynamics, the impact of shape definition, and tidal field smoothing.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.109-119
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• 2008

We present an optical-infrared photometric study of galaxies in six nearby clusters of galaxies at $z=0.041{\sim}0.098$ (A1436, A1773, A1809, A2048, A2142, and A2152). Using BV I photometry obtained at the Bohyunsan Optical Astronomical observatory and $JHK_S$ photometry extracted from the 2-Micron All-Sky Survey catalog, we investigate the colors of galaxies in the clusters. Using the (B - V) versus ($I\;-\;K_S$) color-color diagrams in comparison with the simple stellar population model, we estimate the ages and metallicities of bright early-type member galaxies. Early-type galaxies in each cluster show the color-magnitude relation. Ages and metallicities of early-type members show little dependence on their velocity dispersions. Mean ages of early-types in the clusters range from 3 Gyr to 20 Gyr, showing a large dispersion, and mean metallicities range from Z = 0.03 to 0.05 above the solar value, showing a negligible dispersion.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.74.3-75
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• 2019

Recent Integral Field Spectroscopy (IFS) studies revealed that not only late type galaxies (LTGs) but also early type galaxies (ETGs) have various kinds of kinematic rotation. (e.g. not clearly detectable rotation, disk-like rotation, kinematically distinct core (Cappellari 06)) Among the various studies about galactic kinematics, one of the most notable anomalies is the star-gas misalignment. The gas forms stars and stars release gas through mass-loss. In this process, their angular momentum is conserved. Therefore, kinematic decoupling between stars and gas can occur due to external gas inflow or perturbation of components. There are some possible origins of misalignment: cold gas from filaments, hot gas from outer halo, interaction or merging events with galaxies and environmental effects. Misalignment, the black box from mixture of internal and external gas, can be an important keyword for understanding further about galaxies' kinematics and external processes. Using both SAMI IFS data(Sydney-AAO Multi-object Integral field spectrograph Galaxy Survey, Croom+12) and Horizon-AGN simulation(Dubois+14), we examined misaligned galaxies properties and distribution. Because the simulation has lots of galaxies at various z, we were able to study history of formation, evolution and extinction of misalignment, which was hard to be done with observation only.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.33.2-33.2
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• 2014

Halo merger trees are essential backbones of semi-analytic models for galaxy formation and evolution. Recent studies have pointed out that extracting merger trees from numerical simulations of structure formation is non-trivial; different algorithm can give differing merger histories. Thus they should be carefully understood before being used as input for models of galaxy formation. As one of the projects proposed in the SUSSING MERGER TREES Workshop, we investigate the impact of different halo merger trees on a semi-analytic model. We find that the z = 0 global galaxy properties in our model show differences between trees when using a common parameter set, but that these differences are not very significant. However, the star formation history of the Universe and the properties of satellite galaxies can show marked differences between trees with different methods for constructing a tree. Calibrating the SAM for each tree individually to the empirical data can reduce the discrepancies between the z = 0 global galaxy properties, however this is at cost of increasing the differences in evolutionary histories of galaxies. Furthermore, the underlying physics implied can vary, resulting in key quantities such as the supernova feedback efficiency differing by factors of 2. Such a change alters the regimes where star formation is primarily suppressed by supernovae. Therefore, halo merger trees extracted from a common halo catalogue using different, but reliable, algorithms can result in a difference in the semi-analytic model, however, given the enormous uncertainties in galaxy formation physics, these are not necessarily significant.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.57.1-57.1
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• 2021

K-SIM (KASI-Simulation) research project is dedicated to develop new numerical techniques in order to theoretically study galaxy formation and evolution. As the first step of the K-SIM, to model tidal stripping of galaxies with a very high resolution in a fully cosmological context, we invented the Galaxy Replacement Technique (GRT) that is very efficient and fast. The high resolution allows us to accurately resolve the tidal stripping process and well describe the formation of ultra-low surface brightness features in the galaxy cluster (㎶ < 32 mag/arcsec^2), such as the intra-cluster light, shells and tidal streams. I'll introduce how the GRT is designed and which science topics in low-surface brightness regime can be visited using the GRT.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.261-263
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• 2015

The metallicity distribution of globular clusters (GCs) provides a crucial clue for the star formation history of their host galaxy. With the assumption that GCs are generally old, GC colors have been used as a proxy for GC metallicities. Bimodal color distributions of GCs observed in most large galaxies have, for decades, been interpreted as bimodal metallicity distributions, indicating the presence of two populations within a galaxy. However, the conventional view has been challenged by a new theory that non-linear GC color-metallicity relations can cause a bimodal color distribution even from a single-peaked metallicity distribution. Using photometric and spectroscopic data of NGC 5128 GCs in combination with stellar population simulation models, we examine the effect of non-linearity in GC color-metallicity relations on transformation of the color distributions into the metallicity distributions. Although in some colors offsets are present between observations and models for the color-metallicity relations, their overall shape agrees well for various colors. After the offsets are corrected, the observed spectroscopic metallicity distribution is well reproduced via modeled color-metallicity relations from various color distributions having different morphologies. We discuss the implications of our results.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.185-187
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• 2017

Combining the AKARI Point Source Catalog and the 37-month Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image (MAXI) catalog, the infrared and X-ray properties of nearby active galactic nuclei were investigated. The 37-month MAXI catalog tabulates 100 nearby Seyfert galaxies, 73 of which are categorized into Seyfert I galaxies. Among these Seyfert galaxies, 69 ones were found to have an AKARI infrared counterpart. For the Seyfert I galaxies in this sample, a well-known correlation was found between the infrared and X-ray luminosities. However, the observed X-ray luminosity of the Seyfert II galaxies tends to be lower for the infrared luminosity than the Seyfert I galaxies. This suggests that the X-ray absorption is significant in the Seyfert II galaxies. The Seyfert II galaxies seem to have a bimodal distribution of the IR color between $18{\mu}m$ and $90{\mu}m$. Especially, a large fraction of the Seyfert II galaxies exhibits a redder IR color than the Seyfert I galaxies. A possible origin of the redder IR color is briefly discussed, in relation to the star formation activity in the host galaxy, and to the X-ray absorption.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.40.3-40.3
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• 2019

There is growing evidence for the dependence of Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) luminosities on the environments. The origin of this correlation, however, is under debate. In order to explore the physical origin of the trend in detail, we analyze SN Ia light-curves by combining a sample of 1231 SNe Ia over a wide redshift range (0.01 < z < 1.37) in various SN surveys and employing two independent light-curve fitters of SALT2 and MLCS2k2. Although SALT2 is the most widely used fitter in the SN community, MLCS2k2 has a novelty in the context of an investigation of the luminosity evolution of SNe Ia. For this reason we use both fitters and analyze them separately. We also determine a stellar mass and a star formation rate (SFR) for a sample of ~600 host galaxies. In addition, because recent low-redshift studies suggest that this dependence manifests itself most strongly when using the local SFR at the SN location, we introduce a new method to infer the local environments by restricting the SN Ia sample in globally star-forming host galaxies to a low-mass host galaxy subset (${\leq}10^{10}M_{\odot}$). We find that SNe Ia in low-mass and star-forming host galaxies are fainter than those in high-mass and passive hosts, after light-curve corrections. Especially, for the first time in host studies, we show that SNe Ia in locally star-forming environments are $0.081{\pm}0.018$ mag fainter ($4.5{\sigma}$) than those in locally passive environments from the sample including SNe at the high-redshift range. Considering the significant difference in the mean stellar population age between these environments, the result would suggest that the origin of the environmental dependence is the luminosity evolution of SNe Ia.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.32.1-32.1
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• 2015

The gradual infall of small dark matter halos onto larger ones has become a relatively straightforward aspect of the standard hierarchical formation paradigm. What happens to the baryons they contain, however, is less well understood. Of special relevance are the processes that regulate and ultimately suppress star formation in galaxies in the early universe. The z=1.5-2.5 epoch is then particularly interesting as a transition period when global star-formation in the universe starts peaking but also where the first ostensibly collapsed and virialized galaxy clusters appear, along with segregated galaxy populations. From a theoretical point of view, the mode of gas accretion in massive halos is also expected to change around this time, switching from a cold to a hot phase and affecting the build-up and evolution of the galaxies they host. A lot of effort has thus been devoted to the search for high-redshift structures, in particular galaxy clusters, through a variety of methods. However, as the limited area for which deep datasets are available remains relatively limited, only few massive z>1.5 structures have been found so far. Here I will instead discuss the regulation of star-formation in lower-mass, X-ray detected halos at z~2 and its implication for galaxy quenching at high redshift. As these smaller, group-size halos are vastly more abundant and structurally simpler than massive clusters, they allow for true statistical studies and offer a novel way to probe environmental effects in this transitional epoch.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.27.4-27.4
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• 2017

(1) The correlation between the mass of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and the properties of their host galaxies suggests that SMBHs and host galaxies are closely linked in their formation and evolution. While the exact origin of their relationship is still under debate, theoretical models often invoke feedback from active galactic nuclei as a crucial mechanism for establishing the BH-host correlation. In the first part of my talk, I will present possible observational biases in the BH-host relation, and methods to overcome these biases. I will also report our efforts to find observational sign of the AGN feedback in high-z young luminous AGNs. (2) While intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) is thought be cosmologically important class to understand the link between stellar mass black holes and SMBHs, it is extremely rare in the present-day Universe. In the second part of this talk, I will report a Gemini/GMOS-N IFU study of an ultraluminous X-ray source in NGC 5252, which is a possible candidate of an off-nuclear non-stellar black hole.