MIGHTEE-H I: the first MeerKAT H I mass function from an untargeted interferometric survey

DOI: 
10.1093/mnras/stad1249
Publication date: 
13/07/2023
Main author: 
Ponomareva, Anastasia A.
IAA authors: 
Hess, Kelley M.
Authors: 
Ponomareva, Anastasia A.;Jarvis, Matt J.;Pan, Hengxing;Maddox, Natasha;Jones, Michael G.;Frank, Bradley S.;Rajohnson, Sambatriniaina H. A.;Mulaudzi, Wanga;Meyer, Martin;Adams, Elizabeth A. K.;Baes, Maarten;Hess, Kelley M.;Kurapati, Sushma;Prandoni, Isabella;Sinigaglia, Francesco;Spekkens, Kristine;Tudorache, Madalina;Heywood, Ian;Collier, Jordan D.;Sekhar, Srikrishna
Journal: 
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Publication type: 
Article
Volume: 
522
Pages: 
5308
Abstract: 
We present the first measurement of the H I mass function (HIMF) using data from MeerKAT, based on 276 direct detections from the MeerKAT International GigaHertz Tiered Extragalactic Exploration (MIGHTEE) Survey Early Science data covering a period of approximately a billion years (0 ≤ $z$ ≤ 0.084). This is the first HIMF measured using interferometric data over non-group or cluster field, i.e. a deep blank field. We constrain the parameters of the Schechter function that describes the HIMF with two different methods: $1/V_{\rm max}$ and modified maximum likelihood (MML). We find a low-mass slope $\alpha =-1.29^{+0.37}_{-0.26}$ , 'knee' mass $\log _{10}(M_{*}/{\rm {\rm M}_{\odot }}) = 10.07^{+0.24}_{-0.24}$ and normalization $\log _{10}(\phi _{*}/\rm Mpc^{-3})=-2.34^{+0.32}_{-0.36}$ (H<SUB>0</SUB> = 67.4 km s<SUP>-1</SUP> Mpc<SUP>-1</SUP>) for $1/V_{\rm max}$ , and $\alpha =-1.44^{+0.13}_{-0.10}$ , 'knee' mass $\log _{10}(M_{*}/{\rm {\rm M}_{\odot }}) = 10.22^{+0.10}_{-0.13}$ and normalization $\log _{10}(\phi _{*}/\rm Mpc^{-3})=-2.52^{+0.19}_{-0.14}$ for MML. When using $1/V_{\rm max}$ we find both the low-mass slope and 'knee' mass to be consistent within 1σ with previous studies based on single-dish surveys. The cosmological mass density of H I is found to be slightly larger than previously reported: $\Omega _{\rm H\,{\small I}}=5.46^{+0.94}_{-0.99} \times 10^{-4}\,h^{-1}_{67.4}$ from $1/V_{\rm max}$ and $\Omega _{\rm H\,{\small I}}=6.31^{+0.31}_{-0.31} \times 10^{-4}\,h^{-1}_{67.4}$ from MML but consistent within the uncertainties. We find no evidence for evolution of the HIMF over the last billion years.
Database: 
ADS
URL: 
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/#abs/2023MNRAS.522.5308P/abstract
ADS Bibcode: 
2023MNRAS.522.5308P
Keywords: 
surveys;galaxies: evolution;galaxies: ISM;galaxies: luminosity function;mass function;radio lines: galaxies;Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies