Flat rotation curves and low velocity dispersions in KMOS star-forming galaxies at z~1

TL;DR

This study uses a novel 3D analysis technique to accurately measure the kinematics of z~1 star-forming galaxies, revealing that they are already mature, rotation-dominated discs with flat rotation curves and low velocity dispersions, similar to local galaxies.

Contribution

The paper introduces the 3D-Barolo code for direct 3D modeling of galaxy emission, enabling precise kinematic measurements unaffected by beam smearing at high redshift.

Findings

Galaxies at z~1 have steeply rising, flat rotation curves.

H-alpha velocity dispersions are low, 15-40 km/s.

No significant evolution in the stellar-mass Tully-Fisher relation.

Abstract

The study of the evolution of star-forming galaxies requires the determination of accurate kinematics and scaling relations out to high redshift. In this paper we select a sample of 18 galaxies at z~1, observed in the H-alpha emission-line with KMOS, to derive accurate kinematics using a novel 3D analysis technique. We use the new code 3D-Barolo, that models the galaxy emission directly in the 3D observational space, without the need to extract kinematic maps. This technique's major advantage is that it is not affected by beam smearing and thus it enables the determination of rotation velocity and intrinsic velocity dispersion, even at low spatial resolution. We find that: 1) the rotation curves of these z~1 galaxies rise very steeply within few kiloparsecs and remain flat out to the outermost radius and 2) the H-alpha velocity dispersions are low, ranging from 15 to 40 km/s, which leads to V/sigma = 3-10. These characteristics are similar to those of disc galaxies in the local Universe. Finally, we also report no significant evolution of the stellar-mass Tully-Fisher relation. Our results show that disc galaxies are kinematically mature and rotation-dominated already at z~1.