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[abridged] We aim to constrain the stellar initial mass function (IMF) during the epoch of reionization. To this purpose, we build up a semi-empirical model for the reionization history of the Universe, based on various ingredients: the latest determination of the UV galaxy luminosity function from JWST out to redshift $z\lesssim 12$; data-inferred and simulation-driven assumptions on the redshift-dependent escape fraction of ionizing photons from primordial galaxies; a simple yet flexible parameterization of the IMF $\phi(m_\star)\sim m_\star^\xi\, e^{-m_{\star,\rm c}/m_\star}$ in terms of a high-mass end slope $\xi<0$ and of a characteristic mass $m_{\star,\rm c}$ below which a flattening or a bending sets in; the PARSEC stellar evolution code to compute the UV and ionizing emission from different star's masses as a function of age and metallicity; a few physical constraints related to stellar and galaxy formation in faint galaxies at the reionization redshifts. We compare our model outcomes with the reionization observables from different astrophysical and cosmological probes, and perform Bayesian inference on the IMF parameters. We find that the IMF slope $\xi$ is within the range from $-2.8$ to $-2.3$, while appreciably flatter slopes are excluded at great significance. However, the bestfit value of the IMF characteristic mass $m_{\star,\rm c}\sim$ a few $M_\odot$ implies a suppression in the formation of small stellar masses, at variance with the IMF in the local Universe; this may be induced by the thermal background $\sim 20-30$ K provided by CMB photons at the reionization redshifts. Finally, we investigate the implications of our reconstructed IMF on the recent JWST detections of massive galaxies at and beyond the reionization epoch, showing that any putative tension with the standard cosmological framework is substantially alleviated., Comment: 21 pages, 11 figures, typos corrected, in press on Universe

In the framework of the stochastic theory for hierarchical clustering, we investigate the time-dependent solutions of the Fokker-Planck equation describing the statistics of dark matter halos, and discuss the typical timescales needed for these to converge toward stationary states, far away enough from initial conditions. Although we show that the stationary solutions can reproduce the outcomes of state-of-the-art $N-$body simulations at $z\approx 0$ to a great accuracy, one needs to go beyond to fully account for the cosmic evolution of the simulated halo mass function toward high-redshift. Specifically, we demonstrate that the time-dependent solutions of the Fokker-Planck equation can describe, for reasonable initial conditions, the non-universal evolution of the simulated halo mass functions. Compared to standard theoretical estimates, our stochastic theory predicts a halo number density higher by factor of several toward $z\gtrsim 10$, an outcome which can be helpful in elucidating early and upcoming data from JWST. Finally, we point out the relevance of our approach in designing, interpreting and emulating present and future $N-$body experiments., Comment: 14 pages, 5 Figures. Accepted by ApJ

This is the second paper in a series aimed at modeling the black hole (BH) mass function, from the stellar to the (super)massive regime. In the present work we focus on (super)massive BHs and provide an ab-initio computation of their mass function across cosmic times. We consider two main mechanisms to grow the central BH, that are expected to cooperate in the high-redshift star-forming progenitors of local massive galaxies. The first is the gaseous dynamical friction process, that can cause the migration toward the nuclear regions of stellar-mass BHs originated during the intense bursts of star formation in the gas-rich host progenitor galaxy, and the buildup of a central heavy BH seed $M_\bullet\sim 10^{3-5}\, M_\odot$ within short timescales $\lesssim$ some $10^7$ yr. The second mechanism is the standard Eddington-type gas disk accretion onto the heavy BH seed, through which the central BH can become (super)massive $M_\bullet\sim 10^{6-10}\, M_\odot$ within the typical star-formation duration $\lesssim 1$ Gyr of the host. We validate our semi-empirical approach by reproducing the observed redshift-dependent bolometric AGN luminosity functions and Eddington ratio distributions, and the relationship between the star-formation and the bolometric luminosity of the accreting central BH. We then derive the relic (super)massive BH mass function at different redshifts via a generalized continuity equation approach, and compare it with present observational estimates. Finally, we reconstruct the overall BH mass function from the stellar to the (super)massive regime, over more than ten orders of magnitudes in BH mass., Comment: 29 pages, 11 figures. Accepted by ApJ

We derive astroparticle constraints in different dark matter scenarios alternative to cold dark matter (CDM): thermal relic warm dark matter, WDM; fuzzy dark matter, $\psi$DM; self-interacting dark matter, SIDM; sterile neutrino dark matter, $\nu$DM. Our framework is based on updated determinations of the high-redshift UV luminosity functions for primordial galaxies out to redshift $z\sim 10$, on redshift-dependent halo mass functions in the above DM scenarios from numerical simulations, and on robust constraints on the reionization history of the Universe from recent astrophysical and cosmological datasets. First, we build up an empirical model of cosmic reionization characterized by two parameters, namely the escape fraction $f_{\rm esc}$ of ionizing photons from primordial galaxies, and the limiting UV magnitude $M_{\rm UV}^{\rm lim}$ down to which the extrapolated UV luminosity functions are steeply increasing. Second, we perform standard abundance matching of the UV luminosity function and the halo mass function, obtaining a relationship between UV luminosity and halo mass whose shape depends on an astroparticle quantity $X$ specific of each DM scenario (e.g., WDM particle mass); we exploit such a relation to introduce in the analysis a constraint from primordial galaxy formation, in terms of the threshold halo mass above which primordial galaxies can efficiently form stars. Third, we implement a sequential updating Bayesian MCMC technique to perform joint inference on the three parameters $f_{\rm esc}$, $M_{\rm UV}^{\rm lim}$, $X$, and to compare the outcomes of different DM scenarios on the reionization history. Finally, we highlight the relevance of our astroparticle estimates in predicting the behavior of the high-redshift UV luminosity function at faint, yet unexplored magnitudes, that may be tested with the advent of the James Webb Space Telescope., Comment: 28 pages, 15 figures. Accepted on Universe

We present a panchromatic study of 11 (sub-)millimetre selected DSFGs with spectroscopically confirmed redshift ($1.5< z_{\rm spec}<3$) in the GOODS-S field, with the aim of constraining their astrophysical properties (e.g., age, stellar mass, dust and gas content) and characterizing their role in the context of galaxy evolution. The multi-wavelength coverage of GOODS-S, from X-rays to radio band, allow us to model galaxy SED by using CIGALE with a novel approach, based on a physical motivated modelling of stellar light attenuation by dust. Median stellar mass ($\simeq6.5\times10^{10}$ M$_\odot$) and SFR ($\simeq241$ M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$) are consistent with galaxy main-sequence at $z\sim2$. The galaxies are experiencing an intense and dusty burst of star formation (median L$_{\rm IR}\simeq2\times10^{12}$ L$_\odot$), with a median age of $750$ Myr. The high median content of interstellar dust (M$_{\rm dust}\simeq5\times10^8$ M$_\odot$) suggests a rapid enrichment of the ISM (on timescales $\sim10^8$ yr). We derived galaxy total and molecular gas content from CO spectroscopy and/or Rayleigh-Jeans dust continuum ($10^{10}\lesssim$ M$_{\rm gas}/$M$_\odot\lesssim10^{11}$), depleted over a typical timescale $\tau_{\rm depl}\sim200$ Myr. X-ray and radio luminosities suggest that most of the galaxies hosts an accreting radio silent/quiet SMBH. This evidence, along with their compact multi-wavelength sizes (median r$_{\rm ALMA}\sim$ r$_{\rm VLA}=1.8$ kpc, r$_{\rm HST}=2.3$ kpc) measured from high-resolution imaging ($\theta_{\rm res}\lesssim$ 1 arcsec), indicates these objects as the high-z star-forming counterparts of massive quiescent galaxies, as predicted e.g., by the in-situ scenario. Four objects show some signatures of a forthcoming/ongoing AGN feedback, that is thought to trigger the morphological transition from star-forming disks to ETGs., Comment: 23 pages, 6 figures, 13 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We generalize the analytic solutions presented in Pantoni et al. (2019) by including a simple yet effective description of wind recycling and galactic fountains, with the aim of self-consistently investigating the spatially-averaged time evolution of the gas, stellar, metal, and dust content in disc-dominated late-type galaxies (LTGs). Our analytic solutions, when supplemented with specific prescriptions for parameter setting and with halo accretion rates from $N-$body simulations, can be exploited to reproduce the main statistical relationships followed by local LTGs; these involve, as a function of the stellar mass, the star formation efficiency, the gas mass fraction, the gas/stellar metallicity, the dust mass, the star formation rate, the specific angular momentum, and the overall mass/metal budget. Our analytic solutions allow to easily disentangle the diverse role of the main physical processes ruling galaxy formation in LTGs; in particular, we highlight the crucial relevance of wind recycling and galactic fountains in efficiently refurnishing the gas mass, extending the star-formation timescale, and boosting the metal enrichment in gas and stars. All in all, our analytic solutions constitute a transparent, handy, and fast tool that can provide a basis for improving the (subgrid) physical recipes presently implemented in more sophisticated semi-analytic models and numerical simulations, and can offer a benchmark for interpreting and forecasting current and future spatially-averaged observations of local and higher redshift LTGs., Comment: 33 pages, 15 figures. Accepted by ApJ. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1906.07458

We propose a new mechanism for the growth of supermassive black hole (BH) seeds in the star-forming progenitors of local early-type galaxies (ETGs) at $z\gtrsim 1$. This envisages the migration and merging of stellar compact remnants (neutron stars and stellar-mass BHs) via gaseous dynamical friction toward the central high-density regions of such galaxies. We show that, under reasonable assumptions and initial conditions, the process can build up central BH masses of order $10^4-10^6\, M_\odot$ within some $10^7$ yr, so effectively providing heavy seeds before standard disk (Eddington-like) accretion takes over to become the dominant process for further BH growth. Remarkably, such a mechanism may provide an explanation, alternative to super-Eddington accretion rates, for the buildup of billion solar masses BHs in quasar hosts at $z\gtrsim 7$, when the age of the Universe $\lesssim 0.8$ Gyr constitutes a demanding constraint; moreover, in more common ETG progenitors at redshift $z\sim 2-6$ it can concur with disk accretion to build such large BH masses even at moderate Eddington ratios $\lesssim 0.3$ within the short star-formation duration $\lesssim$ Gyr of these systems. Finally, we investigate the perspectives to detect the merger events between the migrating stellar remnants and the accumulating central supermassive BH via gravitational wave emission with future ground and space-based detectors such as the Einstein Telescope (ET) and the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA)., Comment: 19 pages, 8 Figures. Accepted by ApJ

We investigate the merging rates of compact binaries in galaxies, and the related detection rate of gravitational wave (GW) events with AdvLIGO/Virgo and with the Einstein Telescope. To this purpose, we rely on three basic ingredients: (i) the redshift-dependent galaxy statistics provided by the latest determination of the star formation rate functions from UV+far-IR/(sub)millimeter/radio data; (ii) star formation and chemical enrichment histories for individual galaxies, modeled on the basis of observations; (iii) compact remnant mass distribution and prescriptions for merging of compact binaries from stellar evolution simulations. We present results for the intrinsic birthrate of compact remnants, the merging rates of compact binaries, GW detection rates and GW counts, attempting to differentiate the outcomes among BH-BH, NS-NS, and BH-NS mergers, and to estimate their occurrence in disk and spheroidal host galaxies. We compare our approach with the one based on cosmic SFR density and cosmic metallicity, exploited by many literature studies; the merging rates from the two approaches are in agreement within the overall astrophysical uncertainties. We also investigate the effects of galaxy-scale strong gravitational lensing of GW in enhancing the rate of detectable events toward high-redshift. Finally, we discuss the contribution of undetected GW emission from compact binary mergers to the stochastic background., Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures. Accepted by ApJ

We present a set of new analytic solutions aimed at self-consistently describing the spatially-averaged time evolution of the gas, stellar, metal, and dust content in an individual starforming galaxy hosted within a dark halo of given mass and formation redshift. Then, as an application, we show that our solutions, when coupled to specific prescriptions for parameter setting (inspired by in-situ galaxy-black hole coevolution scenarios) and merger rates (based on numerical simulations), can be exploited to reproduce the main statistical relationships followed by early-type galaxies and by their high-redshift starforming progenitors. Our analytic solutions allow to easily disentangle the diverse role of the main physical processes regulating galaxy formation, to quickly explore the related parameter space, and to make transparent predictions on spatially-averaged quantities. As such, our analytic solutions may provide a basis for improving the (subgrid) physical recipes presently implemented in theoretical approaches and numerical simulations, and can offer a benchmark for interpreting and forecasting current and future broadband observations of high-redshift starforming galaxies., Comment: 32 pages, 12 figures, typos corrected. Accepted by ApJ

We build templates of rotation curves as a function of the $I-$band luminosity via the mass modeling (by the sum of a thin exponential disk and a cored halo profile) of suitably normalized, stacked data from wide samples of local spiral galaxies. We then exploit such templates to determine fundamental stellar and halo properties for a sample of about $550$ local disk-dominated galaxies with high-quality measurements of the optical radius $R_{\rm opt}$ and of the corresponding rotation velocity $V_{\rm opt}$. Specifically, we determine the stellar $M_\star$ and halo $M_{\rm H}$ masses, the halo size $R_{\rm H}$ and velocity scale ${V_{\rm H}}$, and the specific angular momenta of the stellar $j_\star$ and dark matter $j_{\rm H}$ components. We derive global scaling relationships involving such stellar and halo properties both for the individual galaxies in our sample and for their mean within bins; the latter are found to be in pleasing agreement with previous determinations by independent methods (e.g., abundance matching techniques, weak lensing observations, and individual rotation curve modeling). Remarkably, the size of our sample and the robustness of our statistical approach allow us to attain an unprecedented level of precision over an extended range of mass and velocity scales, with $1\sigma$ dispersion around the mean relationships of less than $0.1$ dex. We thus set new standard local relationships that must be reproduced by detailed physical models, that offer a basis for improving the sub-grid recipes in numerical simulations, that provide a benchmark to gauge independent observations and check for systematics, and that constitute a basic step toward the future exploitation of the spiral galaxy population as a cosmological probe., Comment: 34 pages, 16 figures, 2 tables. Accepted by ApJ

[ABRIDGED] We aim to provide a holistic view on the typical size and kinematic evolution of massive early-type galaxies (ETGs), that encompasses their high-$z$ star-forming progenitors, their high-$z$ quiescent counterparts, and their configurations in the local Universe. Our investigation covers the main processes playing a relevant role in the cosmic evolution of ETGs. Specifically, their early fast evolution comprises: biased collapse of the low angular momentum gaseous baryons located in the inner regions of the host dark matter halo; cooling, fragmentation, and infall of the gas down to the radius set by the centrifugal barrier; further rapid compaction via clump/gas migration toward the galaxy center, where strong heavily dust-enshrouded star-formation takes place and most of the stellar mass is accumulated; ejection of substantial gas amount from the inner regions by feedback processes, which causes a dramatic puffing up of the stellar component. In the late slow evolution, passive aging of stellar populations and mass additions by dry merger events occur. We describe these processes relying on prescriptions inspired by basic physical arguments and by numerical simulations, to derive new analytical estimates of the relevant sizes, timescales, and kinematic properties for individual galaxies along their evolution. Then we obtain quantitative results as a function of galaxy mass and redshift, and compare them to recent observational constraints on half-light size $R_e$, on the ratio $v/\sigma$ between rotation velocity and velocity dispersion (for gas and stars) and on the specific angular momentum $j_\star$ of the stellar component; we find good consistency with the available multi-band data in average values and dispersion, both for local ETGs and for their $z\sim 1-2$ star-forming and quiescent progenitors., Comment: 28 pages, 10 figures. Accepted by ApJ

We combine the latest datasets obtained with different surveys to study the frequency dependence of polarized emission coming from Extragalactic Radio Sources (ERS). We consider data over a very wide frequency range starting from $1.4$ GHz up to $217$ GHz. This range is particularly interesting since it overlaps the frequencies of the current and forthcoming Cosmic Microwave Background (\cmb) experiments. Current data suggest that at high radio frequencies, ($ \nu \geq 20$ GHz) the fractional polarization of ERS does not depend on the total flux density. Conversely, recent datasets indicate a moderate increase of polarization fraction as a function of frequency, physically motivated by the fact that Faraday depolarization is expected to be less relevant at high radio-frequencies. We compute ERS number counts using updated models based on recent data, and we forecast the contribution of unresolved ERS in CMB polarization spectra. Given the expected sensitivities and the observational patch sizes of forthcoming \cmb\ experiments about $\sim 200 $ ( up to $\sim 2000 $ ) polarized ERS are expected to be detected. Finally, we assess that polarized ERS can contaminate the cosmological B-mode polarization if the tensor-to-scalar ratio is $r< 0.05$ and they have to be robustly controlled to de-lens \cmb\ B-modes at the arcminute angular scales., Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures, 6 tables; AAS received 26th December,2017

Nuclear activity and star formation play relevant roles in the early stages of galaxy formation. We aim at identifying them in high redshift galaxies by exploiting high-resolution and sensitivity X-ray and mm data to confirm their presence and relative role in contributing to the galaxy SEDs and energy budget. We present the data, model and analysis in the X-ray and mm bands for two strongly lensed galaxies, SDP.9 and SDP.11, selected in the Herschel-ATLAS catalogues as having an excess emission in the mid-IR regime at z>1.5, suggesting nuclear activity in the early stages of galaxy formation. We observed both of them in X-ray with Chandra and analyzed the high-resolution mm data available in the ALMA Science Archive for SDP9, and, by combining the information available, we reconstructed the source morphology. Both the targets were detected in the X-ray, strongly indicating the presence of highly obscured nuclear activity. High resolution ALMA observations for SDP9 in continuum and CO(6-5) spectral line allowed us to estimate the lensed galaxy redshift to a better accuracy than pre-ALMA estimates and to model the emission of the optical, mm, and X-ray band emission for this galaxy. We demonstrated that the X-ray emission is generated in the nuclear environment and it strongly support the presence of nuclear activity in this object. Hence, we identified weak nuclear activity associated with high-z galaxies with large star formation rates, useful to extend the investigation of the relationship between star formation and nuclear activity to two intrinsically less luminous, high-z star forming galaxies than was possible so far. Given our results only for two objects, they solely cannot constrain the evolutionary models, but provide us with interesting hints and set an observational path towards addressing the role of star formation and nuclear activity in forming galaxies., Comment: Accepted for publication on A&A

The continuity equation is developed for the stellar mass content of galaxies, and exploited to derive the stellar mass function of active and quiescent galaxies over the redshift range $z\sim 0-8$. The continuity equation requires two specific inputs gauged on observations: (i) the star formation rate functions determined on the basis of the latest UV+far-IR/sub-mm/radio measurements; (ii) average star-formation histories for individual galaxies, with different prescriptions for discs and spheroids. The continuity equation also includes a source term taking into account (dry) mergers, based on recent numerical simulations and consistent with observations. The stellar mass function derived from the continuity equation is coupled with the halo mass function and with the SFR functions to derive the star formation efficiency and the main sequence of star-forming galaxies via the abundance matching technique. A remarkable agreement of the resulting stellar mass function for active and quiescent galaxies, of the galaxy main sequence and of the star-formation efficiency with current observations is found; the comparison with data also allows to robustly constrain the characteristic timescales for star formation and quiescence of massive galaxies, the star formation history of their progenitors, and the amount of stellar mass added by in-situ star formation vs. that contributed by external merger events. The continuity equation is shown to yield quantitative outcomes that must be complied by detailed physical models, that can provide a basis to improve the (sub-grid) physical recipes implemented in theoretical approaches and numerical simulations, and that can offer a benchmark for forecasts on future observations with multi-band coverage, as it will become routinely achievable in the era of JWST., Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures. Accepted by ApJ

In this work we measure and study the cross-correlation signal between a foreground sample of GAMA galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts in the range $0.2

Future observations of cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarisation have the potential to answer some of the most fundamental questions of modern physics and cosmology. In this paper, we list the requirements for a future CMB polarisation survey addressing these scientific objectives, and discuss the design drivers of the CORE space mission proposed to ESA in answer to the "M5" call for a medium-sized mission. The rationale and options, and the methodologies used to assess the mission's performance, are of interest to other future CMB mission design studies. CORE is designed as a near-ultimate CMB polarisation mission which, for optimal complementarity with ground-based observations, will perform the observations that are known to be essential to CMB polarisation scienceand cannot be obtained by any other means than a dedicated space mission., Comment: 79 pages, 14 figures

Observational investigations of the abundance of massive precursors of local galaxy clusters ("proto-clusters") allow us to test the growth of density perturbations, to constrain cosmological parameters that control it, to test the theory of non-linear collapse and how the galaxy formation takes place in dense environments. The Planck collaboration has recently published a catalogue of >~ 2000 cold extra-galactic sub-millimeter sources, i.e. with colours indicative of z >~ 2, almost all of which appear to be over-densities of star-forming galaxies. They are thus considered as proto-cluster candidates. Their number densities (or their flux densities) are far in excess of expectations from the standard scenario for the evolution of large-scale structure. Simulations based on a physically motivated galaxy evolution model show that essentially all cold peaks brighter than S_{545GHz} = 500 mJy found in Planck maps after having removed the Galactic dust emission can be interpreted as positive Poisson fluctuations of the number of high-z dusty proto-clusters within the same Planck beam, rather then being individual clumps of physically bound galaxies. This conclusion does not change if an empirical fit to the luminosity function of dusty galaxies is used instead of the physical model. The simulations accurately reproduce the statistic of the Planck detections and yield distributions of sizes and ellipticities in qualitative agreement with observations. The redshift distribution of the brightest proto-clusters contributing to the cold peaks has a broad maximum at 1.5 <~ z <~ 3. Therefore follow-up of Planck proto-cluster candidates will provide key information on the high-z evolution of large scale structure., Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We investigate the astrophysics of radio-emitting star-forming galaxies and ac- tive galactic nuclei (AGNs), and elucidate their statistical properties in the radio band including luminosity functions, redshift distributions, and number counts at sub-mJy flux levels, that will be crucially probed by next-generation radio continuum surveys. Specifically, we exploit the model-independent approach by Mancuso et al. (2016a,b) to compute the star formation rate functions, the AGN duty cycles and the conditional probability of a star-forming galaxy to host an AGN with given bolometric luminosity. Coupling these ingredients with the radio emission properties associated to star formation and nuclear activity, we compute relevant statistics at different radio frequencies, and disentangle the relative con- tribution of star-forming galaxies and AGNs in different radio luminosity, radio flux, and redshift ranges. Finally, we highlight that radio-emitting star-forming galaxies and AGNs are expected to host supermassive black holes accreting with different Eddington ratio distributions, and to occupy different loci in the galaxy main sequence diagrams. These specific predictions are consistent with current datasets, but need to be tested with larger statistics via future radio data with multi-band coverage on wide areas, as it will become routinely achievable with the advent of the SKA and its precursors., Comment: 50 pages, 16 figures, Accepted by ApJ

We discuss the effects on the CMB, CIB, and thermal SZ effect due to the peculiar motion of an observer with respect to the CMB rest frame, which induces boosting effects. We investigate the scientific perspectives opened by future CMB space missions, focussing on the CORE proposal. The improvements in sensitivity offered by a mission like CORE, together with its high resolution over a wide frequency range, will provide a more accurate estimate of the CMB dipole. The extension of boosting effects to polarization and cross-correlations will enable a more robust determination of purely velocity-driven effects that are not degenerate with the intrinsic CMB dipole, allowing us to achieve a S/N ratio of 13; this improves on the Planck detection and essentially equals that of an ideal cosmic-variance-limited experiment up to a multipole l of 2000. Precise inter-frequency calibration will offer the opportunity to constrain or even detect CMB spectral distortions, particularly from the cosmological reionization, because of the frequency dependence of the dipole spectrum, without resorting to precise absolute calibration. The expected improvement with respect to COBE-FIRAS in the recovery of distortion parameters (in principle, a factor of several hundred for an ideal experiment with the CORE configuration) ranges from a factor of several up to about 50, depending on the quality of foreground removal and relative calibration. Even for 1% accuracy in both foreground removal and relative calibration at an angular scale of 1 deg, we find that dipole analyses for a mission like CORE will be able to improve the recovery of the CIB spectrum amplitude by a factor of 17 in comparison with current results based on FIRAS. In addition to the scientific potential of a mission like CORE for these analyses, synergies with other planned and ongoing projects are also discussed., Comment: 61+5 pages, 17 figures, 25 tables, 8 sections, 5 appendices. In press on JCAP - Version 3 - Minor changes, affiliations fixed, references updated - version in line with corrected proofs

We provide an holistic view of galaxy evolution at high redshift z>4, that incorporates the constraints from various astrophysical/cosmological probes, including the estimate of the cosmic SFR density from UV/IR surveys and long GRB rates, the cosmic reionization history after the latest Planck measurements, and the missing satellites issue. We achieve this goal in a model-independent way by exploiting the SFR functions derived by Mancuso et al. (2016) on the basis of an educated extrapolation of the latest UV/far-IR data from HST/Herschel, and already tested against a number of independent observables. Our SFR functions integrated down to an UV magnitude limit M_UV<-13 (or SFR limit around 10^-2 M_sun/yr) produces a cosmic SFR density in excellent agreement with recent determinations from IR surveys and, taking into account a metallicity ceiling Z

We present a sample of 80 candidate strongly lensed galaxies with flux density above 100mJy at 500{\mu}m extracted from the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS), over an area of 600 square degrees. Available imaging and spectroscopic data allow us to confirm the strong lensing in 20 cases and to reject it in one case. For other 8 objects the lensing scenario is strongly supported by the presence of two sources along the same line of sight with distinct photometric redshifts. The remaining objects await more follow-up observations to confirm their nature. The lenses and the background sources have median redshifts z_L = 0.6 and z_S = 2.5, respectively, and are observed out to z_L = 1.2 and z_S = 4.2. We measure the number counts of candidate lensed galaxies at 500{\mu}m and compare them with theoretical predictions, finding a good agreement for a maximum magnification of the background sources in the range 10-20. These values are consistent with the magnification factors derived from the lens modelling of individual systems. The catalogue presented here provides sub- mm bright targets for follow-up observations aimed at exploiting gravitational lensing to study with un-precedented details the morphological and dynamical properties of dusty star forming regions in z >~ 1.5 galaxies., Comment: 25 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We provide a novel, unifying physical interpretation on the origin, the average shape, the scatter, and the cosmic evolution for the main sequences of starforming galaxies and active galactic nuclei at high redshift z $\gtrsim$ 1. We achieve this goal in a model-independent way by exploiting: (i) the redshift-dependent SFR functions based on the latest UV/far-IR data from HST/Herschel, and re- lated statistics of strong gravitationally lensed sources; (ii) deterministic evolutionary tracks for the history of star formation and black hole accretion, gauged on a wealth of multiwavelength observations including the observed Eddington ratio distribution. We further validate these ingredients by showing their consistency with the observed galaxy stellar mass functions and AGN bolometric luminosity functions at different redshifts via the continuity equation approach. Our analysis of the main sequence for high-redshift galaxies and AGNs highlights that the present data are consistently interpreted in terms of an in situ coevolution scenario for star formation and black hole accretion, envisaging these as local, time coordinated processes., Comment: 27 pages, 13 figures, 1 table. Accepted by ApJ

Continuum spectra covering centimetre to submillimetre wavelengths are presented for a northern sample of 104 extragalactic radio sources, mainly active galactic nuclei, based on four-epoch Planck data. The nine Planck frequencies, from 30 to 857 GHz, are complemented by a set of simultaneous ground-based radio observations between 1.1 and 37 GHz. The single-survey Planck data confirm that the flattest high-frequency radio spectral indices are close to zero, indicating that the original accelerated electron energy spectrum is much harder than commonly thought, with power-law index around 1.5 instead of the canonical 2.5. The radio spectra peak at high frequencies and exhibit a variety of shapes. For a small set of low-z sources, we find a spectral upturn at high frequencies, indicating the presence of intrinsic cold dust. Variability can generally be approximated by achromatic variations, while sources with clear signatures of evolving shocks appear to be limited to the strongest outbursts., Comment: 39 pages, 113 figures. Accepted by A&A

We exploit the continuity equation approach and the `main sequence' star-formation timescales to show that the observed high abundance of galaxies with stellar masses > a few 10^10 M_sun at redshift z>4 implies the existence of a galaxy population featuring large star formation rates (SFRs) > 10^2 M_sun/yr in heavily dust-obscured conditions. These galaxies constitute the high-redshift counterparts of the dusty star-forming population already surveyed for z<3 in the far-IR band by the Herschel space observatory. We work out specific predictions for the evolution of the corresponding stellar mass and SFR functions out to z~10, elucidating that the number density at z<8 for SFRs >30 M_sun/yr cannot be estimated relying on the UV luminosity function alone, even when standard corrections for dust extinction based on the UV slope are applied. We compute the number counts and redshift distributions (including galaxy-scale gravitational lensing) of this galaxy population, and show that current data from AzTEC-LABOCA, SCUBA-2 and ALMA-SPT surveys are already digging into it. We substantiate how an observational strategy based on a color preselection in the far-IR or (sub-)mm band with Herschel and SCUBA-2, supplemented by photometric data via on-source observations with ALMA, can allow to reconstruct the bright end of the SFR functions out to z~8. In parallel, such a challenging task can be managed by exploiting current UV surveys in combination with (sub-)mm observations by ALMA and NIKA2 and/or radio observations by SKA and its precursors., Comment: 28 pages, 13 figures, 2 tables. Accepted by ApJ

Although infrared (IR) overall dust emission from clusters of galaxies has been statistically detected using data from the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS), it has not been possible to sample the spectral energy distribution (SED) of this emission over its peak, and thus to break the degeneracy between dust temperature and mass. By complementing the IRAS spectral coverage with Planck satellite data from 100 to 857 GHz, we provide new constraints on the IR spectrum of thermal dust emission in clusters of galaxies. We achieve this by using a stacking approach for a sample of several hundred objects from the Planck cluster sample; this procedure averages out fluctuations from the IR sky, allowing us to reach a significant detection of the faint cluster contribution. We also use the large frequency range probed by Planck, together with component-separation techniques, to remove the contamination from both cosmic microwave background anisotropies and the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect (tSZ) signal, which dominate below 353 GHz. By excluding dominant spurious signals or systematic effects, averaged detections are reported at frequencies between 353 and 5000 GHz. We confirm the presence of dust in clusters of galaxies at low and intermediate redshifts, yielding an SED with a shape similar to that of the Milky Way. Planck's beam does not allow us to investigate the detailed spatial distribution of this emission (e.g., whether it comes from intergalactic dust or simply the dust content of the cluster galaxies), but the radial distribution of the emission appears to follow that of the stacked SZ signal, and thus the extent of the clusters. The recovered SED allows us to constrain the dust mass responsible for the signal, as well as its temperature. We additionally explore the evolution of the IR emission as a function of cluster mass and redshift., Comment: 14 pages and 7 figures. Submitted to A&A

Recent models for the large-scale Galactic magnetic fields in the literature have been largely constrained by synchrotron emission and Faraday rotation measures. We use three different but representative models to compare their predicted polarized synchrotron and dust emission with that measured by the Planck satellite. We first update these models to match the Planck synchrotron products using a common model for the cosmic-ray leptons. We discuss the impact on this analysis of the ongoing problems of component separation in the Planck microwave bands and of the uncertain cosmic-ray spectrum. In particular, the inferred degree of ordering in the magnetic fields is sensitive to these systematic uncertainties, and we further show the importance of considering the expected variations in the observables in addition to their mean morphology. We then compare the resulting simulated emission to the observed dust polarization and find that the dust predictions do not match the morphology in the Planck data but underpredict the dust polarization away from the plane. We modify one of the models to roughly match both observables at high latitudes by increasing the field ordering in the thin disc near the observer. Though this specific analysis is dependent on the component separation issues, we present the improved model as a proof of concept for how these studies can be advanced in future using complementary information from ongoing and planned observational projects., Comment: 31 pages, 16 figures, updated to match accepted A&A version

The secondary cosmic microwave background (CMB) $B$-modes stem from the post-decoupling distortion of the polarization $E$-modes due to the gravitational lensing effect of large-scale structures. These lensing-induced $B$-modes constitute both a valuable probe of the dark matter distribution and an important contaminant for the extraction of the primary CMB $B$-modes from inflation. Planck provides accurate nearly all-sky measurements of both the polarization $E$-modes and the integrated mass distribution via the reconstruction of the CMB lensing potential. By combining these two data products, we have produced an all-sky template map of the lensing-induced $B$-modes using a real-space algorithm that minimizes the impact of sky masks. The cross-correlation of this template with an observed (primordial and secondary) $B$-mode map can be used to measure the lensing $B$-mode power spectrum at multipoles up to $2000$. In particular, when cross-correlating with the $B$-mode contribution directly derived from the Planck polarization maps, we obtain lensing-induced $B$-mode power spectrum measurement at a significance level of $12\,\sigma$, which agrees with the theoretical expectation derived from the Planck best-fit $\Lambda$CDM model. This unique nearly all-sky secondary $B$-mode template, which includes the lensing-induced information from intermediate to small ($10\lesssim \ell\lesssim 1000$) angular scales, is delivered as part of the Planck 2015 public data release. It will be particularly useful for experiments searching for primordial $B$-modes, such as BICEP2/Keck Array or LiteBIRD, since it will enable an estimate to be made of the lensing-induced contribution to the measured total CMB $B$-modes., Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures; Accepted for publication in A&A; The B-mode map is part of the PR2-2015 Cosmology Products; available as Lensing Products in the Planck Legacy Archive http://pla.esac.esa.int/pla/#cosmology; and described in the 'Explanatory Supplement' https://wiki.cosmos.esa.int/planckpla2015/index.php/Specially_processed_maps#2015_Lensing-induced_B-mode_map

The Virgo cluster is the largest Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) source in the sky, both in terms of angular size and total integrated flux. Planck's wide angular scale and frequency coverage, together with its high sensitivity, allow a detailed study of this large object through the SZ effect. Virgo is well resolved by Planck, showing an elongated structure, which correlates well with the morphology observed from X-rays, but extends beyond the observed X-ray signal. We find a good agreement between the SZ signal (or Compton paranmeter, y_c) observed by Planck and the expected signal inferred from X-ray observations and simple analytical models. Due to its proximity to us, the gas beyond the virial radius can be studied with unprecedented sensitivity by integrating the SZ signal over tens of square degrees. We study the signal in the outskirts of Virgo and compare it with analytical models and a constrained simulation of the environment of Virgo. Planck data suggest that significant amounts of low-density plasma surround Virgo out to twice the virial radius. We find the SZ signal in the outskirts of Virgo to be consistent with a simple model that extrapolates the inferred pressure at lower radii while assuming that the temperature stays in the keV range beyond the virial radius. The observed signal is also consistent with simulations and points to a shallow pressure profile in the outskirts of the cluster. This reservoir of gas at large radii can be linked with the hottest phase of the elusive warm/hot intergalactic medium. Taking the lack of symmetry of Virgo into account, we find that a prolate model is favoured by the combination of SZ and X-ray data, in agreement with predictions., Comment: 21 pages and 20 figures. Submitted to A&A