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The China Space Station Telescope (CSST) is a forthcoming space-based optical telescope designed to co-orbit with the Chinese Space Station. With a planned slitless spectroscopic survey spanning a broad wavelength range of $255-1000$nm and an average spectral resolution exceeding 200, the CSST holds significant potential for cosmic large-scale structure analysis. In this study, we focus on redshift determinations from slitless spectra through emission line analysis within the CSST framework. Our tailored redshift measurement process involves identifying emission lines in one-dimensional slitless spectra, aligning observed wavelengths with their rest-frame counterparts from prominent galaxy emissions, and calculating wavelength shifts to determine redshifts accurately. To validate our redshift measurement algorithm, we leverage simulated spectra generated by the CSST emulator for slitless spectroscopy. The outcomes demonstrate a remarkable redshift completeness exceeding 95 per cent for emission line galaxies (ELGs), alongside a purity surpassing 85 per cent. The redshift uncertainty remains impressively below than $\sim 0.001$. Notably, when concentrating on galaxies with more than three matched emission lines, the completeness of ELGs and the purity of measurable galaxies can reach 98 per cent and 97 per cent, respectively. Furthermore, we explore the influence of parameters like magnitude, spectral signal-to-noise ratio, and redshift on redshift completeness and purity. The discussion also delves into redshift degeneracies stemming from emission-line matching confusion. Our developed redshift measurement process will be applied to extensive simulated datasets and forthcoming CSST slitless spectroscopic observations for further cosmological and extragalactic analyses.

The measurement of cosmological distances using baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) is crucial for studying the universe's expansion. The Chinese Space Station Telescope (CSST) galaxy redshift survey, with its vast volume and sky coverage, provides an opportunity to address key challenges in cosmology. However, redshift uncertainties in galaxy surveys can degrade both angular and radial distance estimates. In this study, we forecast the precision of BAO distance measurements using mock CSST galaxy samples, applying a two-point correlation function (2PCF) wedge approach to mitigate redshift errors. We simulate redshift uncertainties of $\sigma_0 = 0.003$ and $\sigma_0 = 0.006$, representative of expected CSST errors, and examine their effects on the BAO peak and distance scaling factors, $\alpha_\perp$ and $\alpha_\parallel$, across redshift bins within $0.0 < z \leqslant 1.0$. The wedge 2PCF method proves more effective in detecting the BAO peak compared to the monopole 2PCF, particularly for $\sigma_0 = 0.006$. Constraints on the BAO peaks show that $\alpha_\perp$ is well constrained around 1.0, regardless of $\sigma_0$, with precision between 1% and 3% across redshift bins. In contrast, $\alpha_\parallel$ measurements are more sensitive to increases in $\sigma_0$. For $\sigma_0 = 0.003$, the results remain close to the fiducial value, with uncertainties ranging between 4% and 9%; for $\sigma_0 = 0.006$, significant deviations from the fiducial value are observed. We also study the ability to measure parameters $(\Omega_m, H_0r_\mathrm{d})$ using distance measurements, proving robust constraints as a cosmological probe under CSST-like redshift uncertainties., Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures

The process of galaxy cluster formation likely leaves an imprint on the properties of its individual member galaxies. Understanding this process is essential for uncovering the evolutionary connections between galaxies and cosmic structures. Here we study a sample of ten protoclusters at z~2-3 in different dynamical states that we estimate based on spectroscopic data of their members. We combine the dynamical information with HST imaging to measure galaxy sizes and pair fractions. Our analysis reveals a clear anti-correlation between the velocity dispersion of the protocluster and its galaxy pair fractions (indicative of merger rates). The velocity dispersion also anti-correlates with the dispersion in size among of the member galaxies. These correlations may be explained by protoclusters in colder dynamical states maintaining a velocity dispersion and galaxy number density that boosts galaxy mergers, which in turn contributes to the structural expansion and compaction of galaxies. Our findings offer constraints for cosmological models regarding the evolution of galaxy morphology across different stages in the assembly of protoclusters., Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Chinese Space Station Telescope (CSST) has the capability to conduct slitless spectroscopic survey simultaneously with photometric survey. The spectroscopic survey will measure slitless spectra, potentially providing more accurate estimations of galaxy properties, particularly redshifts, compared to using broadband photometry. CSST relies on these accurate redshifts to perform baryon acoustic oscilliation (BAO) and other probes to constrain the cosmological parameters. However, due to low resolution and signal-to-noise ratio of slitless spectra, measurement of redshifts is significantly challenging.} In this study, we employ a Bayesian neural network (BNN) to assess the accuracy of redshift estimations from slitless spectra anticipated to be observed by CSST. The simulation of slitless spectra is based on real observational data from the early data release of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI-EDR) and the 16th data release of the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS-DR16), combined with the 9th data release of the DESI Legacy Survey (DESI LS DR9). The BNN is constructed employing transfer learning technique, by appending two Bayesian layers after a convolutional neural network (CNN), leveraging the features learned from the slitless spectra and corresponding redshifts. Our network can provide redshift estimates along with corresponding uncertainties, achieving an accuracy of $\sigma_{\rm NMAD} = 0.00063$, outlier percentage $\eta=0.92\%$ and weighted mean uncertainty $\bar{E} = 0.00228$. These results successfully fulfill the requirement of $\sigma_{\rm NMAD} < 0.005$ for BAO and other studies employing CSST slitless spectroscopic surveys., Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

In this paper, we set out to construct a set of reference mock galaxy redshift surveys (MGRSs) for the future Chinese Space-station Survey Telescope (CSST) observation, where subsequent survey selection effects can be added and evaluated. This set of MGRSs is generated using the dark matter subhalos extracted from a high-resolution Jiutian $N$-body simulation of the standard $\Lambda$CDM cosmogony with $\Omega_m=0.3111$, $\Omega_{\Lambda}=0.6889$, and $\sigma_8=0.8102$. The simulation has a boxsize of $1~h^{-1} {\rm Gpc}$, and consists of $6144^3$ particles with mass resolution $3.723 \times 10^{8} h^{-1} M_\odot $. In order to take into account the effect of redshift evolution, we first use all 128 snapshots in the Jiutian simulation to generate a light-cone halo/subhalo catalog. Next, galaxy luminosities are assigned to the main and subhalo populations using the subhalo abundance matching (SHAM) method with the DESI $z$-band luminosity functions at different redshifts. Multi-band photometries, as well as images, are then assigned to each mock galaxy using a 3-dimensional parameter space nearest neighbor sampling of the DESI LS observational galaxies and groups. Finally, the CSST and DESI LS survey geometry and magnitude limit cuts are applied to generate the required MGRSs. As we have checked, this set of MGRSs can generally reproduce the observed galaxy luminosity/mass functions within 0.1 dex for galaxies with $L > 10^8 L_\odot$ (or $M_* > 10^{8.5} M_\odot$) and within 1-$\sigma$ level for galaxies with $L < 10^8L_\odot$ (or $M_* < 10^{8.5} M_\odot$). Together with the CSST slitless spectra and redshifts for our DESI LS seed galaxies that are under construction, we will set out to test various slitless observational selection effects in subsequent probes., Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

The Chinese Space Station Telescope (CSST) slitless spectroscopic survey will observe objects to a limiting magnitude of ~ 23 mag (5$\sigma$, point sources) in U, V, and I over 17500 deg$^2$. The spectroscopic observations are expected to be highly efficient and complete for mapping galaxies over 0 < z < 1 with secure redshift measurements at spectral resolutions of R ~ 200, providing unprecedented data sets for cosmological studies. To quantitatively examine the survey potential, we develop a software tool, namely the CSST Emulator for Slitless Spectroscopy (CESS), to quickly generate simulated 1D slitless spectra with limited computing resources. We introduce the architecture of CESS and the detailed process of creating simulated CSST slitless spectra. The extended light distribution of a galaxy induces the self-broadening effect on the 1D slitless spectrum. We quantify the effect using morphological parameters: S\'ersic index, effective radius, position angle, and axis ratio. Moreover, we also develop a module for CESS to estimate the overlap contamination rate for CSST grating observations of galaxies in galaxy clusters. Applying CESS to the high-resolution model spectra of a sample of ~ 140 million galaxies with m_z < 21 mag selected from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument LS DR9 catalogue, we obtain the simulated CSST slitless spectra. We examine the dependence of measurement errors on different types of galaxies due to instrumental and observational effects and quantitatively investigate the redshift completeness for different environments out to z ~ 1. Our results show that the CSST spectroscopy is able to provide secure redshifts for about one-quarter of the sample galaxies., Comment: 14 pages, 15 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Dust attenuation in star-forming galaxies (SFGs), as parameterized by the infrared excess (IRX $\equiv L_{\rm IR}/L_{\rm UV}$), is found to be tightly correlated with star formation rate (SFR), metallicity and galaxy size, following a universal IRX relation up to $z=3$. This scaling relation can provide a fundamental constraint for theoretical models to reconcile galaxy star formation, chemical enrichment, and structural evolution across cosmic time. We attempt to reproduce the universal IRX relation over $0.1\leq z\leq 2.5$ using the EAGLE hydrodynamical simulations and examine sensitive parameters in determining galaxy dust attenuation. Our findings show that while the predicted universal IRX relation from EAGLE approximately aligns with observations at $z\leq 0.5$, noticeable disparities arise at different stellar masses and higher redshifts. Specifically, we investigate how modifying various galaxy parameters can affect the predicted universal IRX relation in comparison to the observed data. We demonstrate that the simulated gas-phase metallicity is the critical quantity for the shape of the predicted universal IRX relation. We find that the influence of the infrared luminosity and infrared excess is less important while galaxy size has virtually no significant effect. Overall, the EAGLE simulations are not able to replicate some of the observed characteristics between IRX and galaxy parameters of SFGs, emphasizing the need for further investigation and testing for our current state-of-the-art theoretical models., Comment: 19 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Characterizing the structural properties of galaxies in high-redshift protoclusters is key to our understanding of the environmental effects on galaxy evolution in the early stages of galaxy and structure formation. In this study, we assess the structural properties of 85 and 87 Halpha emission-line candidates (HAEs) in the densest regions of two massive protoclusters, BOSS1244 and BOSS1542, respectively, using HST H-band imaging data. Our results show a true pair fraction of 22+-5 (33+-6) percent in BOSS1244 (BOSS1542), which yields a merger rate of 0.41+-0.09 (0.52+-0.04) per Gyr for massive HAEs with log (M_*/M_sun) > 10.3. This rate is 1.8 (2.8) times higher than that of the general fields at the same epoch. Our sample of HAEs exhibits half-light radii and Sersic indices that cover a broader range than field star-forming galaxies. Additionally, about 15 percent of the HAEs are as compact as the most massive (log(M_*/M_sun) > 11) spheroid-dominated population. These results suggest that the high galaxy density and cold dynamical state (i.e., velocity dispersion of <400 km/s) are key factors that drive galaxy mergers and promote structural evolution in the two protoclusters. Our findings also indicate that both the local environment (on group scales) and the global environment play essential roles in shaping galaxy morphologies in protoclusters. This is evident in the systematic differences observed in the structural properties of galaxies between BOSS1244 and BOSS1542., Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present an analysis of physical properties of 34 [O III] emission-line galaxies (ELGs) at z=3.254$\pm$0.029 in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South (ECDFS). These ELGs are selected from deep narrow H2S(1) and broad Ks imaging of 383 arcmin$^{2}$ obtained with CFHT/WIRCam. We construct spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from U to Ks to derive the physical properties of ELGs. These [O III] ELGs are identified as starburst galaxies with strong [O III] lines of L([O III]) ~ 10$^{42.6}$ - 10$^{44.2}$ erg s$^{-1}$, and have stellar masses of M* ~ 10$^{9.0}$-10$^{10.6}$ M$_\odot$ and star formation rates of ~ 10-210 M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$. Our results show that 24% of our sample galaxies are dusty with Av > 1 mag and EW(OIII)$_{rest}$ ~ 70-500 $\AA$, which are often missed in optically selected [O III] ELG samples. Their rest-frame UV and optical morphologies from HST/ACS and HST/WFC3 deep imaging reveal that these [O III] ELGs are mostly multiple-component systems (likely mergers) or compact. And 20% of them are nearly invisible in the rest-frame UV owing to heavy dust attenuation. Interestingly, we find that our samples reside in an overdensity consisting of two components: one southeast (SE) with an overdensity factor of $\delta_{gal}$ ~ 41 over a volume of 13$^{3}$ cMpc$^{3}$ and the other northwest (NW) with $\delta_{gal}$ ~ 38 over a volume of 10$^{3}$ cMpc$^{3}$. The two overdense substructures are expected to be virialized at z=0 with a total mass of ~ 1.1 x 10$^{15}$ M$_\odot$ and ~ 4.8 x 10$^{14}$ M$_\odot$, and probably merge into a Coma-like galaxy cluster., Comment: 22 pages, 11 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ

Submillimetre galaxies represent a rapid growth phase of both star formation and massive galaxies. Mapping SMGs in galaxy protoclusters provides key insights into where and how these extreme starbursts take place in connections with the assembly of the large-scale structure in the early Universe. We search for SMGs at 850$\,\mu m$ using JCMT/SCUBA-2 in two massive protoclusters at $z=2.24$, BOSS1244 and BOSS1542, and detect 43 and 54 sources with $S_{850}>4\,$mJy at the $4\sigma$ level within an effective area of 264$\,$arcmin$^2$, respectively. We construct the intrinsic number counts and find that the abundance of SMGs is $2.0\pm0.3$ and $2.1\pm0.2$ times that of the general fields, confirming that BOSS1244 and BOSS1542 contain a higher fraction of dusty galaxies with strongly enhanced star formation. The volume densities of the SMGs are estimated to be $\sim15-$30 times the average, significantly higher than the overdensity factor ($\sim 6$) traced by H$\alpha$ emission-line galaxies (HAEs). More importantly, we discover a prominent offset between the spatial distributions of the two populations in these two protoclusters -- SMGs are mostly located around the high-density regions of HAEs, and few are seen inside these regions. This finding may have revealed for the first time the occurrence of violent star formation enhancement in the outskirts of the HAE density peaks, likely driven by the boosting of gas supplies and/or starburst triggering events. Meanwhile, the lack of SMGs inside the most overdense regions at $z\sim2$ implies a transition to the environment disfavouring extreme starbursts., Comment: 16pages, 11figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

While the slope of the dust attenuation curve ($\delta$) is found to correlate with effective dust attenuation ($A_V$) as obtained through spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting, it remains unknown how the fitting degeneracies shape this relation. We examine the degeneracy effects by fitting SEDs of a sample of local star-forming galaxies (SFGs) selected from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly survey, in conjunction with mock galaxy SEDs of known attenuation parameters. A well-designed declining starburst star formation history is adopted to generate model SED templates with intrinsic UV slope ($\beta_0$) spanning over a reasonably wide range. The best-fitting $\beta_0$ for our sample SFGs shows a wide coverage, dramatically differing from the limited range of $\beta_0<-2.2$ for a starburst of constant star formation. Our results show that strong degeneracies between $\beta_0$, $\delta$, and $A_V$ in the SED fitting induce systematic biases leading to a false $A_V$--$\delta$ correlation. Our simulation tests reveal that this relationship can be well reproduced even when a flat $A_V$--$\delta$ relation is taken to build the input model galaxy SEDs. The variations in best-fitting $\delta$ are dominated by the fitting errors. We show that assuming a starburst with constant star formation in SED fitting will result in a steeper attenuation curve, smaller degeneracy errors, and a stronger $A_V$--$\delta$ relation. Our findings confirm that the $A_V$--$\delta$ relation obtained through SED fitting is likely driven by the systematic biases induced by the fitting degeneracies between $\beta_0$, $\delta$, and $A_V$., Comment: 21 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in the MNRAS, Comments welcome!

The gas supply from the cosmic web is the key to sustain star formation in galaxies. It remains to be explored how the cosmic large-scale structure (LSS) effects on galaxy evolution at given local environments. We examine galaxy specific star formation rate as a function of local density in a LSS at $z=0.735$ in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South. The LSS is mapped by 732 galaxies with $R<24$\,mag and redshift at $0.72\le z \le 0.75$ collected from the literature and our spectroscopic observations with Magellan/IMACS, consisting of five galaxy clusters/groups and surrounding filaments over an area of $23.9 \times22.7$\,co-moving\,Mpc$^2$. The spread of spectroscopic redshifts corresponds a velocity dispersion of 494\,km\,s$^{-1}$, indicating the LSS likely to be a thin sheet with a galaxy density $\gtrsim 3.9$ times that of the general field. These clusters/groups in this LSS mostly exhibit elongated morphologies and multiple components connected with surrounding filaments. Strikingly, we find that star-forming galaxies in the LSS keep star formation at the same level as field, and show no dependence on local density but stellar mass. Meanwhile, an increasing fraction of quiescent galaxies is detected at increasing local density in both the LSS and the field, consistent with the expectation that galaxy mass and local dense environment hold the key to quench star formation. Combined together, we conclude that the cosmic environment of the LSS overtakes the local environment in remaining galaxy star formation to the level of the field., Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We investigate the properties of long tidal tails using the largest to date sample of 461 merging galaxies with $\log(M_\ast/\rm M_\odot)\geq9.5$ within $0.2 \leq z \leq 1$ from the COSMOS survey in combination with {\it Hubble Space Telescope} imaging data. Long tidal tails can be briefly divided into three shape types: straight (41\,per\,cent), curved (47\,per\,cent) and plume (12\,per\,cent). Their host galaxies are mostly at late stages of merging, although 31\,per\,cent are galaxy pairs with projected separations $d>20$\,kpc. The high formation rate of straight tidal tails needs to be understood as the projection of curved tidal tails accounts for only a small fraction of the straight tails. We identify 165 tidal dwarf galaxies (TDGs), yielding a TDG production rate of 0.36 per merger. Combined with a galaxy merger fraction and a TDG survival rate from the literature, we estimate that $\sim$\,5\,per\,cent of local dwarf galaxies are of tidal origin, suggesting the tidal formation is not an important formation channel for the dwarf galaxies. More than half of TDGs are located at the tip of their host tails. These TDGs have stellar masses in the range of $7.5\leq\log (M_\ast/\rm M_\odot)\leq9.5$ and appear compact with half-light radii following the $M_\ast$ - $R_{\rm e}$ relation of low-mass elliptical galaxies. However, their surface brightness profiles are generally flatter than those of local disc galaxies. Only 10 out of 165 TDGs have effective radii larger than 1.5 kpc and would qualify as unusually bright ultra-diffuse galaxies., Comment: 11 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS