We investigate the CO excitation of normal (near-IR selected BzK) star-forming (SF) disk galaxies at z = 1.5 using IRAM Plateau de Bure observations of the CO[2-1], CO , and CO[5-4] transitions for four galaxies, including VLA observations of CO[1-0] for three of them, with the aim of constraining the average state of H 2 gas. By exploiting previous knowledge of the velocity range, spatial extent, and size of the CO emission, we measure reliable line fluxes with a signal-to-noise ratio >4-7 for individual transitions. While the average CO spectral line energy distribution (SLED) has a subthermal excitation similar to the Milky Way (MW) up to CO[3-2], we show that the average CO emission is four times stronger than assuming MW excitation. This demonstrates that there is an additional component of more excited, denser, and possibly warmer molecular gas. The ratio of CO[5-4] to lower-J CO emission is lower than in local (ultra-)luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) and high-redshift starbursting submillimeter galaxies, however, and appears to be closely correlated with the average intensity of the radiation field U and with the star formation surface density, but not with the star formation efficiency. The luminosity of the CO transition is found to be linearly correlated with the bolometric infrared luminosity over four orders of magnitudes. For this transition, z = 1.5 BzK galaxies follow the same linear trend as local spirals and (U)LIRGs and high-redshift star-bursting submillimeter galaxies. The CO[5-4] luminosity is thus empirically related to the dense gas and might be a more convenient way to probe it than standard high-density tracers that are much fainter than CO. We see excitation variations among our sample galaxies that can be linked to their evolutionary state and clumpiness in optical rest-frame images. In one galaxy we see spatially resolved excitation variations, where the more highly excited part of the galaxy corresponds to the location of massive SF clumps. This provides support to models that suggest that giant clumps are the main source of the high-excitation CO emission in high-redshift disk-like galaxies.
We use the large COSMOS sample of galaxies to study in an internally self-consistent way the change in the number densities of quenched early-type galaxies (Q-ETGs) of a given size over the redshift interval 0.2 < z < 1 in order to study the claimed size evolution of these galaxies. In a stellar mass bin at 10 10.5 < M galaxy < 10 11 M , we see no change in the number density of compact Q-ETGs over this redshift range, while in a higher mass bin at >10 11 M , where we would expect merging to be more significant, we find a small decrease, by ∼30%. In both mass bins, the increase of the median sizes of Q-ETGs with time is primarily caused by the addition to the size function of larger and more diffuse Q-ETGs. At all masses, compact Q-ETGs become systematically redder toward later epochs, with a (U − V ) color difference which is consistent with a passive evolution of their stellar populations, indicating that they are a stable population that does not appreciably evolve in size. We find furthermore, at all epochs, that the larger Q-ETGs (at least in the lower mass bin) have average rest-frame colors that are systematically bluer than those of the more compact Q-ETGs, suggesting that the former are indeed younger than the latter. The idea that new, large, Q-ETGs are responsible for the observed growth in the median size of the population at a given mass is also supported by analysis of the sizes and number of the star-forming galaxies that are expected to be the progenitors of the new Q-ETGs over the same period. In the low mass bin, the new Q-ETGs appear to have ∼30% smaller half-light radii than their star-forming progenitors. This is likely due to the fading of their disks after they cease star formation. Comparison with higher redshifts shows that the median size of newly quenched galaxies roughly scales, at constant mass, as (1 + z) −1 . We conclude that the dominant cause of the size evolution seen in the Q-ETG population is that the average sizes and thus stellar densities of individual Q-ETGs roughly scale with the average density of the universe at the time when they were quenched, and that subsequent size changes in individual objects, through merging or other processes, are of secondary importance, especially at masses below 10 11 M .
We use a newly assembled sample of 3545 star-forming galaxies with secure spectroscopic, grism, and photometric redshifts at z=1.5-2.5 to constrain the relationship between UV slope (β) and dust attenuation (L IR /L UV ≡IRX). Our sample significantly extends the range of L UV and β probed in previous UV-selected samples, including those as faint as M 1600 =−17.4 ( L 0.05 UV * ) and −2.6β0.0. IRX is measured using stacks of deep Herschel data, and the results are compared with predictions of the IRX−β relation for different assumptions of the stellar population model and obscuration curve. We find that z=1.5-2.5 galaxies have an IRX −β relation that is consistent with the predictions for an SMC curve if we invoke subsolar-metallicity models currently favored for high-redshift galaxies, while the commonly assumed starburst curve overpredicts the IRX at a given β by a factor of 3. IRX is roughly constant with L UV for L UV 3×109 L e . Thus, the commonly observed trend of fainter galaxies having bluer β may simply reflect bluer intrinsic slopes for such galaxies, rather than lower obscurations. The IRX−β relation for young/low-mass galaxies at z2 implies a dust curve that is steeper than the SMC. The lower attenuations and higher ionizing photon output for low-metallicity stellar populations point to Lyman continuum production efficiencies, ξ ion , that may be elevated by a factor of ≈2 relative to the canonical value for L * galaxies, aiding in their ability to keep the universe ionized at z∼2.
The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. ABSTRACTWe present ;0 4 resolution extinction-independent distributions of star formation and dust in 11 star-forming galaxies (SFGs) at z=1.3-3.0. These galaxies are selected from sensitive blank-field surveys of the 2′×2′ Hubble Ultra-Deep Field at λ=5 cm and 1.3 mm using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array and Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. They have star formation rates (SFRs), stellar masses, and dust properties representative of massive main-sequence SFGs at z∼2. Morphological classification performed on spatially resolved stellar mass maps indicates a mixture of disk and morphologically disturbed systems; half of the sample harbor X-ray active galactic nuclei (AGNs), thereby representing a diversity of z∼2 SFGs undergoing vigorous mass assembly. We find that their intense star formation most frequently occurs at the location of stellar-mass concentration and extends over an area comparable to their stellar-mass distribution, with a median diameter of 4.2±1.8 kpc. This provides direct evidence of galaxy-wide star formation in distant blank-field-selected mainsequence SFGs. The typical galactic-average SFR surface density is 2.5 M e yr −1 kpc −2 , sufficiently high to drive outflows. In X-ray-selected AGN where radio emission is enhanced over the level associated with star formation, the radio excess pinpoints the AGNs, which are found to be cospatial with star formation. The median extinctionindependent size of main-sequence SFGs is two times larger than those of bright submillimeter galaxies, whose SFRs are 3-8 times larger, providing a constraint on the characteristic SFR (∼300 M e yr −1 ) above which a significant population of more compact SFGs appears to emerge.
We present ALMA Band 9 observations of the [C II]158µ m emission for a sample of 10 main-sequence galaxies at redshift z∼2, with typical stellar masses (log M /M ∼10.0-10.9) and star formation rates (∼35-115 M yr −1 ). Given the strong and well understood evolution of the interstellar medium from the present to z = 2, we investigate the behaviour of the [C II] emission and empirically identify its primary driver. We detect [C II] from six galaxies (four secure, two tentative) and estimate ensemble averages including non detections. The [C II]-to-infrared luminosity ratio (L [C II] /L IR ) of our sample is similar to that of local main-sequence galaxies (∼ 2 × 10 −3 ), and ∼ 10 times higher than that of starbursts. The [C II] emission has an average spatial extent of 4 -7 kpc, consistent with the optical size. Complementing our sample with literature data, we find that the [C II] luminosity correlates with galaxies' molecular gas mass, with a mean absolute deviation of 0.2 dex and without evident systematics: the [C II]-to-H 2 conversion factor (α [C II] ∼ 30 M /L ) is largely independent of galaxies' depletion time, metallicity, and redshift. [C II] seems therefore a convenient tracer to estimate galaxies' molecular gas content regardless of their starburst or main-sequence nature, and extending to metal-poor galaxies at low-and high-redshifts. The dearth of [C II] emission reported for z > 6-7 galaxies might suggest either a high star formation efficiency or a small fraction of UV light from star formation reprocessed by dust.
We use deep panchromatic datasets in the GOODS-N field, from GALEX to the deepest Herschel far-infrared and VLA radio continuum imaging, to explore, using mass-complete samples, the evolution of the star formation activity and dust attenuation of star-forming galaxies to z ≃4. Our main results can be summarized as follows: i) the slope of the SFR-M * correlation is consistent with being constant ≃0.8 at least to z ≃1.5, while its normalization keeps increasing with redshift; ii) for the first time here we are able to explore the FIR-Radio correlation for a mass-selected sample of star-forming galaxies: the correlation does not evolve up to z ≃4; iii) we confirm that galaxy stellar mass is a robust proxy for UV dust attenuation in star-forming galaxies, with more massive galaxies being more dust attenuated, strikingly we find that this attenuation relation evolves very weakly with redshift, the amount of dust attenuation increasing by less than 0.3 magnitudes over the redshift range [0.5-4] for a fixed stellar mass, as opposed to a tenfold increase of star formation rate; iv) the correlation between dust attenuation and the UV spectral slope evolves in redshift, with the median UV spectral slope of star-forming galaxies becoming bluer with redshift. By z ≃3, typical UV slopes are inconsistent, given the measured dust attenuation, with the predictions of commonly used empirical laws. Finally, building on existing results, we show that gas reddening is marginally larger (by a factor of around 1.3) than stellar reddening at all redshifts probed, and also that the amount of dust attenuation at a fixed ISM metallicity increases with redshift. We speculate that our results support evolving ISM conditions of typical star-forming galaxies such that at z ≥1.5 Main Sequence galaxies have ISM conditions getting closer to those of local starbursts.
We present the first results of an ALMA survey of the lower fine structure line of atomic carbon [C I]( 3 P 1 − 3 P 0 ) in far infrared-selected galaxies on the main sequence at z ∼ 1.2 in the COSMOS field. We compare our sample with a comprehensive compilation of data available in literature for local and high-redshift starbursting systems and quasars. We show that the [C I]( 3 P 1 → 3 P 0 ) luminosity correlates on global scales with the infrared luminosity L IR similarly to low-J CO transitions. We report a systematic variation of L [C I] 3 P1 − 3 P0 /L IR as a function of the galaxy type, with the ratio being larger for main-sequence galaxies than for starbursts and sub-millimeter galaxies at fixed L IR . The L [C I] 3 P1 − 3 P0 /L CO(2−1) and M [C I] /M dust mass ratios are similar for main-sequence galaxies and for local and high-redshift starbursts within a 0.2 dex intrinsic scatter, suggesting that [C I] is a good tracer of molecular gas mass as CO and dust. We derive a fraction of f [C I] = M [C I] /M C ∼ 3 − 13% of the total carbon mass in the atomic neutral phase. Moreover, we estimate the neutral atomic carbon abundance, the fundamental ingredient to calibrate [C I] as a gas tracer, by comparing L [C I] 3 P1 − 3 P0 and available gas masses from CO lines and dust emission. We find lower [C I] abundances in mainsequence galaxies than in starbursting systems and sub-millimeter galaxies, as a consequence of the canonical α CO and gas-to-dust conversion factors. This argues against the application to different galaxy populations of a universal standard [C I] abundance derived from highly biased samples.
ALMA measurements for 93 Herschel -selected galaxies at 1.1 z 1.7 in COSMOS reveal a sizable (> 29%) population with compact star formation (SF) sizes, lying on average > ×3.6 below the optical stellar mass (M )-size relation of disks. This sample widely spans the star-forming Main Sequence (MS), having 10 8 M 10 11.5 M and 20 SF R 680 M yr −1 . The 32 size measurements and 61 upper limits are measured on ALMA images that combine observations of CO(5-4), CO(4-3), CO(2-1) and λ obs ∼ 1.1−1.3 mm continuum, all tracing the star-forming molecular gas. These compact galaxies have instead normally extended K band sizes, suggesting strong specific SF R gradients. Compact galaxies comprise the 50 ± 18% of MS galaxies at M > 10 11 M . This is not expected in standard bi-modal scenarios where MS galaxies are mostly steadily-growing extended disks. We suggest that compact MS objects are early post-starburst galaxies in which the merger-driven boost of SF has subsided. They retain their compact SF size until either further gas accretion restores pre-merger galaxy-wide SF, or until becoming quenched. The fraction of merger-affected SF inside the MS seems thus larger than anticipated and might reach ∼ 50% at the highest M . The presence of large galaxies above the MS demonstrates an overall poor correlation between galaxy SF size and specific SF R.
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