Resolving the ISM at the Peak of Cosmic Star Formation with ALMA: The Distribution of CO and Dust Continuum in z ∼ 2.5 Submillimeter Galaxies

Rivera, G. Calistro; Hodge, J. A.; Smail, Ian; Swinbank, A. M.; Weiß, A.; Wardlow, J. L.; Walter, Fabian; Rybak, Matus; Chen, Chian-Chou; Brandt, W. N.; Coppin, K. E. K.; Cunha, Elisabete da; Dannerbauer, H.; Greve, T. R.; Karim, A.; Knudsen, K. K.; Schinnerer, E.; Simpson, J. M.; Venemans, Bram; Werf, P. P. van der

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aacffa

Cited by 105 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 95 publications

(195 reference statements)

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“…The expected radii of sub-mm and HST H 160 emission in z ∼ 2 star-forming galaxies is < 8 kpc (e.g., Fig. 3, Zanella et al 2018;Calistro Rivera et al 2018;Lang et al 2019), so it is unlikely that our observations are missing flux on large scales due to interferometric spatial filtering. Six galaxies in our proposal were observed for ∼ 18 minutes onsource, achieving the target sensitivity of 5 mJy over 300 km s −1 bandwidth at a native resolution of 31.250 MHz (13.6 km s −1 ) which was later re-binned to lower spectral resolutions.…”

Section: Alma Observations and Data Processingmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…To search for marginally detected emission lines, we used a circular aperture with radius 0.5 to extract a 50 km s −1 spectrum centered on the source's dust continuum position. Next, we extracted additional spectra through the same circular apertures offset by 0.5 from the source's center at various angles, as optical light, dust continuum and [C II] emission can be spatially offset from one another in high redshift ULIRGs (e.g., Zanella et al 2018;Calistro Rivera et al 2018). From the set of extracted spectra, we searched each spectral window for the presence of three channels greater than 2× the local rms.…”

Section: [C Ii] Line Searches and Upper Limitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Measuring the Heating and Cooling of the Interstellar Medium at High Redshift: PAH and [C ii] Observations of the Same Star-forming Galaxies at z ∼ 2

McKinney

Pope

Armus

et al. 2020

ApJ

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Star formation depends critically on cooling mechanisms in the interstellar medium (ISM); however, thermal properties of gas in galaxies at the peak epoch of star formation (z ∼ 2) remain poorly understood. A limiting factor in understanding the multiphase ISM is the lack of multiple tracers detected in the same galaxies, such as Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) emission, a tracer of a critical photoelectric heating mechanism in interstellar gas, and [C II] 158µm fine-structure emission, a principal coolant. We present ALMA Band 9 observations targeting [C II] in six z ∼ 2 star-forming galaxies with strong Spitzer IRS detections of PAH emission. All six galaxies are detected in dust continuum and marginally resolved. We compare the properties of PAH and [C II] emission, and constrain their relationship as a function of total infrared luminosity (L IR ) and IR surface density. [C II] emission is detected in one galaxy at high signal-to-noise (34σ), and we place a secure upper limit on a second source. The rest of our sample are not detected in [C II] likely due to redshift uncertainties and narrow ALMA bandpass windows. Our results are consistent with the deficit in [C II]/L IR and PAH/L IR observed in the literature. However, the ratio of [C II] to PAH emission at z ∼ 2 is possibly much lower than what is observed in nearby dusty star-forming galaxies. This could be the result of enhanced cooling via [O I] at high−z, hotter gas and dust temperatures, and/or a reduction in the photoelectric efficiency, in which the coupling between interstellar radiation and gas heating is diminished.

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Section: Alma Observations and Data Processingmentioning

confidence: 83%

Section: [C Ii] Line Searches and Upper Limitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring the Heating and Cooling of the Interstellar Medium at High Redshift: PAH and [C ii] Observations of the Same Star-forming Galaxies at z ∼ 2

McKinney

Pope

Armus

et al. 2020

ApJ

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“…These differences reveal the complexity of the ISM structure in SMGs and suggest caution when deriving the physical properties from spatially unresolved observations. For example, an increase of dust temperature and optical depth towards the nuclear region can significantly alter the calculation of size and mass of the ISM dust (e.g., Miettinen et al 2017;Calistro Rivera et al 2018). While the disk component, dominating the total IR emission, has a value of the star formation rate surface density typical of SMGs (Hodge et al 2013), the nuclear core shows more extreme conditions.…”

Section: Analysis and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First detection of the 448 GHz ortho-H₂O line at high redshift: probing the structure of a starburst nucleus at z = 3.63

Yang

González-Alfonso

Omont

et al. 2020

A&A

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Submillimeter rotational lines of H 2 O are a powerful probe in warm gas regions of the interstellar medium (ISM), tracing scales and structures ranging from kiloparsec disks to the most compact and dust-obscured regions of galactic nuclei. The ortho-H 2 O(4 23 -3 30 ) line at 448 GHz, which was recently detected in a local luminous infrared galaxy (Pereira-Santaella et al. 2017), offers a unique constraint on the excitation conditions and ISM properties in deeply buried galaxy nuclei since the line requires high far-infrared optical depths to be excited. In this letter, we report the first high-redshift detection of the 448 GHz H 2 O(4 23 -3 30 ) line using ALMA, in a strongly lensed submillimeter galaxy (SMG) at z = 3.63. After correcting for magnification, the luminosity of the 448 GHz H 2 O line is ∼ 10 6 L . In combination with three other previously detected H 2 O lines, we build a model that "resolves" the dusty ISM structure of the SMG, and find that it is composed of a ∼ 1 kpc optically thin (optical depth at 100 µm τ 100 ∼ 0.3) disk component with dust temperature T dust ≈ 50 K emitting a total infrared power of 5 × 10 12 L with surface density Σ IR = 4 × 10 11 L kpc −2 , and a very compact (0.1 kpc) heavily dust-obscured (τ 100 1) nuclear core with very warm dust (100 K) and Σ IR = 8 × 10 12 L kpc −2 . The H 2 O abundance in the core component, X H 2 O ∼ (0.3-5) × 10 −5 , is at least one order of magnitude higher than in the disk component. The optically thick core has the characteristic properties of an Eddington-limited starburst, providing evidence that radiation pressure on dust is capable of supporting the ISM in buried nuclei at high redshifts. The multi-component ISM structure revealed by our models illustrates that dust and molecules such as H 2 O are present in regions characterized by highly differing conditions and scales, extending from the nucleus to more extended regions of SMGs.

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“…gas inflows/outflows). This is in agreement with previous studies of massive galaxies (at ∼ 0.4 − 2.4 × 10 11 M ) at similar redshift (e.g.Übler et al 2018; Calistro Rivera et al 2018).…”

Section: Kinematic Asymmetry Characterizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gnerucci et al 2011) or to constrain the CO-to-H 2 conversion factor (e.g. Motta et al 2018;Calistro Rivera et al 2018).…”

Section: Dynamical Mass and Dark Matter Contentmentioning

confidence: 99%

The kiloparsec-scale gas kinematics in two star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 1.47 seen with ALMA and VLT-SINFONI

Molina

Ibar

Smail

et al. 2019

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) CO(J = 2−1) observations of two main-sequence star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 1.47 taken from the High-Z Emission Line Survey (HiZELS). These two systems have been previously reported to be molecular gas rich f H 2 ≡ M H 2 /(M H 2 + M ) ∼ 0.8. We carried out a follow-up study to resolve, at ∼kpc-scales, the CO emission. These new observations are combined with our earlier ALMA observations (sensitive to diffuse CO emission) and compared with our previous Hα-based study at matched spatial resolution. One target is marginally resolved in CO(2-1), showing complex dynamics with respect to the ionised gas traced by Hα. While the other source is spatially resolved, enabling a detailed exploration of its internal dynamical properties. In this system, both gaseous phases show similar spatial extension, rotation velocities and velocity dispersions (V rot ∼ σ v ∼ 100 km s −1 ) suggesting a rotational velocity to velocity dispersion ratio consistent with unity. By comparing the ionized and molecular gas tracers through the use of a two-dimensional kinematic model, we estimate a median depletion time τ dep = 2.3 ± 1.2 Gyr for the galaxy as a whole. This value is in agreement with the average τ dep value observed in local star-forming galaxies at similar spatial scales. Using a thick-disk dynamical modelling, we derive a dynamical mass M dyn = (1.59 ± 0.19) × 10 11 M within ≈ 6 kpc. This suggests a dark matter fraction ( f DM ≡ M DM /M dyn ) of 0.59 ± 0.10, in agreement with the average f DM value derived from stacked rotation curve analysis of galaxies at similar redshift range.

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Resolving the ISM at the Peak of Cosmic Star Formation with ALMA: The Distribution of CO and Dust Continuum in z ∼ 2.5 Submillimeter Galaxies

Cited by 105 publications

References 95 publications

Measuring the Heating and Cooling of the Interstellar Medium at High Redshift: PAH and [C ii] Observations of the Same Star-forming Galaxies at z ∼ 2

Measuring the Heating and Cooling of the Interstellar Medium at High Redshift: PAH and [C ii] Observations of the Same Star-forming Galaxies at z ∼ 2

First detection of the 448 GHz ortho-H₂O line at high redshift: probing the structure of a starburst nucleus at z = 3.63

The kiloparsec-scale gas kinematics in two star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 1.47 seen with ALMA and VLT-SINFONI

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Resolving the ISM at the Peak of Cosmic Star Formation with ALMA: The Distribution of CO and Dust Continuum in z ∼ 2.5 Submillimeter Galaxies

Cited by 105 publications

References 95 publications

Measuring the Heating and Cooling of the Interstellar Medium at High Redshift: PAH and [C ii] Observations of the Same Star-forming Galaxies at z ∼ 2

Measuring the Heating and Cooling of the Interstellar Medium at High Redshift: PAH and [C ii] Observations of the Same Star-forming Galaxies at z ∼ 2

First detection of the 448 GHz ortho-H2O line at high redshift: probing the structure of a starburst nucleus at z = 3.63

The kiloparsec-scale gas kinematics in two star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 1.47 seen with ALMA and VLT-SINFONI

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First detection of the 448 GHz ortho-H₂O line at high redshift: probing the structure of a starburst nucleus at z = 3.63