We present new measurements of the cosmic cold molecular gas evolution out to redshift 6 based on systematic mining of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) public archive in the ...COSMOS deep field (A3COSMOS). Our A3COSMOS data set contains ∼700 galaxies (0.3 z 6) with high-confidence ALMA detections in the (sub)millimeter continuum and multiwavelength spectral energy distributions. Multiple gas mass calibration methods are compared, and biases in band conversions (from observed ALMA wavelength to rest-frame Rayleigh-Jeans tail continuum) have been tested. Combining our A3COSMOS sample with ∼1000 CO-observed galaxies at 0 z 4 (75% at z < 0.1), we parameterize galaxies' molecular gas depletion time ( ) and molecular gas to stellar mass ratio ( ) each as a function of the stellar mass ( ), offset from the star-forming main sequence ( ) and cosmic age (or redshift). Our proposed functional form provides a statistically better fit to current data (than functional forms in the literature) and implies a "downsizing" effect (i.e., more-massive galaxies evolve earlier than less-massive ones) and "mass quenching" (gas consumption slows down with cosmic time for massive galaxies but speeds up for low-mass ones). Adopting galaxy stellar mass functions and applying our function for gas mass calculation, we for the first time infer the cosmic cold molecular gas density evolution out to redshift 6 and find agreement with CO blind surveys as well as semianalytic modeling. These together provide a coherent picture of cold molecular gas, star formation rate, and stellar mass evolution in galaxies across cosmic time.
ABSTRACT
We present an analysis of the dust attenuation of star-forming galaxies at z = 2.5–4.0 through the relationship between the UV spectral slope (β), stellar mass (M*), and the infrared excess ...(IRX = LIR/LUV) based on far-infrared continuum observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA). Our study exploits the full ALMA archive over the COSMOS field processed by the A3COSMOS team, which includes an unprecedented sample of ∼1500 galaxies at z ∼ 3 as primary or secondary targets in ALMA band 6 or 7 observations with a median continuum sensitivity of 126 $\rm {\mu Jy\, beam}^{-1}$ (1σ). The detection rate is highly mass dependent, decreasing drastically below log (M*/M⊙) = 10.5. The detected galaxies show that the IRX–β relationship of massive (log M*/M⊙ > 10) main-sequence galaxies at z = 2.5–4.0 is consistent with that of local galaxies, while starbursts are generally offset by $\sim 0.5\, {\rm dex}$ to larger IRX values. At the low-mass end, we derive upper limits on the infrared luminosities through stacking of the ALMA data. The combined IRX–M* relation at $\rm {log\, ({\it M}_{\ast }/\mathrm{M}_{\odot })\gt 9}$ exhibits a significantly steeper slope than reported in previous studies at similar redshifts, implying little dust obscuration at log M*/M⊙ < 10. However, our results are consistent with earlier measurements at z ∼ 5.5, indicating a potential redshift evolution between z ∼ 2 and z ∼ 6. Deeper observations targeting low-mass galaxies will be required to confirm this finding.
Abstract
We report the detection of CO(1–0) line emission from seven Planck and Herschel selected hyper luminous (${L_{\rm IR (8{\rm -}1000{\mu m})} > 10^{13}\,\, {\rm L}_{{\odot }} }$) infrared ...galaxies with the Green Bank Telescope (GBT). CO(1–0) measurements are a vital tool to trace the bulk molecular gas mass across all redshifts. Our results place tight constraints on the total gas content of these most apparently luminous high-z star-forming galaxies (apparent IR luminosities of LIR > 1013 − 14 L⊙), while we confirm their predetermined redshifts measured using the Large Millimeter Telescope, LMT (zCO = 1.33–3.26). The CO(1–0) lines show similar profiles as compared to Jup = 2–4 transitions previously observed with the LMT. We report enhanced infrared to CO line luminosity ratios of $\langle L_{\rm IR} / L^{\prime }_{\rm CO(1{\rm -}0)} \rangle \ = 110 \pm 22 {\, }\,\, {\rm L_{{\odot }} (K {\, } km {\, } s^{-1} {\, } pc^{-2})^{-1} }$ compared to normal star-forming galaxies, yet similar to those of well-studied IR-luminous galaxies at high-z. We find average brightness temperature ratios of 〈 r21〉 = 0.93 (2 sources), 〈 r31〉 = 0.34 (5 sources), and 〈 r41〉 = 0.18 (1 source). The r31 and r41 values are roughly half the average values for SMGs. We estimate the total gas mass content as ${\rm \mu M_{H2} = (0.9{\rm -}27.2) \times 10^{11} (\alpha _{\rm CO}/0.8){\, }{\rm M}_{{\odot }}}$, where μ is the magnification factor and αCO is the CO line luminosity to molecular hydrogen gas mass conversion factor. The rapid gas depletion times, ${\rm \langle \tau _{\rm depl} \rangle = 80}$ Myr, reveal vigorous starburst activity, and contrast the Gyr depletion time-scales observed in local, normal star-forming galaxies.
Massive starburst galaxies in the early Universe are estimated to have depletion times of ∼100 Myr and thus be able to convert their gas very quickly into stars, possibly leading to a rapid quenching ...of their star formation. For these reasons, they are considered progenitors of massive early-type galaxies (ETGs). In this paper, we study two high-
z
starbursts, AzTEC/C159 (
z
≃ 4.57) and J1000+0234 (
z
≃ 4.54), observed with ALMA in the C
II
158-
μ
m emission line. These observations reveal two massive and regularly rotating gaseous discs. A 3D modelling of these discs returns rotation velocities of about 500 km s
−1
and gas velocity dispersions as low as ≈ 20 km s
−1
, leading to very high ratios between regular and random motion (
V
/
σ
≳ 20), at least in AzTEC/C159. The mass decompositions of the rotation curves show that both galaxies are highly baryon-dominated with gas masses of ≈10
11
M
⊙
, which, for J1000+0234, is significantly higher than previous estimates. We show that these high-
z
galaxies overlap with
z
= 0 massive ETGs in the ETG analogue of the stellar-mass Tully-Fisher relation once their gas is converted into stars. This provides dynamical evidence of the connection between massive high-
z
starbursts and ETGs, although the transformation mechanism from fast rotating to nearly pressure-supported systems remains unclear.
Abstract
We present the initial results of an ongoing survey with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array targeting the CO(
J
= 1–0) transition in a sample of 30 submillimeter-selected, dusty ...star-forming galaxies (SFGs) at
z
= 2–5 with existing mid-
J
CO detections from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array and NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array, of which 17 have been fully observed. We detect CO(1–0) emission in 11 targets, along with three tentative (∼1.5
σ
–2
σ
) detections; three galaxies are undetected. Our results yield total molecular gas masses of 6–23 × 10
10
(
α
CO
/1)
M
⊙
, with gas mass fractions,
f
gas
=
M
mol
/(
M
*
+
M
mol
), of 0.1–0.8 and a median depletion time of (140 ± 70) Myr. We find median CO excitation ratios of
r
31
= 0.75 ± 0.39 and
r
41
= 0.63 ± 0.44, with significant scatter. We find no significant correlation between the excitation ratio and a number of key parameters such as redshift, CO(1–0) line width, or Σ
SFR
. We only find a tentative positive correlation between
r
41
and the star-forming efficiency, but we are limited by our small sample size. Finally, we compare our results to predictions from the SHARK semi-analytical model, finding a good agreement between the molecular gas masses, depletion times, and gas fractions of our sources and their SHARK counterparts. Our results highlight the heterogeneous nature of the most massive SFGs at high redshift, and the importance of CO(1–0) observations to robustly constrain their total molecular gas content and interstellar medium properties.
We combine observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array and the NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array to assess the redshift and to study the star formation conditions in AzTEC2, ...one of the brightest submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) in the COSMOS field ( mJy). Our high-resolution observations confirm that AzTEC2 splits into two components (namely AzTEC2-A and AzTEC2-B) for which we detect C ii and 12CO(5 → 4) line emission, implying a redshift of 4.626 0.001 (4.633 0.001) for AzTEC2-A (AzTEC2-B) and ruling out previous associations with a galaxy at . We use the 12CO(5 → 4) line emission and adopt typical SMG-like gas excitation conditions to estimate the molecular gas mass, which is for AzTEC2-A, and a factor four lower for AzTEC2-B. With the infrared-derived star formation rate of AzTEC2-A ( yr−1) and AzTEC2-B ( yr−1), they both will consume their current gas reservoir within (30-200) Myr. We find evidence of a rotation-dominated C ii disk in AzTEC2-A, with a deprojected rotational velocity of km s−1, velocity dispersion km s−1, and dynamical mass of . We propose that an elevated gas accretion rate from the cosmic web might be the main driver of the intense levels of star formation in AzTEC2-A, which might be further enhanced by gravitational torques induced by its minor companion (AzTEC2-B). These results strengthen the picture whereby the population of single-dish selected SMGs is rather heterogeneous, including a population of pairs of massive, highly active galaxies in a pre-coalescence phase.
We combine high-resolution ALMA and HST/CANDELS observations of 20 submillimeter galaxies (SMGs), predominantly from the AS2UDS survey at z 2, with bright rest-frame optical counterparts ( ) to ...investigate the resolved structural properties of their dust and stellar components. We derive two-dimensional stellar-mass distributions that are inferred from spatial mass-to-light ratio ( ) corrections based on rest-frame optical colors. Due to the high central column densities of dust in our SMGs, our mass distributions likely represent a lower limit to the true central mass density. The centroid positions between the inferred stellar-mass and the dust distributions agree within 1.1 kpc, indicating an overall good spatial agreement between the two components. The majority of our sources exhibit compact dust configurations relative to the stellar component (with a median ratio of effective radii = 0.6). This ratio does not change with specific star formation rate over the factor of 30 spanned by our targets, sampling the locus of "normal" main-sequence galaxies up to the starburst regime, . Unlike typical spiral galaxies in the local universe, our results imply that massive SMGs are experiencing centrally enhanced star formation. The sizes and stellar densities of our SMGs are in agreement with those of the passive population at z = 1.5, which is consistent with these systems being the descendants of z 2 SMGs.
Context.
Radio used as a tracer of the star formation rate (SFR) presents enormous advantages because it is not affected by dust and radio sources that are located at the subarcsecond level. The ...interpretation of the low-frequency 1.4 GHz luminosity is hampered by the difficulty of modeling the paths of cosmic rays in the interstellar medium, however, and by their interactions with the magnetic field.
Aims.
We compare the SFR derived from radio observations and the SFRs derived from spectral energy distribution (SED) modeling. We aim at better understanding the behavior of the SFR radio tracer, with a specific emphasis on the link to star formation histories (SFHs).
Methods.
The analysis is based on a subsample of 1584 star-forming galaxies extracted from the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) with observations of the Very large array project at 3 GHz. We used the SED modeling code investigating galaxy emission,
CIGALE
, with a nonparametric model for the SFH and fit the data over the wavelength range from the ultraviolet (UV) to the mid-infrared (mid-IR). We interpret the difference between radio and SED-based SFR tracers in the light of recent gradients in the derived SFH. To validate the robustness of the results, we searched for any remaining contribution of active galaxy nuclei and tested the impact of our SFH modeling approach.
Results.
Approximately 27% our galaxies present a radio SFR (SFR
radio
) that is at least ten times higher than the instantaneous SFR from SED fitting (SFR
SED
). This trend primarily affects the galaxies whose SFH activity decreased over the last 300 Myr. Both SFR indicators converge toward a consistent value when the SFHs are averaged over a period longer than 150 Myr to derive SFR
SED
.
Conclusions.
Although the radio at a low frequency of 1.4 GHz is a good tracer of the star formation activity of galaxies with a constant or increasing SFH, our results indicate that this is not the case for quenched galaxies. Our analysis suggests that the star formation time sensitivity of the low radio frequency might be longer than 150 Myr. Interestingly, the discrepancy between the SFR
radio
and SFR
SED
can be used as diagnostic to select post-starburst galaxies.
To better constrain the physical mechanisms driving star formation, we present the first systematic study of the radio continuum size evolution of star-forming galaxies (SFGs) over the redshift range ...0.35 < z < 2.25. We use the VLA COSMOS 3 GHz map (noise rms = 2.3 μJy beam−1, θbeam = 0.75 arcsec) to construct a mass-complete sample of 3184 radio-selected SFGs that reside on and above the main sequence (MS) of SFGs. We constrain the overall extent of star formation activity in galaxies by applying a 2D Gaussian model to their radio continuum emission. Extensive Monte Carlo simulations are used to validate the robustness of our measurements and characterize the selection function. We find no clear dependence between the radio size and stellar mass, M⋆, of SFGs with 10.5 ≲ log(M⋆/M⊙) ≲ 11.5. Our analysis suggests that MS galaxies are preferentially extended, while SFGs above the MS are always compact. The median effective radius of SFGs on (above) the MS of Reff = 1.5 ± 0.2 (1.0 ± 0.2) kpc remains nearly constant with cosmic time; a parametrization of the form Reff ∝ (1 + z)α yields a shallow slope of only α = −0.26 ± 0.08 (0.12 ± 0.14) for SFGs on (above) the MS. The size of the stellar component of galaxies is larger than the extent of the radio continuum emission by a factor ∼2 (1.3) at z = 0.5 (2), indicating star formation is enhanced at small radii. The galactic-averaged star formation rate surface density (ΣSFR) scales with the distance to the MS, except for a fraction of MS galaxies (≲10%) that harbor starburst-like ΣSFR. These “hidden” starbursts might have experienced a compaction phase due to disk instability and/or a merger-driven burst of star formation, which may or may not significantly offset a galaxy from the MS. We thus propose to use ΣSFR and distance to the MS in conjunction to better identify the galaxy population undergoing a starbursting phase.
Abstract
To investigate the growth history of galaxies, we measure the rest-frame radio, ultraviolet (UV), and optical sizes of 98 radio-selected, star-forming galaxies (SFGs) distributed over 0.3 ≲
...z
≲ 3 with a median stellar mass of
log
(
M
⋆
/
M
⊙
)
≈
10.4
. We compare the size of galaxy stellar disks, traced by rest-frame optical emission, relative to the overall extent of star formation activity that is traced by radio continuum emission. Galaxies in our sample are identified in three
Hubble
Frontier Fields: MACS J0416.1−2403, MACS J0717.5+3745, and MACS J1149.5+2223. Radio continuum sizes are derived from 3 and 6 GHz radio images (≲0.″6 resolution, ≈0.9
μ
Jy beam
−1
noise level) from the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array. Rest-frame UV and optical sizes are derived using observations from the
Hubble Space Telescope
and the Advanced Camera for Surveys and Wide Field Camera 3 instruments. We find no clear dependence between the 3 GHz radio size and stellar mass of SFGs, which contrasts with the positive correlation between the UV/optical size and stellar mass of galaxies. Focusing on SFGs with
log
(
M
⋆
/
M
⊙
)
>
10
, we find that the radio/UV/optical emission tends to be more compact in galaxies with high star formation rates (≳100
M
⊙
yr
−1
), suggesting that a central, compact starburst (and/or an active galactic nucleus) resides in the most luminous galaxies of our sample. We also find that the physical radio/UV/optical size of radio-selected SFGs with log(
M
⋆
/
M
⊙
) > 10 increases by a factor of 1.5–2 from
z
≈ 3 to
z
≈ 0.3, yet the radio emission remains two to three times more compact than that from the UV/optical. These findings indicate that these massive, radio-selected SFGs at 0.3 ≲
z
≲ 3 tend to harbor centrally enhanced star formation activity relative to their outer disks.
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