arXiv subjects

Christopher C. Hayward

Publications and source records attributed to Christopher C. Hayward.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

Rapid early coeval star formation and assembly of the most massive galaxies in the universe

The current consensus on the formation and evolution of the brightest cluster galaxies is that their stellar mass forms early ($z \gtrsim 4$) in separate galaxies that then eventually assemble the main structure at late times ($z \lesssim 1$). However, advances in observational techniques have led to the discovery of protoclusters out to $z \sim 7$, suggesting that the late-assembly picture may not be fully complete. If these protoclusters assemble rapidly in the early universe, they should form the brightest cluster galaxies much earlier than suspected by the late-assembly picture. Using a combination of observationally constrained hydrodynamical and dark-matter-only simulations, we show that the stellar assembly time of a sub-set of the brightest cluster galaxies occurs at high redshifts ($z > 3$) rather than at low redshifts ($z < 1$), as is commonly thought. We find, using isolated non-cosmological hydrodynamical simulations, that highly overdense protoclusters assemble their stellar mass into brightest cluster galaxies within $\sim 1$ $\mathrm{Gyr}$ of evolution -- producing massive blue elliptical galaxies at high redshifts ($z \gtrsim 1.5$). We argue that there is a downsizing effect on the cluster scale wherein some of the brightest cluster galaxies in the cores of the most-massive clusters assemble earlier than those in lower-mass clusters. In those clusters with $z = 0$ virial mass $\geqslant 5\times10^{14}$ M$_\mathrm{\odot}$, we find that $9.8$% have their cores assembly early, and a higher fraction of $16.4$% in those clusters above $10^{15}$ M$_\mathrm{\odot}$. The James Webb Space Telescope will be able to detect and confirm our prediction in the near future, and we discuss the implications to constraining the value of $σ_\mathrm{8}$.

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arXiv2020

Variations in the slope of the resolved star-forming main sequence: a tool for constraining the mass of star-forming regions

The correlation between galaxies' integrated stellar masses and star formation rates (the `star formation main sequence'; SFMS) is a well-established scaling relation. Recently, surveys have found a relationship between the star formation rate and stellar mass surface densities on kpc and sub-kpc scales (the `resolved SFMS'; rSFMS). In this work, we demonstrate that the rSFMS emerges naturally in FIRE-2 zoom-in simulations of Milky Way-mass galaxies. We make SFR and stellar mass maps of the simulated galaxies at a variety of spatial resolutions and star formation averaging time-scales and fit the rSFMS using multiple methods from the literature. While the absolute value of the SFMS slope depends on the fitting method, the slope is steeper for longer star formation time-scales and lower spatial resolutions regardless of the fitting method employed. We present a toy model that quantitatively captures the dependence of the simulated galaxies' rSFMS slope on spatial resolution and use it to illustrate how this dependence can be used to constrain the characteristic mass of star-forming clumps.

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arXiv2020

Investigating overdensities around z>6 galaxies through ALMA observations of [CII]

We present a search for companion [CII] emitters to known luminous sources at $6<$ z $<6.5$ in deep, archival ALMA observations. The observations are deep enough to detect sources with L$_{\rm [CII]} \sim 10^8$ at z $\sim6$. We identify four robust line detections from a blind search of five deep fields centered on ultra-luminous infrared galaxies and QSOs, over an order of magnitude more than expected based on current observations and predictions, suggesting that these objects may be highly biased tracers of mass in the early Universe. We find these companion lines to have comparable properties to other known galaxies at the same epoch. All companions lie less than 650 km s$^{-1}$ and between 20 -- 70 kpc (projected) from their central source, providing a constraint on their halo masses of the central galaxies ranging from 2.5$\times$10$^{12}$ M$_\odot$ to 4$\times$10$^{13}$ M$_\odot$. To place these discoveries in context, we employ a mock galaxy catalog to estimate the luminosity function for [CII] during reionization and compare to our observations. The simulations support this result by showing a similar level of elevated counts found around such luminous sources.

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arXiv2019

Quiescent galaxies 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang and their progenitors

We report two secure ($z=3.775, 4.012$) and one tentative ($z\approx3.767$) spectroscopic confirmations of massive and quiescent galaxies through $K$-band observations with Keck/MOSFIRE and VLT/X-Shooter. The stellar continuum emission, the absence of strong nebular emission lines and the lack of significant far-infrared detections confirm the passive nature of these objects, disfavoring the alternative solution of low-redshift dusty star-forming interlopers. We derive stellar masses of $\mathrm{log}(M_{\star}/M_\odot)\sim11$ and ongoing star formation rates placing these galaxies $\gtrsim 1-2$ dex below the main sequence at their redshifts. The adopted parametrization of the star formation history suggests that these sources experienced a strong ($\langle \rm SFR \rangle \sim 1200-3500\,M_\odot\,\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$) and short ($\sim 50$ Myr) burst of star formation, peaking $\sim 150-500$ Myr before the time of observation, all properties reminiscent of the characteristics of sub-millimeter galaxies (SMGs) at $z>4$. We investigate this connection by comparing the comoving number densities and the properties of these two populations. We find a fair agreement only with the deepest sub-mm surveys detecting not only the most extreme starbursts, but also more normal galaxies. We support these findings by further exploring the Illustris-TNG cosmological simulation, retrieving populations of both fully quenched massive galaxies at $z\sim3-4$ and SMGs at $z\sim4-5$, with number densities and properties in agreement with the observations at $z\sim3$, but in increasing tension at higher redshift. Nevertheless, as suggested by the observations, not all the progenitors of quiescent galaxies at these redshifts shine as bright SMGs in their past and, similarly, not all bright SMGs quench by $z\sim3$, both fractions depending on the threshold assumed to define the SMGs themselves.

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arXiv2019

Swirls of FIRE: Spatially Resolved Gas Velocity Dispersions and Star Formation Rates in FIRE-2 Disk Environments

We study the spatially resolved (sub-kpc) gas velocity dispersion ($σ$)--star formation rate (SFR) relation in the FIRE-2 (Feedback in Realistic Environments) cosmological simulations. We specifically focus on Milky Way mass disk galaxies at late times. In agreement with observations, we find a relatively flat relationship, with $σ\approx 15-30$ km/s in neutral gas across 3 dex in SFRs. We show that higher dense gas fractions (ratios of dense gas to neutral gas) and SFRs are correlated at constant $σ$. Similarly, lower gas fractions (ratios of gas to stellar mass) are correlated with higher $σ$ at constant SFR. The limits of the $σ$-$Σ_{\rm SFR}$ relation correspond to the onset of strong outflows. We see evidence of "on-off" cycles of star formation in the simulations, corresponding to feedback injection timescales of 10-100 Myr, where SFRs oscillate about equilibrium SFR predictions. Finally, SFRs and velocity dispersions in the simulations agree well with feedback-regulated and marginally stable gas disk (Toomre's $Q =1$) model predictions, and the data effectively rule out models assuming that gas turns into stars at (low) constant efficiency (i.e., ${\rm 1\%}$ per free-fall time). And although the simulation data do not entirely exclude gas accretion/gravitationally powered turbulence as a driver of $σ$, it appears to be strongly subdominant to stellar feedback in the simulated galaxy disks.

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arXiv2019

Physical Characterization of an Unlensed Dusty Star-Forming Galaxy at $z=5.85$

We present a physical characterization of MMJ100026.36+021527.9 (a.k.a. ``MAMBO-9''), a dusty star-forming galaxy (DSFG) at $z=5.850\pm0.001$. This is the highest redshift unlensed DSFG (and fourth most distant overall) found to-date, and is the first source identified in a new 2mm blank-field map in the COSMOS field. Though identified in prior samples of DSFGs at 850$μ$m-1.2mm with unknown redshift, the detection at 2mm prompted further follow-up as it indicated a much higher probability that the source was likely to sit at $z>4$. Deep observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter and submillimeter Array (ALMA) presented here confirm the redshift through the secure detection of $^{12}$CO($J\!=$6$\rightarrow$5) and p-H$_{2}$O(2$_{1,1}\!\rightarrow$2$_{0,2}$). MAMBO-9 is comprised of a pair of galaxies separated by 6kpc with corresponding star-formation rates of 590M$_\odot$yr$^{-1}$ and 220M$_\odot$yr$^{-1}$ total molecular hydrogen gas mass of (1.7$\pm$0.4)$\times10^{11}$M$_\odot$, dust mass of (1.3$\pm$0.3)$\times10^{9}$M$_\odot$ and stellar mass of (3.2$^{+1.0}_{-1.5}$)$\times10^{9}$M$_\odot$. The total halo mass, (3.3$\pm$0.8)$\times10^{12}$M$_\odot$, is predicted to exceed $>10^{15}$M$_\odot$ by $z=0$. The system is undergoing a merger-driven starburst which will increase the stellar mass of the system tenfold in $τ_{\rm depl}=40-80$Myr, converting its large molecular gas reservoir (gas fraction of 96$^{+1}_{-2}$%) into stars. MAMBO-9 evaded firm spectroscopic identification for a decade, following a pattern that has emerged for some of the highest redshift DSFGs found. And yet, the systematic identification of unlensed DSFGs like MAMBO-9 is key to measuring the global contribution of obscured star-formation to the star-formation rate density at $z>4$, the formation of the first massive galaxies, and the formation of interstellar dust at early times ($<$1Gyr).

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arXiv2019

Deep learning predictions of galaxy merger stage and the importance of observational realism

Machine learning is becoming a popular tool to quantify galaxy morphologies and identify mergers. However, this technique relies on using an appropriate set of training data to be successful. By combining hydrodynamical simulations, synthetic observations and convolutional neural networks (CNNs), we quantitatively assess how realistic simulated galaxy images must be in order to reliably classify mergers. Specifically, we compare the performance of CNNs trained with two types of galaxy images, stellar maps and dust-inclusive radiatively transferred images, each with three levels of observational realism: (1) no observational effects (idealized images), (2) realistic sky and point spread function (semi-realistic images), (3) insertion into a real sky image (fully realistic images). We find that networks trained on either idealized or semi-real images have poor performance when applied to survey-realistic images. In contrast, networks trained on fully realistic images achieve 87.1% classification performance. Importantly, the level of realism in the training images is much more important than whether the images included radiative transfer, or simply used the stellar maps (87.1% compared to 79.6% accuracy, respectively). Therefore, one can avoid the large computational and storage cost of running radiative transfer with a relatively modest compromise in classification performance. Making photometry-based networks insensitive to colour incurs a very mild penalty to performance with survey-realistic data (86.0% with r-only compared to 87.1% with gri). This result demonstrates that while colour can be exploited by colour-sensitive networks, it is not necessary to achieve high accuracy and so can be avoided if desired. We provide the public release of our statistical observational realism suite, RealSim, as a companion to this paper.

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arXiv2019

On the dust temperatures of high redshift galaxies

Dust temperature is an important property of the interstellar medium (ISM) of galaxies. It is required when converting (sub)millimeter broadband flux to total infrared luminosity (L_IR), and hence star formation rate, in high-z galaxies. However, different definitions of dust temperatures have been used in the literature, leading to different physical interpretations of how ISM conditions change with, e.g., redshift and star formation rate. In this paper, we analyse the dust temperatures of massive (M* > 10^10 Msun) z=2-6 galaxies with the help of high-resolution cosmological simulations from the Feedback in Realistic Environments (FIRE) project. At z~2, our simulations successfully predict dust temperatures in good agreement with observations. We find that dust temperatures based on the peak emission wavelength increase with redshift, in line with the higher star formation activity at higher redshift, and are strongly correlated with the specific star formation rate. In contrast, the mass-weighted dust temperature does not strongly evolve with redshift over z=2-6 at fixed IR luminosity but is tightly correlated with L_IR at fixed z. The mass-weighted temperature is important for accurately estimating the total dust mass. We also analyse an 'equivalent' dust temperature for converting (sub)millimeter flux density to total IR luminosity, and provide a fitting formula as a function of redshift and dust-to-metal ratio. We find that galaxies of higher equivalent (or higher peak) dust temperature ('warmer dust') do not necessarily have higher mass-weighted temperatures. A 'two-phase' picture for interstellar dust can explain the different scaling relations of the various dust temperatures.

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arXiv2019

Simulations Find Our Accounting of Dust-Obscured Star Formation May Be Incomplete

The bulk of the star-formation rate density peak at cosmic noon was obscured by dust. How accurately we can assess the role of dust obscured star-formation is affected by inherent biases in our empirical methods -- both those that rely on direct dust emission and those that rely on the inferred dust attenuation of starlight. We use a library of hydrodynamic simulations with radiative transfer to explore these biases. We find that for IR luminous galaxies that are in rapidly quenching systems (e.g. post-coalescence) standard luminosity-to-SFR relations can strongly overestimate the true SFRs. We propose using the $L_{IR}/L_{1.6}$ color to both help identify such systems and provide more accurate SFRs. Conversely, we find that the diagnostic UVJ plot misidentifies a subset of dusty star-forming galaxies. This is due to variability in the effective attenuation curves including being much grayer in the optical-to-near-IR regime than the Calzetti starburst law. This is in agreement with recent observations of IR-selected galaxies at cosmic noon. Our results support the view that we need a panchromatic approach from the rest-frame UV through the IR and SED modeling that includes realistic SFHs and allows for variable attenuation curves if we want to fully account for dust obscured star-formation across the epochs of greatest galaxy build-up.

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arXiv2019

Spatially Resolved Water Emission from Gravitationally Lensed Dusty Star Forming Galaxies at z $\sim$ 3

Water ($\rm H_{2}O$), one of the most ubiquitous molecules in the universe, has bright millimeter-wave emission lines easily observed at high-redshift with the current generation of instruments. The low excitation transition of $\rm H_{2}O$, p$-$$\rm H_{2}O$(202 $-$ 111) ($ν_{rest}$ = 987.927 GHz) is known to trace the far-infrared (FIR) radiation field independent of the presence of active galactic nuclei (AGN) over many orders-of-magnitude in FIR luminosity (L$_{\rm FIR}$). This indicates that this transition arises mainly due to star formation. In this paper, we present spatially ($\sim$0.5 arcsec corresponding to $\sim$1 kiloparsec) and spectrally resolved ($\sim$100 kms$^{-1}$) observations of p$-$$\rm H_{2}O$(202 $-$ 111) in a sample of four strong gravitationally lensed high-redshift galaxies with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). In addition to increasing the sample of luminous ($ > $ $10^{12}$L$_{\odot}$) galaxies observed with $\rm H_{2}O$, this paper examines the L$_{\rm H_{2}O}$/L$_{\rm FIR}$ relation on resolved scales for the first time at high-redshift. We find that L$_{\rm H_{2}O}$ is correlated with L$_{\rm FIR}$ on both global and resolved kiloparsec scales within the galaxy in starbursts and AGN with average L$_{\rm H_{2}O}$/L$_{\rm FIR}$ =$2.76^{+2.15}_{-1.21}\times10^{-5}$. We find that the scatter in the observed L$_{\rm H_{2}O}$/L$_{\rm FIR}$ relation does not obviously correlate with the effective temperature of the dust spectral energy distribution (SED) or the molecular gas surface density. This is a first step in developing p$-$$\rm H_{2}O$(202 $-$ 111) as a resolved star formation rate (SFR) calibrator.

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arXiv2019

Imaging the Molecular Interstellar Medium in a Gravitationally Lensed Star-forming Galaxy at z=5.7

Aims: We present and study spatially resolved imaging obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) of multiple $^{12}$CO($J=$6$-$5, 8$-$7 and 9$-$8) and two H$_2$O(2$_{02}-$1$_{11}$ and 2$_{11}-$2$_{02}$) emission lines and cold dust continuum toward the gravitationally lensed dusty star forming galaxy SPT0346-52 at z=$5.656$. Methods: Using a visibility-domain source-plane reconstruction we probe the structure and dynamics of the different components of the interstellar medium (ISM) in this galaxy down to scales of 1 kpc in the source plane. Results: Measurements of the intrinsic sizes of the different CO emission lines indicate that the higher J transitions trace more compact regions in the galaxy. Similarly, we find smaller dust continuum intrinsic sizes with decreasing wavelength, based on observations at rest-frame 130, 300 and 450$μ$m. The source shows significant velocity structure, and clear asymmetry where an elongated structure is observed in the source plane with significant variations in their reconstructed sizes. This could be attributed to a compact merger or turbulent disk rotation. The differences in velocity structure through the different line tracers, however, hint at the former scenario in agreement with previous [CII] line imaging results. Measurements of the CO line ratios and magnifications yield significant variations as a function of velocity, suggesting that modeling of the ISM using integrated values could be misinterpreted. Modeling of the ISM in SPT0346-52 based on delensed fluxes indicate a highly dense and warm medium, qualitatively similar to that observed in high redshift quasar hosts.

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arXiv2019

Dust attenuation, dust emission, and dust temperature in galaxies at z>=5: a view from the FIRE-2 simulations

We present a suite of 34 high-resolution cosmological zoom-in simulations consisting of thousands of halos up to M_halo~10^12 M_sun (M_star~10^10.5 M_sun) at z>=5 from the Feedback in Realistic Environments project. We post-process our simulations with a three-dimensional Monte Carlo dust radiative transfer code to study dust extinction, dust emission, and dust temperature within these simulated z>=5 galaxies. Our sample forms a tight correlation between infrared excess (IRX=F_IR/F_UV) and ultraviolet (UV)-continuum slope (beta_UV), despite the patchy, clumpy dust geometry shown in our simulations. We find that the IRX-beta_UV relation is mainly determined by the shape of the extinction curve and is independent of its normalization (set by the dust-to-gas ratio). The bolometric IR luminosity (L_IR) correlates with the intrinsic UV luminosity and the star formation rate (SFR) averaged over the past 10 Myr. We predict that at a given L_IR, the peak wavelength of the dust spectral energy distributions for z>=5 galaxies is smaller by a factor of 2 (due to higher dust temperatures on average) than at z=0. The higher dust temperatures are driven by higher specific SFRs and SFR surface densities with increasing redshift. We derive the galaxy UV luminosity functions (LFs) at z=5-10 from our simulations and confirm that a heavy attenuation is required to reproduce the observed bright-end UVLFs. We also predict the IRLFs and UV luminosity densities at z=5-10. We discuss the implications of our results on current and future observations probing dust attenuation and emission in z>=5 galaxies.

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arXiv2019

A Simple Non-equilibrium Feedback Model for Galaxy-Scale Star Formation: Delayed Feedback and SFR Scatter

We explore a class of simple non-equilibrium star formation models within the framework of a feedback-regulated model of the ISM, applicable to kiloparsec-scale resolved star formation relations (e.g. Kennicutt-Schmidt). Combining a Toomre-Q-dependent local star formation efficiency per free-fall time with a model for delayed feedback, we are able to match the normalization and scatter of resolved star formation scaling relations. In particular, this simple model suggests that large ($\sim$dex) variations in star formation rates (SFRs) on kiloparsec scales may be due to the fact that supernova feedback is not instantaneous following star formation. The scatter in SFRs at constant gas surface density in a galaxy then depends on the properties of feedback and when we observe its star-forming regions at various points throughout their collapse/star formation "cycles". This has the following important observational consequences: (1) the scatter and normalization of the Kennicutt-Schmidt relation are relatively insensitive to the local (small-scale) star formation efficiency, (2) but gas depletion times and velocity dispersions are; (3) the scatter in and normalization of the Kennicutt-Schmidt relation is a sensitive probe of the feedback timescale and strength; (4) even in a model where $\tilde Q_{\rm gas}$ deterministically dictates star formation locally, time evolution, variation in local conditions (e.g., gas fractions and dynamical times), and variations between galaxies can destroy much of the observable correlation between SFR and $\tilde Q_{\rm gas}$ in resolved galaxy surveys. Additionally, this model exhibits large scatter in SFRs at low gas surface densities, in agreement with observations of flat outer HI disk velocity dispersion profiles.

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arXiv2019

Constraining the Active Galactic Nucleus and Starburst Properties of the IR-luminous Quasar Host Galaxy APM 08279+5255 at Redshift 4 with SOFIA

We present far-IR photometry and infrared spectrum of the z=3.9114 quasar/starburst composite system APM 08279+5255 obtained using the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)/HAWC+ and the Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared Spectrograph (IRS). We decompose the IR-to-radio spectral energy distribution (SED), sampled in 51 bands, using (i) a model comprised of two-temperature modified blackbodies (MBB) and radio power-laws and (ii) a semi-analytic model, which also accounts for emission from a clumpy torus. The latter is more realistic but requires a well-sampled SED, as possible here. In the former model, we find temperatures of T_warm = 296^17_15 K and T_cold = 110^3_3 K for the warm and cold dust components, respectively. This model suggests that the cold dust component dominates the FIR energy budget (66%) but contributes only 17% to the total IR luminosity. Based on the torus models, we infer an inclination angle of i=15^8_8 degree and the presence of silicate emission, in accordance with the Type-1 active galactic nucleus nature of APM 08279+5255. Accounting for the torus' contribution to the FIR luminosity, we find a lensing-corrected star formation rate of SFR=3075x(4/mu_L) Msun yr^-1. We find that the central quasar contributes 30% to the FIR luminosity but dominates the total IR luminosity (93%). The 30% correction is in contrast to the 90% reported in previous work. In addition, the IR luminosity inferred from the torus model is a factor of two higher. These differences highlight the importance of adopting physically motivated models to properly account for IR emission in high-z quasars, which is now possible with SOFIA/HAWC+.

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arXiv2019

The case for a 'sub-millimeter SDSS': a 3D map of galaxy evolution to z~10

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) was revolutionary because of the extraordinary breadth and ambition of its optical imaging and spectroscopy. We argue that a 'sub-millimeter SDSS' - a sensitive large-area imaging+spectroscopic survey in the sub-mm window - will revolutionize our understanding of galaxy evolution in the early Universe. By detecting the thermal dust continuum emission and atomic and molecular line emission of galaxies out to z~10 it will be possible to measure the redshifts, star formation rates, dust and gas content of hundreds of thousands of high-z galaxies down to ~L*. Many of these galaxies will have counterparts visible in the deep optical imaging of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. This 3D map of galaxy evolution will span the peak epoch of galaxy formation all the way back to cosmic dawn, measuring the co-evolution of the star formation rate density and molecular gas content of galaxies, tracking the production of metals and charting the growth of large-scale structure.

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arXiv2019

Distinguishing Mergers and Disks in High Redshift Observations of Galaxy Kinematics

The majority of massive star-forming galaxies at $z\sim2$ have velocity gradients suggestive of rotation, in addition to large amounts of disordered motions. In this paper, we demonstrate that it is challenging to distinguish the regular rotation of a disk galaxy from the orbital motions of merging galaxies with seeing-limited data. However, the merger fractions at $z\sim2$ are likely too low for this to have a large effect on measurements of disk fractions. To determine how often mergers pass for disks, we look to galaxy formation simulations. We analyze $\sim$24000 synthetic images and kinematic maps of 31 high-resolution simulations of isolated galaxies and mergers at $z\sim2$. We determine if the synthetic observations pass criteria commonly used to identify disk galaxies, and whether the results are consistent with their intrinsic dynamical states. Galaxies that are intrinsically mergers pass the disk criteria for anywhere from 0 to 100$\%$ of sightlines. The exact percentage depends strongly on the specific disk criteria adopted, and weakly on the separation of the merging galaxies. Therefore, one cannot tell with certainty whether observations of an individual galaxy indicate a merger or a disk. To estimate the fraction of mergers passing as disks in current kinematics samples, we combine the probability that a merger will pass as a disk with theoretical merger fractions from a cosmological simulation. Taking the latter at face-value, the observed disk fractions are overestimated by small amounts: at most by $5\%$ at high stellar mass ($10^{10-11}$ M$_{\odot}$) and $15\%$ at low stellar mass ($10^{9-10}$ M$_{\odot}$).

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arXiv2019

Interacting galaxies on FIRE-2: The connection between enhanced star formation and interstellar gas content

We present a comprehensive suite of high-resolution (parsec-scale), idealised (non-cosmological) galaxy merger simulations (24 runs, stellar mass ratio ~2.5:1) to investigate the connection between interaction-induced star formation and the evolution of the interstellar medium (ISM) in various temperature-density regimes. We use the GIZMO code and the second version of the 'Feedback in Realistic Environments' model (FIRE-2), which captures the multi-phase structure of the ISM. Our simulations are designed to represent galaxy mergers in the local Universe. In this work, we focus on the 'galaxy-pair period' between first and second pericentric passage. We split the ISM into four regimes: hot, warm, cool and cold-dense, motivated by the hot, ionised, atomic and molecular gas phases observed in real galaxies. We find that, on average, interactions enhance the star formation rate of the pair (~30%, merger-suite sample average) and elevate their cold-dense gas content (~18%). This is accompanied by a decrease in warm gas (~11%), a negligible change in cool gas (~4% increase), and a substantial increase in hot gas (~400%). The amount of cold-dense gas with densities above 1000 cm^3 (the cold ultra-dense regime) is elevated significantly (~240%), but only accounts for 0.15% (on average) of the cold-dense gas budget.

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arXiv2019

Source structure and molecular gas properties from high-resolution CO imaging of SPT-selected dusty star-forming galaxies

We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of high-J CO lines ($J_\mathrm{up}=6$, 7, 8) and associated dust continuum towards five strongly lensed, dusty, star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) at redshift $z = 2.7$-5.7. These galaxies, discovered in the South Pole Telescope survey, are observed at $0.2''$-$0.4''$ resolution with ALMA. Our high-resolution imaging coupled with the lensing magnification provides a measurement of the structure and kinematics of molecular gas in the background galaxies with spatial resolutions down to kiloparsec scales. We derive visibility-based lens models for each galaxy, accurately reproducing observations of four of the galaxies. Of these four targets, three show clear velocity gradients, of which two are likely rotating disks. We find that the reconstructed region of CO emission is less concentrated than the region emitting dust continuum even for the moderate-excitation CO lines, similar to what has been seen in the literature for lower-excitation transitions. We find that the lensing magnification of a given source can vary by 20-50% across the line profile, between the continuum and line, and between different CO transitions. We apply Large Velocity Gradient (LVG) modeling using apparent and intrinsic line ratios between lower-J and high-J CO lines. Ignoring these magnification variations can bias the estimate of physical properties of interstellar medium of the galaxies. The magnitude of the bias varies from galaxy to galaxy and is not necessarily predictable without high resolution observations.

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